Track athlete Quamel Prince shares a killer bodyweight circuit that requires minimal space and equipment.
You might think the only way to get a good strength workout in is if you have tons of equipment—dumbbells, kettlebells, mini bands, a bench, the list goes on. But Quamel Prince, an Under Armour pro runner who trains with the District Track Club in the Washington, D.C. area, proves you can use your own body weight to build muscle and run stronger.
Prince, who specialises in the 800 meters, was a seven-time Ohio Valley Conference champion during his time competing for Tennessee State University, qualified for the 2017 USATF World Championships, and represented his home country of Guyana at the 2019 IAAF World Championships and came in 6th place.
“Strength training is definitely important to my training mainly because of the toughness of my event, the 800 meters. [Strong] muscles help a lot, especially for the last 200 meters in a race,” Prince told Runner’s World. “It’s also very important to working on the small muscles that you didn’t know you use. When [runners] get tired, we tend to lose form, which is not good for running, so being able to have good, strong muscles even when tired helps with good mechanics.”
In the video above, which can be found on Under Armour’s YouTube page, Prince demonstrates the following exercises. The best part: You don’t need a ton of space to do these moves. So head to your living room, basement, backyard, or anywhere else you have the room to move around a bit for a killer cross-training workout that will help power your speed or track workouts and long runs. For the warmup, you’ll need a massage or lacrosse ball and a foam roller.
The Warmup (30 Seconds Each):
- Ball Under Foot
- Calf Foam Roll
- IT Band Foam Roll
- Calf Stretch
- Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch
- Glute Bridge
Circuit 1 (3 Sets):
- Side Plank (30 seconds each side)
- Single-Leg Balance to Lateral Reach (10 reps on each side)
Circuit 2 (3 Sets):
- Iso Squat Hold (30 seconds)
- V Push-Up (10 reps)
- Overhead Squat (20 reps)
- Lateral Lunge to Single-Leg Balance (10 reps on each side)
- Single-Leg Push-Up (5 reps on each side)
- Single-Leg Box/Chair Squat (10 reps on each side)
