Why Strength Training Matters for Runners

By: Jonathan (Jon) Ray PT, DPT
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Runners often assume that strength training in a similar format to their sport will transfer but just because running requires enduring muscular effort doesn’t mean that copying the same type of fatigue in the gym will improve performance. The muscles already endure thousands of contractions when running.

Adding more in the gym doesn’t improve their ability to endure more because it’s just more of the same type of stress. To be effective, the strength work needs to exceed the demands that are normally faced. You’re not trying to copy stress patterns from running; your goal is to support those running-specific stress patterns with complementary stressors that enhance performance. 

The 3 Main Types of Weight Training

There are 3 different types of Weight Training that most people are familiar with: Strength, Hypertrophy (muscle growth), and muscular endurance, each with its own range of sets and repetitions.

Hypertrophy Training

Runners generally avoid Hypertrophy training, as it is believed more mass can decrease performance, and opt instead for muscular endurance training. However, as previously mentioned, this does not help to improve running performance. 

Muscular Endurance Training

Muscular endurance training uses lighter weights and higher repetitions to improve fatigue resistance. While this may sound beneficial for runners, running already provides a strong endurance stimulus. Because of this, endurance-focused gym training often has less impact on running performance than heavier strength training.

Strength Training

Strength training provides significant neuromuscular benefits by enhancing the communication between the brain and muscles, improving motor unit recruitment, synchronization, and firing rates. But, does this improve running performance and what running metric specifically does it improve?

What Is Running Economy?

Enter Running Economy. 

Running Economy (RE) is defined as the measure of oxygen consumption during submaximal running, reflecting how efficiently your body uses fuel (“fuel economy”). A better RE means running faster or farther with less effort. 

Why Running Economy Is Important for Distance Runners

Runners with good RE use less energy and therefore less oxygen than runners with poor RE at the same velocity. There is a strong association between RE and distance running performance, with RE being a better predictor of performance than maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) in elite runners who have a similar VO2 max. VO2 max measures the maximum oxygen your body can utilize (“engine size”). 

A Systematic Review investigating the Effects of Strength Training Methods on Middle-Distance and Long-Distance Runners’ Athletic Performance, found that strength training with high loads (≥ 80% of one repetition maximum) can improve time trial and time to exhaustion running performance when compared to running only groups and low load (<40% 1RM) strength training groups.

How Strength Training Improves Running Economy

A number of physiological and biomechanical factors appear to influence RE in highly trained or elite runners. These include the ability of the muscles to store and release elastic energy by increasing the stiffness of the muscles, and more efficient mechanics leading to less energy wasted on braking forces and excessive vertical oscillation. Strength training interventions have been suggested to increase type I and type II fibers’ strength, resulting in less motor unit activation to produce a given force (ie. less energy for a given action). 

How Often Should Runners Strength Train?

When run volume is low, off-season, or during higher-intensity blocks, strength training may be scheduled 2-3 times per week. In peak phases, it can be scaled down to once per week, emphasizing heavy sets to maintain strength without overloading recovery. The objective isn’t to overstress the muscles, but to build qualities running can’t.