Strength training for runners: what to lift, how often, and where it fits

Strength training for runners works. Not the fifteen-minute band routine you do once and forget, but actual lifting: squats, deadlifts, lunges, calf raises, done twice a week with weights that feel heavy. The research on distance runners says it tends to improve running economy and race performance without touching your aerobic fitness.

Most runners skip it because their running plan doesn't include it, and the lifting plan they found online was written for someone trying to bench press a fridge. The fix is one plan that treats both as part of the same week, whether you build it by hand or use a running app that also plans your strength work. Here's what to lift, how often, and where it goes.

Why runners should lift

The short version: you get more out of the engine you already have.

What the research says

Several reviews have looked at this, and they mostly point in the same direction:

• ›A systematic review of 24 studies on middle- and long-distance runners (Blagrove et al., 2018) found strength training generally improved running economy, time-trial performance (1.5–10 km) and sprint performance, though not in every study. VO2max, lactate and body composition were typically unaffected.
• ›A meta-analysis of highly trained runners (Balsalobre-Fernández et al., 2016) found a large beneficial effect of strength training on running economy. The programs that worked ran two to three times a week for eight to twelve weeks.
• ›A 2017 meta-analysis (Denadai et al.) found both explosive training and heavy weight training were effective for improving running economy within a few weeks, with longer programs likely needed for the biggest improvements.
• ›A review of endurance athletes more broadly (Beattie et al., 2014) concluded that the evidence supports adding strength training for improved economy, muscle power and performance.

Running economy is how much oxygen you need to hold a given pace. Better economy means the same pace costs less, which is the kind of improvement that shows up late in a race.

What it won't do

It won't make you bulky. Two sessions a week alongside a running program is not a bodybuilding program, and the review data above found body composition was typically unchanged. It also isn't a guarantee against injury. Lifting builds capacity, but if something hurts, see a professional rather than a squat rack.

If you want a starting point to follow, this strength routine for runners puts the principles below into a set week.

Runners' strength training is hybrid training

The moment you add lifting to running, you're doing hybrid training, whether you call it that or not. The same rules apply: one priority per block, hard days hard, easy days easy, and the sessions that compete kept apart. The bigger picture of running and lifting in one plan is in the hub.

The good news for runners: the interference research mostly worries about running hurting lifting, not the other way round. In the study that started the whole debate (Hickson, 1980), adding strength training didn't reduce the gains in VO2max. The main risk for you is just tired legs on the wrong day.

Heavy or light? The best strength training for runners

The old runner's instinct is light weights, high reps, "for endurance". You already do endurance. It's called running.

Rønnestad and Mujika (2014) reviewed strength training for runners and cyclists and found running economy improved with either heavy or explosive strength training added to endurance training. Denadai's meta-analysis reached a similar conclusion. Balsalobre-Fernández's pooled programs mostly used moderate loads (40–70% of a one-rep max) combined with jumps and short sprints. The common thread isn't endless reps with a pink dumbbell. It's real resistance plus some fast, explosive work.

In practice, the best strength training for runners combines two kinds of work:

Heavy here means heavy for you. If you've never lifted, it means learning the movements first and adding load over weeks, not loading a bar on day one. The question of weight training for runners, heavy vs light vs not at all, gets a deeper treatment of its own.

What to lift

You don't need thirty exercises. You need a few movement patterns, done well, with load that goes up over time.

The core list

• ›Squat pattern: back squat, front squat, goblet squat, or leg press.
• ›Hinge pattern: deadlift, Romanian deadlift, hip thrust.
• ›Single-leg: split squat, rear-foot-elevated split squat, step-up, lunge. Running is a single-leg sport.
• ›Calves: standing and seated calf raises, heavy enough to matter.
• ›Upper-body push and pull: push-ups or presses, rows or pull-ups. For posture and general robustness, not for show.
• ›Trunk: carries, planks, anti-rotation work. Short and hard.
• ›Plyometrics: pogo hops, box jumps, bounds, skips. Few reps, full effort, full rest.

If those movements are new to you, start with beginner strength training and the five patterns it covers. Runners don't need a special version of a squat.

For a ranked breakdown of the best strength exercises for runners, including the ones that waste your time, that's the next step.

