Why runners should lift
Most extras activities or cross training sold to runners have weak evidence. Strength training is an exception, with good evidence on two separate counts.
The first is performance. A systematic review of 24 studies1 found that adding strength training to normal run training generally improved running economy, the amount of oxygen you use at a given pace, by 2–8%. Time-trial performance over distances up to 10K tended to improve as well. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂ max) didn’t change, so the gain comes from running more efficiently rather than from a bigger engine.
The second is injury risk. A meta-analysis of randomized trials2 across sports found that strength training cut sports injuries to less than a third, and roughly halved overuse injuries. Stretching, by comparison, showed no protective effect. Those trials weren’t all in runners, so treat the exact numbers with caution, but the direction is consistent with what runner-specific research shows: stronger hips help runner’s knee, and stronger calves help shin and Achilles problems.
The most common worry is bulking up. In one well-known study3, distance runners did heavy half squats three times a week for eight weeks. Their running economy improved by 5% and their time to exhaustion at maximal aerobic speed rose by over 20%, and their body weight didn’t change. Heavy, low-rep lifting alongside a full running load is a poor recipe for adding muscle, which is exactly why it suits runners.
How heavy, and how many reps
The research that shows benefits uses heavy, low-rep lifting and explosive work, not long sets with light weights. Twenty reps with a light dumbbell feels like it suits endurance athletes, but your running already provides plenty of endurance stimulus. What running doesn’t provide is high force, and that’s what the gym is for.
For most of the year, aim for sets of 4–8 reps at a weight where you finish with about two good reps left in the tank. Coaches call this “two reps in reserve” (RIR). You should never grind out the last rep with ugly form.
New lifters are the exception. Spend your first four to six weeks on 8–12 reps with lighter loads to learn the movements, then move toward heavier, lower-rep sets once your technique is consistent.
The exercises that matter most
You don’t need a long list. Running is a single-leg activity that loads the calves, quads and hips hardest, so six exercises cover nearly everything.
1. Squat (goblet squat, back squat or trap-bar deadlift). This is the main heavy lift, and squats are the exercise used in most of the economy studies. Beginners start with a goblet squat, holding one dumbbell at the chest. Once that’s solid, a back squat or trap-bar deadlift lets you load heavier. Depth only needs to be what you can control with a neutral back; a half squat is fine.
2. Bulgarian split squat. This is a split squat with your rear foot raised on a bench. It works one leg at a time, which is how you run, and it exposes left–right differences that bilateral squats hide. It’s humbling, so start with body weight.
3. Romanian deadlift (single or double leg). This is a hip hinge with soft knees, lowering the weight down the front of your legs while pushing your hips back. It trains the hamstrings and glutes, which drive you forward and take a lot of strain late in races. The single-leg version adds balance and pelvic control.
4. Calf raises, straight-knee and bent-knee. The calf and Achilles absorb more force than any other structure in running. Musculoskeletal modeling4 puts the force through the soleus, the deep calf muscle, at several times body weight with every stride. Do straight-knee raises for the gastrocnemius (the visible calf muscle) and bent-knee raises for the soleus, which is the one most runners neglect. Do them on a step, slow on the way down, and hold a dumbbell once body weight gets easy.
5. Step-ups. Step onto a box roughly knee height and drive through the top leg without pushing off the bottom one. This is the most running-like strength exercise on the list and a good alternative on days when split squats feel too hard.
6. Plyometrics: pogo hops, skipping and bounding. Plyometrics are quick jumping and bounding exercises that train your tendons to store and return energy. A nine-week study5 that replaced part of runners’ training with explosive work improved 5K times and running economy without any change in VO₂ max. Start with pogo hops: small, quick hops with stiff ankles and minimal knee bend. Progress to skipping for height, then single-leg hops and bounding. The volume stays low, just a few sets of 10–20 contacts.
Add trunk work, especially side planks and single-leg glute bridges, from our core workouts for runners routine if time allows.
Realistic time blocks
Most strength plans are written for people with an hour and an empty gym. Most runners have neither, so these templates fit three realistic windows. The trick that makes the shorter ones work is pairing exercises: do a set of one exercise, then a set of another that uses different muscles, and rest after the pair. You get your rest without the clock running.
