Using strength training to improve your running

2 mins to read

There’s often debate about the benefits of strength training for runners. Online personal trainer Andrew Cate examines the research and offers some suggestions on how to improve your running efficiency.

Energy & exercise

Strength training involves moving your muscles against a resistance, such as body weight, dumbbells, barbells or a pin loaded weight.

It differs greatly from the most common form of training used to improve your capacity to run, which is endurance-based cardiovascular training involving a rhythmic, continuous movement such as running, rowing or cycling.

Concerns that strength training could develop extra muscle mass that could weigh runners down may help explain why it’s not always a popular training tool. But there is some evidence to support the role of strength training in helping runners to prevent injury, speed up rehabilitation and improve running efficiency.

Performance in long distance running is dependent on three variables of aerobic endurance, including maximal oxygen consumption, lactate threshold and running economy.

Running economy is a measure of how efficiently a person uses oxygen at a given pace at a sub-maximal level, and it’s this parameter where strength training may have an impact.

The research
A study reported in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise compared two groups of well-trained runners, with both groups instructed to complete their normal endurance training for 8 weeks.

However, one group added strength training to their routine, performing half-squats (four sets of four repetitions maximum), three times a week for the duration of the study.

Compared to the control group, the strength training group experienced a 5 percent improvement in running economy and a 21 percent improvement in time to exhaustion at maximal aerobic speed.

They also recorded significant improvements in measures of strength and rate of force in their leg muscles.

The researchers suggested that the improvements triggered by strength training mainly resulted from changes in neural pathways and muscle fibre recruitment patterns, as there were no changes in muscle bulk or total body weight recorded after 8 weeks of strength training.

In other words, the well trained runners in this study did not bulk up at all from performing strength training up to three times a week.

Implications for your training
The addition of strength training, as part of an overall balanced training program, has potential benefits for runners.

Follow these guidelines to help maximise the improvements in your performance while minimising your risk of injury.

Start slowly – When you start a new strength training program, begin with light weights that you can lift between 15-20 times, and build up slowly over a number of weeks. As you get stronger, increase the weight, so you can only lift it 8-15 times.
Increase the sets as you get stronger – Increase the number of sets of each exercise as you progress. Sets are the amount of times you perform a series of repetitions of each exercise. Start out with 1-2 sets for the first few weeks, and build up to 2-3 sets of each exercise over time.
Use caution with heavier weights – Benefits may be obtained from lifting heavier weights that you can only lift 4 times, as mentioned in the study above. However, it’s very important that good technique is used when lifting heavier weight. Save train at this level of intensity if you are a beginner. You may also need a spotter (someone to stand over you and make sure you are in control) if you are performing exercises with a heavy dumbbell or barbell.
Train the muscles you use when running – Try to focus on exercises that duplicate the forces and movements used in running, such as lunges and half squats. Some major muscles used during running include the calves (which power your push off), the thighs and hip flexors (which drive the knee forward) and the abdominal core (which stabilises your trunk and hips).
Add strength training, don’t substitute – Strength training is a great compliment to your endurance based training. Include it in your routine 2-3 times a week if you have time, but don’t sacrifice your normal training.

Weight training dos and don’ts

For a comprehensive guide on the best way to perform strength training (and how not to perform it), click here.

For free training tools and expert advice from Blackmores’ team of trainers, physios and naturopaths, visit the official Blackmores Sydney Running Festival training website.