Weight Training for Runners: How Strength Training Can Improve Running Performance

While many people think of it as just a cardiovascular exercise, few fail to appreciate the considerable strength demands running has on the body. This is very likely one of the reasons why over 50% of runners sustain an injury every single year. Incorporating weight training into your running program has been shown to dramatically increase running economy and VO2 max. This article will teach you how weight training for runners can reduce the likelihood of these injuries and improve performance overall.

Should Runners Lift Weights?

There is a bit of a stigma in the running community when it comes to weight training. Runners worldwide tend to have an adverse reaction to even the suggestion that they should be in the gym hitting weights as opposed to on the road racking miles. We’d like to quickly dispel some of these myths to show you that weight training can actually be a huge benefit to your training.

One of the most common misconceptions, among males and females, is that they’re going to put on too much mass in the gym and become slower. This is one of those old school fables that has no basis in the multitude of studies and evidence. For example, this study showed how strength training significantly increased running economy and VO2 max, all without gaining any additional muscle mass.

Another worry is that a runner will get injured by lifting weights, thus hampering the ability to run and losing valuable, hard-earned fitness in the process. Resistance exercise, however, has been shown to reduce the likelihood of injuries in runners, while also possibly contributing to better running posture, and (again) improving running economy.

These two papers alone are just a drop in the ocean of evidence to support the integration of strength training into any runners programming. The benefits can extend far outside of running, as well. For excessive endurance exercise has actually been shown to have some negative effects on the body, particularly the endocrine (hormonal) system.

(Image credit: weyo/Adobe Stock)

Running, Hormones & Strength Training

Particularly if you’re a competitive runner who is female, you are at risk of developing something called the Female Athlete Triad. This condition is characterized by three interrelated components that develop as a result of a disrupted hormonal balance and negative energy equilibrium in the body:

• Menstrual dysfunction
• Low energy availability
  
• Decreased bone mineral density

These symptoms typically accompany one another, but can present themselves individually as well. This condition tends to affect female athletes in sports that require weight-class restrictions or emphasize leanness, such as gymnastics, dance, figure skating, mma, cycling, swimming, and running.

There is a condition that is similar in male endurance athletes, called Exercise-Induced Hypogonadal Male Condition, where the male’s testosterone is reduced as a result of excessive exercise. Similar symptoms like fatigue, low bone density, and reduced libido tend to be present in those with this condition.

How Can Strength Training Help?

By performing strength training sessions in lieu of some running, you will not only receive the aforementioned benefits of improved running performance, but also a stimulation of important growth hormones that keep you healthy. Resistance exercise, performed at a high enough intensity, will induce the production of these anabolic hormones in both men and women.

Understanding how to balance these different modalities of your training is going to keep you running for years to come, and allow it to continue to be an activity that contributes to your health rather than hampering it.

Strength training can help keep your bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons strong so you can run pain and injury free throughout your whole life. (Image credit: TheVisualsYouNeed/Adobe Stock)

Other Benefits of Weight Training for Runners

Along with all we have mentioned so far, here are some of the other benefits you can expect when you start lifting weights and strength training as a runner:

• Less muscle imbalances: By performing a variety of exercises that target different muscle groups, you’ll have a more well-rounded physique that couldn’t otherwise be achieved through running alone.
• Improved upper body strength: Running doesn’t really use your upper body, so many runners think they don’t need to train it. However you use your upper body in other parts of life, and it’s important to have base levels of strength for other daily functions.
• Better posture: This is a follow-up benefit to training your upper body. By working the postural muscles in your back, for example, it will allow you to stay more upright while running, increasing oxygen uptake and limiting the stress of gravity on your spine.
• Enhanced recovery: Constantly pumping your muscles and feeding them with blood makes them more vascular, which in turn results in an increased capacity to receive nutrients, and heal from tough training sessions and injuries.
• More power: A stronger muscle is better able to produce power. If you train your muscles to handle forces beyond the capacity of your runs, it will make the act of running that much easier and more efficient for them to perform.
• Durability: Straining your muscle tissue under load makes them tougher, and tougher muscle fibers are more resilient to injury. For a sport like running that is so repetitive and can be extremely laborious, it’s crucial to have tissues that can handle the load.

Tips to Begin Weight Training for Runners

Especially if you’re new to running and exercise, it can be confusing knowing where to start, what to do, for how long, etc. Refer back to these general tips to help guide you on your journey to stronger, better running.

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Start With Bodyweight Training

It is always best to build up some capacity with your own body before you start moving external objects. Basic exercises like pushups, bodyweight rows (like on a TRX or straight bar), bodyweight squats, lunges, hip thrusts, planks, sit-ups, calf raises, etc. Always keep the reps at 10 or higher and the sets at three or higher. Build lots of volume in these kinds of movements.

Focus on Compound Exercises

When you do start lifting weights, do exercises that work multiple muscle groups at once (called a compound exercise or multi-joint exercise). Examples are back squats, front squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press, weighted lunges, etc. Watch videos and ask for advice on your form for each exercise. It is otherwise worth investing in a trainer to learn how to do these properly.

Do Accessory & Single-Joint Exercises at the End

Your big compound lift should always start the workout, because it is the most demanding on your body, so you need the most energy for it. Afterwards, you can focus on other smaller exercises. For example, you might start with back squats, but then later spend time doing seated calf raises, knee extensions, lying hamstring curls, and abdominal work. Focus on weaknesses.

Don’t Exhaust Yourself

A proper strength training session should leave you more energized than when you stepped into the gym, and it should also be completed in one hour or less. Don’t make the mistake of bringing a distance running mentality into the gym, this is a separate session designed to supplement your running performance and reduce the risk of injury, not increase it.

Perform Strength Work on your Non-Running Days

Don’t try to do everything all at once. Try breaking up your running schedule so that you’re running one day and in the gym the next day, perhaps with Sunday off. Or if you’re a more competitive runner, having one or two strength days a week and one day completely off. You have to find the right balance for your goals, whether that’s a 5K or 100 miler.

Our Program Is Designed for YOU

Dynamic Runner offers extensive follow-along strength training routines that utilize little to no equipment! You can login from any device and pick up right where you left off, whether you’re at home, at the gym, or on the road! Sign up for a 7-day free trial by clicking here, and take the guesswork out of your programming today!

Written by Eric Lister – Certified Personal Trainer & Corrective Exercise Specialist