Triangle Arm Endurance Circuit

Cross-Country Running/Strength: Triangle Circuit Improves Arm and Leg Endurance

Dick Moss, Editor

In the latter part of races, runners often find that fatigued arms slow them as much as tired legs.

With this in mind, here's a running workout that will also improve your athletes' arm endurance. It works because it forces your runners to perform arm exercises while already fatigued.

Triangle Arm Circuit
Set up a course that's triangle-shaped, with each part of the triangle covering about 200 meters (more or less –it's up to you). The course can traverse any type of terrain you have available.

Your athletes must run the course and perform an arm exercise at each turning point, for example, 10
repetitions of the following exercises:
    Point A: Pushups.
    Point B: Biceps curls, using dumb-bells, rocks or providing resistance with their opposite arm.
    Point C: Triceps lifts on a bench or bleacher.
    With each lap, your runners will be forced to progressively overcome more fatigue in order to complete their arm exercises.

Arm Exercises Using a Med-Ball
Here are some additional ideas for arm exercises using medicine balls:

Medicine ball chest passes, to a partner or lying on the back and tossing up in the air.
Medicine ball overhead throws, to a partner or a wall.
Medicine ball biceps/triceps curls.

References

Eric Anderson, Training Games, TAFNEWS Press, 1994.
Stephen Robson, 100 Bodyweight Circuits for Strength, Fitness and Conditioning [Kindle Edition], Amazon Digital Services, Inc., 2013.

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