I have always believed the best way to a great body – one that is in shape and fit – is through cross training.

Yet as a runner, I’ve often ignored the other forms of training and stuck with my Saucony’s only.

When we do only one sport at a time – running, cycling, weights – we limit the capacity to change and enhance the other muscles in our body.

For instance, if we concentrate solely on running we are neglecting many important body parts – our arms, which help shape and define our upper bodies, and that make us strong and allow us to carry, lift, and support.

If we neglect stretching and yoga, we are not allowing our bodies to recover fully before pounding the pavement again.

If we run and don’t cycle. only certain muscles in our legs are working. We become imbalanced.

I’ve found that I am much stronger, and much less injury-prone, when I am cross training.  In addition, if you are attempting to lose weight, you’ll find that through cross training – running one day, swimming the next, cycling the third – you’re likely to lose weight just as quickly if you are only jogging or only cycling; and sometimes, it will fall off even faster. Your body will respond because you are constantly putting it into new challenges. You are using different muscles with each exercise and so targeting more of your body than when you do one thing only.

Cross training doesn’t mean you have to get out there and hit the pavement every single day, though. I have run two marathons and I still take a day off each week. I also am no longer doing one particular exercise two days in a row, other than one short run following my long run. I found when I attempted to run three days in a row my knee started to hurt and, in all honesty, I burned out mentally by day three. I simply wanted the run to end.

Cardio-wise, I’ve found swimming to be right up there with running. I enjoy cycling though I don’t think it burns as much as quickly; however, when I used the spinner in the gym yesterday I had one hell of a workout that consisted of sweat pouring onto the floor, much to the dismay, I’m sure, of the other exercisers!

Pair cardio with a weight bearing exercise, or work on your abs. My regular routine is as follows:

Sunday – long run only with stretching at night
Monday – short recovery run and then abs and arms
Tuesday – swim, legs and abs
Wednesday – midsize run, yoga at night
Thursday – cycling, ab work
Friday – run, shorter but faster, abs and arms
Saturday – rest day

I’ve also found that having this gym membership allows me to be a little ‘lazy’ if I want. I can sleep in and hit the gym later if I need to, and this has been a saviour. With two young children, some nights just aren’t good nights – but if I head to the gym in the afternoon, by that time I’ve recovered from no sleep!

Plus, being a gym member gives me the opportunity to switch up my workouts when I want. Instead of riding my bike on the flat neighborhood roads, I can head to the spinner and sweat my buns off as I pretend to climb hills while listening to my man Dave Grohl.

And the treadmill has helped me to really practice my running – I can go faster or slower, I can go up an incline, I can see how fast I’m going and how far I’ve gone and I can push myself more than I can at times outside.

In other news, I may be doing a 5K on July 4th with some friends. My time has been way down. I’m working on some speed again, but it is hot in this humidity. How have your runs been now that it is hot out?

Happy Running!