Strength training for runners – your how-to guide

1. Strength training for runners – your how-to guide

3. Strength training for runners is a vital piece of the puzzle. Adding tempo runs, long runs, and speedwork to your routine will help build speed and efficiency, but strength training is often the element to take runners to the next level. ‘Strength work accomplishes three goals for runners: it prevents injuries by strengthening muscles and connective tissues; it helps you run faster by boosting neuromuscular coordination and power; and it improves your running economy by encouraging coordination and stride efficiency,’ says Jason Fitzgerald, running coach and founder of Strength Running.

4. Many runners fear that strength training will build bulky muscle, which will slow you down. But unless you’re lifting very frequently and eating tons of extra calories, you’re unlikely to put on weight that would impair your running, explains Joe Holder, a Nike+ Run Club coach. ‘I remember a quote from a strength coach who said, "There are no weak fast runners",' says Fitzgerald.

5. What does running strength training involve? Focus on lifting, not on raising your heart rate. Many runners turn their session into a metabolic workout by including too much cardio – think CrossFit workouts or circuit-based fitness classes, says Fitzgerald. But runners get enough cardio. Instead, they should focus on gaining strength and power. Fitzgerald recommends focusing on relatively heavy weights for a moderate number of repetitions, with full recovery. You can lift weight at the gym, or at home with a few pieces of home gym equipment.

6. Focus on working your entire body; you’ll get the most bang for your buck if you emphasise mostly compound exercises – those that involve multiple joints and muscle groups, such as lunges, squats, rows or deadlifts –rather than isolation exercises, which involve just one joint and one major muscle group, such as a biceps curl or hamstring curl.

7. The goal is to get used to controlling your weight through multiple planes and increasing the level of strength proficiency and body awareness, which will lead to increased mobility, balance and speed,’ says Holder. It's also worth concentrating on single-leg exercises, such as single-leg deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats and lunges, as this will help to iron out any imbalances (most of us have one leg that's slightly stronger than the other). This lower-body workout is a good place to start.

8. Don’t forget that your own body serves as weight, too. Bridges and planks are excellent exercises – they target areas where weaknesses could lead to increased risk of injury, such as the glutes, hips and core. So if picking up a barbell or dumbbells is a big stretch for you, ditching the weights and adding body-weight exercises instead can still build strength while you master proper form.

9. Train for strength, not gains: As a runner, train for strength and power, not to bulk up with massive muscles. Choose your weights and reps wisely if you want to get stronger but not necessarily bigger. ‘Runners should be lifting heavy,’ says Brad Schoenfeld, a strength and conditioning specialist and associate professor of exercise science at Lehman College in New York, US. ‘Volume builds muscle, whereas strength is maximised by heavy loads.’

10. A strength-training programme should be periodised like running, explains Fitzgerald. ‘At the beginning, focus on three sets of 10 reps, which is a fairly basic set and rep scheme, building up movement capacity and getting more efficient with using moderate weight,’ he says. ‘Then you can add on weight, periodising appropriately, until you eventually get into power-based moves or Olympic lifts, where the reps come down and sets increase to something like two to five reps for four or five sets.’

11. How much strength training do runners need to do?  Most coaches would recommend two or three sessions a week. But if you’re seriously pushed for time, there’s some evidence to suggest just one 20-minute strength training session per week can be effective in building and then maintaining strength. The study looked at a Dutch personal training company, Fit20, whose ethos is “personal training in 20 minutes per week”. Said training involves six exercises: chest press, pull down, back extension, leg press, abdominal flexion, and either hip abduction or abduction (but you could sub in your own exercises here). 

12. The key thing is the level of resistance: you need to choose a weight where you can only mange four to six reps. Rest between the exercises is typically about 20 seconds.