Runners' weight lifting: a sample session

Twice a week, roughly 40–50 minutes:

Plyometrics go first, while you're fresh. Heavy lifts next. Accessories last.

How often should runners lift?

Two sessions a week is the sweet spot for most runners. That's in line with the two to three weekly sessions used in the studies Balsalobre-Fernández pooled. One session a week will maintain strength in a heavy running block. Three is possible but rarely worth the recovery cost unless lifting is the priority for that block.

Use effort to set the load, not a percentage from a spreadsheet you found. Rate of perceived exertion works well here: RPE 7–8 means two or three reps left in the tank. On a bad-sleep week, the same RPE means a lighter bar, which is exactly what you want when the running is heavy too.

Where lifting fits in a running week

This is where most runners go wrong. They lift on whatever day is free, which turns out to be the day before intervals.

The rules:

1. ›Never heavy legs the day before a key run. The key run will suffer. Two setups work. Stack it: lift on the same day as a quality run (run in the morning, lift later), which keeps your easy days genuinely easy. Or split it: lift on an easy-run day or the day after a hard run, which keeps both hard sessions fresh. Pick the one your schedule allows; just keep heavy legs away from the day before intervals or the long run.
2. ›Keep the day before the long run easy. No heavy lifting.
3. ›If run and lift share a day, the priority goes first. For most runners in a race block, that's the run.

A runner's week with two strength sessions might look like this:

The awkward part is the day after legs. An easy run is fine; a hard one is a gamble. The detail of running after leg day, including same-day order, has its own post.

How strength work changes through a season

Lifting shouldn't look the same in March as in race week. Roughly:

• ›Base: the time to build strength. Two sessions, heavier loads, more sets. Running is mostly easy, so there's room.
• ›Build: maintain strength while running intensity climbs. Keep the load, cut a set or two.
• ›Peak and taper: one short session a week, or two very short ones. Keep the heavy feel, drop most of the volume. Nothing new, nothing that leaves you sore.
• ›Off-season: the best time to push strength, because nothing is competing with it.

Every few weeks, take a lighter week for both running and lifting. Deload weeks are where the previous block's work turns into fitness, and skipping them is how runners end up tired for no reason.

Marathoners face a specific version of this, because the long run takes up so much of the week. Lifting during a marathon block is mostly about keeping the heavy sessions short and well away from the long run.

Will lifting make me lose muscle or gain weight?

Runners worry about getting heavier. Lifters worry about the opposite: that running will strip muscle. Neither happens much with two strength sessions a week and sensible eating. The other side of that coin, running without losing muscle, is mostly about energy, protein and scheduling.

Strength training for beginner runners

If you're new to running and lifting, start smaller. One or two short sessions a week of bodyweight squats, lunges, hip bridges, calf raises and planks will do more for you than an ambitious program you drop in week three. Add load once you can do the movements well. Strength training for beginner runners covers the minimum that works.

How exrsz handles strength for runners

exrsz builds one periodized plan from your goal, schedule, level and equipment, so your strength sessions are planned around your runs instead of squeezed into whatever day is left. It keeps heavy legs away from key runs, shifts the lifting from building to maintaining as a race gets closer, adapts each week to how you actually trained, and reshuffles missed sessions.

FAQ

Is strength training good for runners?

Yes. Systematic reviews of distance runners have found strength training generally improves running economy and time-trial performance, without changing VO2max or body composition.

How many times a week should runners do strength training?

Two sessions a week is the most common recommendation and matches the frequency used in many of the studies. One session is enough to maintain strength during heavy running blocks.

What is the best strength training for runners?

A mix of heavy compound lifts (squats, deadlifts, single-leg work, calf raises) and explosive work like jumps and short sprints. Reviews have found both heavy and explosive training improve running economy.

Should runners lift heavy or light?

Heavy enough to be challenging, with good technique and a few reps left in the tank. The studies that improved running economy used heavy or explosive training, or moderate loads combined with plyometrics, not long high-rep circuits.

Should runners lift on the same day as a run?

Often, yes. Putting heavy lifting on the same day as a hard run, a few hours apart, keeps your easy days easy. Lifting on an easy-run day works too. Either way, avoid heavy legs the day before a key run or long run.