20 minutes: the minimum effective session
For busy weeks or home training with a pair of dumbbells. This is enough to make progress if you’re consistent.
| Block | Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|---|
| Warm-up (3 min) | Leg swings, body-weight squats, pogo hops | 1 round |
| Pair A (8 min) | Goblet squat + bent-knee calf raise | 3 × 6–8 / 3 × 12 |
| Pair B (8 min) | Single-leg Romanian deadlift + step-ups | 3 × 6–8 per leg |
30 minutes: the standard session
This is the session most runners should aim for twice a week in the base phase.
| Block | Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|---|
| Warm-up (5 min) | Easy movement, then 2 × 15 pogo hops | — |
| Main lift (10 min) | Squat or trap-bar deadlift | 4 × 4–6, 2 min rest |
| Pair A (8 min) | Bulgarian split squat + straight-knee calf raise | 3 × 6–8 per leg / 3 × 10 |
| Pair B (7 min) | Romanian deadlift + side plank | 3 × 6–8 / 3 × 30 sec per side |
45 minutes: the full gym session
Use this when you have the time, typically once a week in the base phase alongside a shorter session.
| Block | Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|---|
| Warm-up (7 min) | Easy movement, skips, 2 × 15 pogo hops | — |
| Plyometrics (5 min) | Single-leg hops or bounding | 3 × 8–10 per leg |
| Main lift (12 min) | Back squat or trap-bar deadlift | 4–5 × 3–5, 2–3 min rest |
| Pair A (10 min) | Bulgarian split squat + bent-knee calf raise | 3 × 6 per leg / 3 × 12 |
| Pair B (8 min) | Romanian deadlift + step-ups | 3 × 6–8 |
| Trunk (3 min) | Side plank, Pallof press | 2 rounds |
Do plyometrics and heavy lifts early in the session, while you’re fresh. Fatigue ruins form for explosive work, and that’s when it stops being useful.
How often to lift
Twice a week is the standard recommendation for building strength, and it’s what most of the successful studies use.6 Three times a week works too, but for most runners the extra session costs more in fatigue than it adds.
Once a week maintains what you’ve built. Research on resistance training7 found that young adults kept their strength and muscle size with a single weekly session at a fraction of their original training volume. This matters for runners, because it means you can cut back during race-specific training and racing season without losing your gains, as long as the load stays heavy. Cut the sets, not the weight.
Beginners to both running and lifting should start with two short sessions a week of body-weight exercises. Combined with a new running habit, that’s plenty of new load for your tendons to adapt to.
When in the week to lift
The principle is to keep hard days hard and easy days easy. Put strength sessions on the same day as your hard running sessions, rather than on the days in between, so your easy days and rest days stay genuinely restful.
In practice:
- Lift after your quality run, not before. Run your intervals or tempo in the morning and lift later the same day, ideally six or more hours apart. If you have to do both in one go, run first.
- Avoid heavy legs the day before a key session or long run. Soreness from lifting can wreck the next day’s workout.
- Lifting after an easy run is fine if that’s the only slot you have. Keep the easy run in zones 1–2, as it should be anyway (see why easy runs should feel easy).
- Count lifting as training load, not as a free extra, when you’re building weekly mileage. Don’t add strength work and a big mileage jump in the same week.
Expect delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) for the first two or three weeks. It fades quickly once your body is used to the work. Start with one fewer set than the templates show and lighter weights than you think you need.
How to rotate your strength training
“Rotation” covers three different things: alternating sessions within a week, shifting the focus across the training year, and swapping exercise variations. Each has its own rules.
Within the week: alternate A and B sessions
Rather than repeating the same session twice, split the exercises into two complementary sessions:
- Session A (heavy and bilateral): squat or trap-bar deadlift, Romanian deadlift, straight-knee calf raise, pogo hops.
- Session B (single-leg and plyometric): Bulgarian split squat, single-leg Romanian deadlift, step-ups, bent-knee calf raise, hops or bounding.
Each movement pattern still gets trained twice a week, but no single exercise wears you down, and both sessions stay shorter.
