Strength training can help you be a better runner
Many runners still treat strength training as something optional - something nice in theory, but easy to skip when your mileage climbs.
And I get it. You want to spend your training time running, not messing about in the gym.
However, a workout plan that includes the right amount of strength training could be your best approach to becoming a better, faster and less injury-prone runner.
So, what are the benefits of strength training for runners?
It improves running economy - running economy is the amount of oxygen or energy your body uses to maintain your running pace. Several reviews and meta-analyses show that you can improve your running economy significantly if you add weight training to your workout routine.
Basically, your brain gets better at telling your muscles when to fire, and your tendons get stiffer (in a good, springy way), so you can produce more force without wasting as much energy.
In short, you can run at the same speed while using less oxygen and energy. These positive effects occur regardless of your training status, whether you are moderately or highly trained.
It reduces injury - while running is an excellent exercise for your health, it also comes with significant injury risks. You hit the ground with 2.5 to 3 times your body weight thousands of times per run. Our bodies are made to handle a lot of stress, but sometimes, it gets too much. Research shows that between 37% and 56% of runners suffer an injury each year.
Preventing an injury is much better than having to treat it, and we know from extensive research that strength training is one of the best ways to prevent sports injuries in general.
Critically, when it comes to running, lifting weights is ONLY associated with fewer injuries when strength training is supervised (such as with a PT).
Runners are notorious for skipping their strength work or doing it with sloppy form because they’d rather be out running. And in unsupervised studies, compliance (and therefore injury prevention) was often poor. But where strength training was supervised, research shows that injury risk significantly dropped.
What does this all mean? It means that, yes, strength training makes your body more able to withstand the pounding you put it through. And, if you lift consistently and with progressive overload, you’ll very likely tolerate mileage with less injuries.
It makes you faster - Time trials are an excellent way to measure progressive improvements in running performance. You simply run a certain distance against the clock, making it very easy to measure progress.
According to research, resistance training can improve time trial performance by 3 -5% in middle-distance races and 2-4% in longer distances. Now 3% may not sound like much but consider this – if your best 10km time is 60 minutes, adding strength work to your training could cut almost two minutes off your personal best.
So how often should I be lifting?
In most studies that report improvements in running economy and performance, participants spend 2–3 times per week in the gym. That’s a great training frequency for getting stronger, giving you the best results for the time spent.
Three strength training sessions per week do lead to a bit better strength gains than two sessions per week in general. However, if you’re already running several times each week, two weight-training sessions are likely to be enough.
But what if you can only hit the weights one day per week? Don’t worry; you still benefit from lifting. While you might not gain as much strength as with two or three workouts per week, you’ll still make meaningful improvements.
Besides, there is a point where your running doesn’t benefit from you getting even stronger. You just need to be strong enough, not strongman strong.
But won’t I get big and bulky if I lift heavy?
Lifting weights is the definite way to build muscle. That’s why bodybuilders and athletes who want to bulk up and add muscle mass focus on strength training.
It’s also one of the main reasons why runners avoid strength training.
A heavier body requires more energy and effort to move. Running 10km requires around 12,500 steps, and considering you leave the ground with every step, even a small increase in body mass could be detrimental to your performance.
But if you worry about getting big and bulky if you take up lifting, fear not.
Perhaps surprisingly, adding strength training does not lead to changes in body composition, body mass, or lean muscle mass in runners. Virtually all studies show that combining resistance training and running improves running economy and performance without adding muscle and making you heavier.
This is likely, at least in part, to be explained by the interference effect.
When you lift, you activate genes that tell your body to make your muscle fibres grow.
Running, on the other hand, sends chemical signals that inhibit the pathways used to build massive size.
Best of all, while running might slow down muscle gains (which is one reason bodybuilders often avoid running), strength training does not interfere with your endurance development. As a runner, you only get the benefits, not the drawbacks.
Also, muscle doesn’t appear out of thin air. It requires extra fuel (calories) to build new tissue. You won’t gain weight unless you’re in a calorie surplus (eating more than you burn). As a runner, you probably avoid long-term overeating because you get heavier and slower if you gain a lot of weight.
Besides, running - especially middle and long-distance running - burns a lot of calories and many runners have a hard time eating enough to maintain their weight, let alone gain.
What sort of strength training should I be doing?
Running builds a body that’s good at running, while lifting builds a strong and powerful body that can handle whatever you throw at it.
When you combine both, you get the best of each without any downside (when appropriately programmed, of course).
Aim primarily for compound exercises, aimed at strengthening your legs, lower back, glutes and hamstrings, combined with some moderate upper body lifts and core exercises.
Here’s a few suggestions (not set in stone):
Compound lifts (e.g., squats, split quats, deadlifts, leg press, lunges, hip thrusts)
Moderate lifts (e.g., shoulder presses, lat pulldowns, chest presses, bent over or upright rows)
Core (e.g. planks, crunches, leg raises)
Anything else I should consider?
Lift heavy: It’s easy to think that as a runner you should do high-rep training with light weights for muscle endurance. Don’t make that mistake; you should move fairly heavy weights for the best results. After all, you already perform the best exercise for muscle endurance: running. It’s a far better way to improve your muscle endurance than high-rep weight training. When you hit the weights, train for strength and power – heavier weights, lower reps.
But don’t train to failure: If the program calls for, say, 6 reps, choose a weight you could lift 7 or 8 times, but stop. Leaving those “reps in reserve” minimises fatigue, allows you to recover better, and gives you the same strength gains. Leave training to absolute failure to bodybuilders chasing muscle growth.
Practice progressive overload: To get stronger, you need progressive overload: lift a little heavier or do one more repetition when you can. I want you to prioritise increasing the weight when you can do the suggested number of reps, not doing more reps with the same weight.
Run and lift on different days whenever possible: If you do both on the same day, try to run in the morning and lift in the evening, or vice versa. Avoid heavy lower-body lifting within 24 hours before long runs or important workouts (and definitely no strength training if you have a race coming up).
Don’t rush: Rest long enough between sets to recover and perform well. There is no benefit from rushing from set to set for some kind of “cardio effect”. You get all the cardio you need from your running. Let your strength work be strength work.