Strength Training for Runners – How to Do it Right

Photo by Braden Collum

In 2013 the New York City marathon had 50,266 total finishers. That’s a lot of runners! Take a look at the many parks Manhattan has to offer and you’ll see people running and jogging. So it’s safe to say that running is a very popular form of exercise in New York City and many other places. This increasing popularity is even more reason why strength training for runners should be widely accepted.

*I’m going to go over the reasons why strength training is beneficial for runners below. Feel free to skip over it if you want to get to the nuts and bolts of the post 🙂

Running Injury Statistics

According to the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, an estimated 70% of runners will eventually become injured in some way. Based on Lysholm et al. – “Injuries in Runners”- the most common injuries they found in runners were hamstring strains and tendinitis in sprinters, backache and hip problems in middle distance runners, and foot problems in marathon runners.

Some of these injures are just part of the game, while others are due to the runners being unprepared for the given task. Take for instance the sprinter, in my experience working as a NYC personal trainer and performance coach, typically a hamstring injury in sprinting is due to the athlete not being fully prepared to handle such high impacts, velocity or motor recruitment, being tight, and fatigued. If the sprinter would have had a proper physical preparation and special preparatory training for sprinting through weight training, track work, flexibility/mobility, and had their practices been better monitored this may not have happened.

Strength Training for Runners

Most runners fall within the middle distance and long distance realm. Generally speaking this would mean that the typical injuries seen are backache, knee, hip, and ankle problems. These common injuries could be due to overuse but as personal trainer I believe a properly developed strength training program could have diminished the total impact and likelihood of these injures.

Generally speaking, most runners that do get injured have some type of misalignment or stability issue (see below pic). A balanced strength training program that focuses on trunk stability, leg strength, mobility, and flexibility work can help alleviate these issues. To top that, strengthening these specific areas can help you maintain a stronger position during the latter aspects of your run, when you’re already fatigued. The extra leg strength can also help you run with more efficiency and increase your stride length = faster times!

Strength Program for Runners

Imagine a contact point like this? Running a 5k = 10,000 steps landing like this = injury.

Now that we’ve clearly discussed the benefits of strength training for runners we need to discuss out to lay out a program for running. There are a lot of variables to take into account from fitness levels, injure rate, past injuries, time available, accessibility to equipment, etc…But generally speaking the runner should look to hit the template as much as they can:

Day 1

• 1A: Squat or Deadlift 4×8-12 reps
• 1B: Lateral Band Walks 4x10yards
• 2A: Incline Press 3×10
• 2B: Pull Ups 3×10
• 3A: Step Ups 3×10
• 3B: Back Extension 3×12
• 4A: Planks 3x30sec

Day 2

• 1A: Bulgarian Split Squats 3×12
• 1B: Terminal Knee Extension 3×15
• 2A: Push Ups 3×10
• 2B: Inverted Rows 3×10
• 3A: Single Arm Dumbbell Overhead Press 3×12
• 3B: Single Arm Dumbbell Row 3×12
• 4A: Palloff Holds 3x30sec

Day 3  

• 1A: Reverse Lunges 3×12
• 1B: Leg curls 3×15
• 2A: Overhead Press 3×10
• 2B: Pull Ups 3×10
• 3A: Rows 3×15
• 3B: Push Ups 3×15
• 4A: Leg lifts 3×20

While this is a general over lay program for runners, this will give the runner a strong foundation to work off of. After a 3-5 week progressive overload program the runner should start feel stronger and keep progressing forward in the intensity.

Running and Weightlifting Considerations

I’m not too big of fan of long distance running (25+ miles a week) and hard intensity weightlifting as it poses too much stress on the runners body. Unless they are a competitive runner than that’s a different story, but most people do this as a recreational way to stay fit. With that said, I would say that the runner should switch the focus to weight training for a few weeks, with some running, and then slowly switch the focus to running. A sample template may look like this:

12 Weeks to Race:

• Phase 1-Week 1-3: x3 of weight training + intervals after each weight training session for 15-20 minutes. Run x1-2 short distance to keep pace and adjust body to impact.
• Phase 2-Week 4-6: x3 weight training session but cut down weight training by 25% increase time in intervals by 25%. Run 1-2 short-middle distance.
• Phase 3-Week  7-9-10: x2 weight training sessions (maintain same intensity of phase 2) intervals should increase in intensity but maintain the same time frame. Running will now increase to x3 sessions of a mix of middle/long/short depending on how you’re adapting and feeling.
• Phase 4
  week 10-12: x1 weight training session (maintain same intensity of phase 2) but in week 12 you’ll stop lifting and just run + recover. Running will now increase to x4 session a week of a mix of middle/long distance runs depending on how you’re feeling.

This type of template is a “General-Specific” approach where the runner will build a strong foundation from weight training and basic conditioning work. As the time get’s closer to the race the training should start to focus more and more toward the specific demands of the race. Each runner will have to tailor the workout to their specific needs but the above template should give the runner a general overlay of what a strong program would look like.

Keep in mind that the runner should also be focus a great deal of time on regeneration methods such as:

• Baths: Epsom, ice, contrast method, etc…
• Fascial manipulation: massage, A.R.T., Graston, foam rolling,  compression band etc…
• Stretch: static, dynamic, fasical, band traction etc…
• Nutrition: eating anti-inflammatory foods and drinking plenty of water.
• REST! Sleep and taking time off is key for recovery both mentally and physically.

Hopefully this all makes sense and helps any of you runners out there stay injury free and decrease those times!

Train smart,
Team Fusion Trained