Across the year: match the phase of training
Strength work should change with your running. The heavier the running load and the closer the race, the less strength work you do, while keeping its intensity.
| Phase | Focus | Frequency | Sets × reps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base (8–12 weeks) | General strength, learning technique | 2 × per week | 3 × 8–10, moving to 4 × 6 |
| Build (6–8 weeks) | Heavy strength and plyometrics | 2 × per week | 4 × 3–6, plus hops and bounds |
| Race-specific (4–8 weeks) | Maintenance and power | 1 × per week | 2–3 × 3–5, heavy; low-volume plyometrics |
| Taper | Stay sharp, stay fresh | Last session 7–10 days before race | 2 × 3, moderate weight |
| After the race | Recover | 1–2 weeks off lifting | Restart lighter in the base phase |
If you’re training without a target race, just cycle between base-style and build-style blocks every six to eight weeks, with an easier week between them.
Exercise variations: change slowly
The common mistake is changing exercises too often. Strength gains in the first few weeks of a new exercise are mostly your nervous system learning the movement. If you swap every week, you spend all your time learning and never get to load anything heavy.
- Keep the same exercises for at least four to six weeks before changing.
- Change the variation, not the pattern. Swap a goblet squat for a back squat, or a Bulgarian split squat for a step-up. Don’t drop squatting.
- Change one thing at a time. If you change the exercises, the reps and the frequency all at once, you can’t tell what worked.
- Never drop calf work. It’s the one area to train year-round, whatever phase you’re in.
How to progress
Within a phase, use double progression: pick a rep range, such as 4–6, and stay at the same weight until you can do every set at the top of the range with two reps left in the tank. Then add the smallest weight increment available, usually 5 lb (2.5kg) for lower-body lifts, and work back up from the bottom of the range.
For plyometrics, progress by difficulty, not volume: two-leg hops before single-leg hops, then bounding. Keep the total number of contacts low. If your ankles collapse or your landings get loud, the set is over.
Give a new program six to eight weeks before judging it. Strength rises within a few weeks, but improvements in running economy take longer to show up in your race times.
What to skip
- Long sets with light weights. Running already trains endurance; the gym’s job is force.
- Leg-extension and leg-curl machines as main exercises. They’re not useless, but they’re seated, single-joint movements, and the free-weight exercises above transfer much better to running.
- Training to failure. It adds fatigue that your running pays for, without adding much strength.
- Lifting through pain. Muscle effort is fine. Sharp pain or pain in a joint or tendon means you should regress the exercise or stop and get it looked at.
Summary
Strength training improves running economy by roughly 2–8% and is one of the best-supported ways to reduce injury risk, and it won’t add bulk. Keep it heavy, with low reps and explosive work, and build it around six exercises: squats, Bulgarian split squats, Romanian deadlifts, calf raises, step-ups and plyometrics.
Twenty minutes is enough if you pair exercises. Lift twice a week to build strength and once a week to maintain it, on your hard running days. Rotate A and B sessions within the week, change the focus with the phase of your training, and keep exercises for four to six weeks before swapping variations.
For the coordination side of the same picture, pair this with running drills and the easy run with strides.
This article is general information, not medical or coaching advice.
References
- Blagrove RC, Howatson G, Hayes PR. Effects of strength training on the physiological determinants of middle- and long-distance running performance: a systematic review. Sports Medicine, 2018. doi.org
- Lauersen JB, Bertelsen DM, Andersen LB. The effectiveness of exercise interventions to prevent sports injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2014. doi.org
- Støren Ø, Helgerud J, Støa EM, Hoff J. Maximal strength training improves running economy in distance runners. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2008. doi.org
- Dorn TW, Schache AG, Pandy MG. Muscular strategy shift in human running: dependence of running speed on hip and ankle muscle performance. Journal of Experimental Biology, 2012. doi.org
- Paavolainen L et al. Explosive-strength training improves 5-km running time by improving running economy and muscle power. Journal of Applied Physiology, 1999. doi.org
- Rønnestad BR, Mujika I. Optimizing strength training for running and cycling endurance performance: a review. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2014. doi.org
- Bickel CS, Cross JM, Bamman MM. Exercise dosing to retain resistance training adaptations in young and older adults. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2011. doi.org
