Runners Rebuild Strength Program
Ricco Fitness
This program is designed to elevate your running performance while reducing the risk of overuse injuries. By strengthening your joints, ligaments, and muscles, you’ll be able to run more efficiently and stay injury-free.
You’ll progress through five structured training blocks, each lasting two weeks and focusing on a specific aspect. These phases are carefully designed to enhance your running economy and improve the stretch-shortening cycle, making you a more powerful and efficient runner.
What’s Included?
- Step-by-step exercise instructions – with video demonstrations by me
- A progressive structure – each block builds on the last for continuous improvement
- Full-body strength training – two sessions per week, designed to complement your running
- Mobility/Recovery Sessions - to make sure your joints are moving nicely and to give your body a reset.
- Track Warmup - dynamic movements, activation drills and plyometric drills to ensure you're ready to be fast on your interval runs.
Each session includes:
✔ Dynamic warm-up drills to prepare your body
✔ Plyometric and isometric drills to develop power and resilience
✔ Strength exercises based on movement patterns, teaching you to move efficiently in multiple planes and at different speeds
By following this program as prescribed, you’ll become a stronger, more efficient runner with improved recovery between training sessions. Every exercise has been carefully selected and progressively structured to help you move better, run faster, and stay injury-free.
Happy to have you on the Team!
Includes: 2 Strength Training Sessions + 1 Mobility/Recovery Session + 1 Track Warm-up per week
A1
Foot Pronation Drill w/ hip opening
1 x 15
A2
Supine Breathing + Pelvic Tilts
1 x 10
A3
Supine Reaches + Breathing
1 x 5
A4
Supine Hamstring Flossing
1 x 10
A5
Supine Open Book w/ Roller
1 x 8
A6
90/90 Hip Switches
1 x 12
B1
Single Leg Balance Variations
1 x 1:30
B2
Floating Heel Hinge
1 x 12
B3
Bend Knee to Straight Knee Calf Raise
1 x 10
C1
Yielding SL Long Lever Hamstring Bridge Iso
2 x 0:20
C2
Yielding SL Straight Leg Calf Iso
2 x 1:00
D1
Double Leg 4 Way Pogos (Extensive)
2 x 20
D2
Yielding 45° Skater
2 x 20
E1
Seated Reciprocal Banded Vertical Pull
2 x 30
E2
Hamstring Iso Hold on Roller
2 x 0:30
E3
Banded Deadbug
2 x 20
F1
Staggered Stance ADDuctor Hinge on Wall w/ Roller
3 x 15
F2
DB Reciprocal Press Seated
3 x 12
F3
Goblet Curtsy to Lateral Lunge
3 x 8
A
Warmup Jog
1 x 5:00
B1
Dynamic Hammi Pull to Worlds Greatest
1 x 10
B2
Dynamic Quad Stretch to Toe Touch
1 x 10
B3
Dynamic Leg Swing
1 x 10
B4
Side Lunge to Crossover Reach
1 x 10
B5
Dynamic Crossover w/ High Knee
1 x 10
B6
A - Skip
1 x 20
B7
B - Skip
1 x 10
C1
Miniband Linear Walk
1 x 30
C2
Miniband Lateral Walk
1 x 30
C3
Miniband Storch Walks
1 x 30
C4
Miniband hip flexor activation
1 x 20
D1
Hop Bound Pattern
2 x 20
D2
Crisscross Plyo Jumps
2 x 20
D3
Pogo Jumps
2 x 20
D4
Quick Crossover Bound
2 x 20
Circuit
E
6-8 x 800m @desired race-pace 75 sec. light jog in between intervals Goal: Build aerobic efficiency and rhythm at goal pace
A1
Calcaneus Mobility on Wall
1 x 15
A2
Sidelaying Scap Reaches w/ roller
1 x 4
A3
Worlds Greatest
1 x 8
A4
Dynamic Pidgeon
1 x 8
A5
90/90 Hip Switches
1 x 16
B1
Inversion/Eversion Lifts
2 x 20
B2
Prone Alternating Shoulder Hovers
2 x 20
C1
Yielding Bend Knee Calf Isometric on wedge
2 x 1:00
C2
Yielding Long Lever Lunge Iso
1 x 2:00
D1
Vertical Bounds Extensive
2 x 20
D2
FFE Yielding Low Lunge
2 x 20
D3
Yielding Assisted SL Knee Plyo
2 x 20
E1
Half Kneeling Copenhagen
2 x 0:25
E2
Staggered Stance KB reciprocal Row
2 x 40
E3
Staggered Stance Cable Pallof Press
2 x 10
F1
Trap Bar Squat
3 x 13
F2
Alternating DB Press
3 x 26
F3
Reverse Step Down (Heel Touch)
3 x 10
A1
Plantar Fascial Knee Drives
1 x 10
A2
Foot Pronation Drill w/ hip opening
1 x 15
A3
Banded Cat Cow
1 x 10
A4
Cobra
1 x 10
A5
Supine Open Book w/ Roller
1 x 10
A6
Loaded Thomas Stretch
1 x 2:00
A7
Knee CARs
1 x 10
A8
Half Kneeling Quad stretch on wall
2:00, 0:20, 0:20
A9
Band Assited Pancake Stretch
2:00, 0:20, 0:20, 0:20
A10
Elephant Walk with T-Spine Rotation
1 x 12 @ 5
A11
Bearcrawl Hip Rolls
1 x 30
A12
Seated Hip IR/ER
1 x 10
A13
90/90 Hip Switches
1 x 10
A14
90/90 Lift Off Pulses
1 x 30
A15
Active Kneeling Hip CARs
1 x 6
B
Sauna - 2x10 min + 2x2 min cold exposure
2 x 10:00
Ricco Ratajczyk
Performance Specialist | Personal Trainer | Former Pro Hockey Player
