A bit of strength training for runners is useful, even for endurance runners. Get on with it! Read this to understand which days to strength train, how it fits into your running plan and why it’s a useful part of that plan. This last part is great, because if you understand why it’s important, you’ll be more likely to spend time doing it.
Use the links below to jump to the section of the article you are interested in or read it all!
- Why is strength training for runners useful?
- Why is gaining lots of muscle mass difficult for runners?
- When should runners do strength training?
- What strength training should I do as a runner?
Why is Strength Training for Runners useful?
It’s a good idea for runners to do strength training, focusing on both legs and upper body.
Leg weight exercises aren’t strictly needed for endurance running (by this I mean, not sprinting, so anyone running more than about 1500m), since doing enough running will build those muscles over time. This assumes that the training matches whatever races a runner might be aiming at in terms of terrain and any hills. For example, if we live in a totally flat training area, but are aiming for a long race with lots of hills, some weight training would help, although getting experimental with stairs or multi-storey car parks would be beneficial too.
However, running is a very specific set of movements, repeated over and over, so when our bodies adapt to running over the long term, the muscles that build up are great at running, but maybe not so good at other non-running movements. Sometimes in Running, or everyday life, we meet the unexpected – put a foot down a hole, make a sudden turn, jump out of the way of a dog/bike/car. These sudden non-running movements would be less risky if we were stronger in the legs, and torso. Strength training is an easy way for runners to improve muscles and movements that aren’t addressed during normal runs.
Next we need to note that running doesn’t really train the core or upper body. Why is this a problem? You might think that running is mostly just legs, but improving running posture is super important. You need a strong core, stomach and back, to maintain a great running form. The longer the race, the stronger you need to be to hold that posture without getting tired. You also need to be able to pump the arms with great elbow drive to keep yourself balanced and to help drive the knees higher and faster. Strength training for runners means better overall performance by covering muscles in the rest of the body. I go into detail on how to improve your running form in the “Run Like A Pro” course. It also includes demonstrations and guidance on a range of great strength and condition exercises specifically for runners.
Finally, it’s not all about the running. Sometimes life throws things at us that we’re not prepared for. Being off running for a few weeks because you are injured will damage your running consistency, and is mentally challenging. “Gah, I put my back out while picking up a heavy box and can’t run now!” Sad story. Often told! Be stronger overall to avoid this situation.
Why is gaining lots of muscle mass difficult for runners?
Many runners avoid doing strength training because they think that by lifting weights, they will get huge muscles. Let’s put that myth to rest now. It’s really difficult for runners to gain large amounts of muscle mass quickly. Why is this? Some types of running cancel muscle gains! Any runner following a proper running plan will be doing those types of running.
Rapamycin (mTOR) controls cell growth and is activated during strength training and for up to a day afterwards. Long aerobic runs (and some intensive running sessions like sprints if performed just before strength training) actually cancel out part of weight training’s muscle building effect. These types of sessions inhibit the “build muscle quickly” signals, turning off the mTOR activation, so it’s hard to gain big muscles while doing lots of running. Whilst muscle building is inhibited, it will still happen a little and it’s these small gains that will help runners get fitter and faster.
When should runners do strength training?
So even though it takes us runners longer to build strength, it’s still worth us lifting some weights and performing some dynamic bodyweight exercises once a week. A lot of runners think they should do these on a rest day so that they can do a better weights session, but……….. then it’s not actually a rest day, and rest is the most important day!
Instead, do strength training for runners should be on a hard day. If you have a fast session of intervals for example, do your weights routine later that day. The most critical part of the day is the run. If you perform the weights first and then run later in the day, the muscles will be tired and running form will be impacted. This is bad because you’ll be at higher risk of injury and also be training the body (and mind) to run with poor running form.
So now you know why strength training for runners is a good idea, why you don’t have to worry about getting huge muscles and when to slot strength training into your running plan.
What strength training should I do as a runner?
We’ve written a separate article specifically for learning about which exercises and how many to do in strength and conditioning for runners.
