Strength training for runners: what the trials in runners measured, the lifts, and a week around your runs

Strength training for runners means lifting, and usually jumping, alongside the running, not instead of it. In the trials below, it's what runners added to their normal training. The main thing it changed is running economy: the oxygen it takes to run at a given pace below your maximum, as a 2017 meta-analysis defines it.¹ Use less oxygen at the same pace and that pace gets easier to hold.

A 2016 meta-analysis pooled 5 controlled trials in 93 competitive, high-level middle- and long-distance runners. The programs were 2 to 4 lower-body lifts, at 40 to 70% of a one-rep max in four of the five trials, plus up to 200 jumps and 5 to 10 short sprints, two or three times a week for 8 to 12 weeks, and the effect on running economy was large and beneficial.² A 2018 systematic review of 24 trials in runners with at least six months of experience found running economy generally improved by 2 to 8% against a running-only control in the 20 studies that measured it, though not always, and time trials from 1.5 to 10 km tended to improve too. Maximal oxygen uptake was typically unaffected.³ It's a page about what runners can add, not a promise about your next race.

Heavy, light or jumps: what did the most

Heavy beat light in two separate analyses, and mixing methods did as well as heavy alone or better. A 2024 meta-analysis of runners compared methods against running-only controls: high-load training, at 80% of a one-rep max or more, had a moderate effect on performance in time trials and time to exhaustion, combining two or more methods had a large effect, and plyometric training alone didn't reach significance.⁴ A 2018 meta-analysis of 28 studies across running, cycling, cross-country skiing and swimming found training for maximal force led to greater improvements than other intensities.⁵ For running economy specifically, a second 2024 meta-analysis found high loads and combined methods improved it, plyometric training improved it at speeds up to 12 km/h, and lighter (submaximal) and isometric training didn't, against controls.⁶ An earlier 2017 meta-analysis found explosive training and heavy weight training improved running economy by similar amounts.¹

One trial shows the dose. Seventeen well-trained runners, nine men and eight women, were split into two groups; one added half squats, 4 sets of 4 reps at the heaviest weight they could lift 4 times, three times a week for 8 weeks. Their one-rep max rose 33.2%, running economy improved 5.0% and time to exhaustion at maximal aerobic speed rose 21.3%; the group that only ran didn't change.⁷

The lifts for runners

The trials used a few lower-body lifts plus jumps,² so the list is short. The picks are practical.

New to the barbell? How to get stronger covers building up to heavy sets, and how much weight to lift covers picking the load.

A sample week

A practical layout, not a protocol from a trial. Two lifting days sit inside the two to three sessions a week the 2018 review recommends.³

Keep the heavy legs away from the day before intervals or the long run. Cardio and lifting covers the order and the gap between them, and the interval session is on how to run faster.

Common questions

Can you do strength training for runners at home?

Yes, with a limit: without heavy weights you lose the high loads the meta-analyses favoured.^4,5 A practical home version is single-leg work made harder with a backpack or slow reps (split squats, step-ups, single-leg Romanian deadlifts), calf raises on a step, and jumps and hops. The home gym workout plan shows what a pair of dumbbells adds.

How many days a week should runners lift?

Two or three: the 2016 meta-analysis's programs ran two or three times a week,² and the 2018 review recommends two to three sessions.³ The 2024 meta-analysis covered programs of one to four sessions a week, and the number of sessions didn't change the effect on performance.⁴

How long until it shows?

The trials in the 2016 meta-analysis ran 8 to 12 weeks,² and one ran 40: competitive distance runners who lifted for 40 weeks had improved their strength, running economy and speed at maximal oxygen uptake at both 20 and 40 weeks, while the control group didn't change.⁸ A 2017 meta-analysis found the economy gain was larger with longer programs.¹

Does it work for runners over 50?

The 2024 meta-analysis tested age as a moderator, with sex, level and lifting experience, and none changed the effect on performance.⁴ Its abstract doesn't say how many of the runners were over 50, so it doesn't answer the question directly. Starting to lift later in life is covered on strength training over 40.

Will lifting make me a slower runner?

Not in the 2018 review: running economy generally improved, time trials tended to improve, and maximal oxygen uptake was typically unaffected.³ The rest of the speed question is on how to run faster.

If you'd rather have the week planned

Two lifting days only help when they land on the right days of a running week, and that's a scheduling problem as much as a training one. Coaching here is general strength and fitness coaching, not run coaching: your workouts are built around the days you actually have, and a weekly call looks at the week you just had and rebuilds the next one around what's coming. How coaching works explains it, and apply is the first step. Otherwise: add the Monday session to next week's running, and keep it there for eight weeks.