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Runners are notorious for underloading their lifts and this is not always their fault so often runners are taught to lift lighter weight for more repetitions as it mirrors the endurance demands of running. This can make intuitive sense but undermines the entire purpose of strength training to provide a different training stimulus than what endurance training provides. When runners strength train, it is to improve strength, rate of force development/power, the good kind of tendon stiffness, and bone mineral density.
Lifting should not be used to build muscular endurance for numerous reasons but most notably because running itself already does that and far superiorly and task-specifically than lifting. As a physical therapist and running coach, I always aim for my clients and athletes to lift heavy to both manage/prevent injuries and improve their running performance.
In this article, I’ll provide the best evidence-based parameters for performing strength training and indicate 13 signs you may not be lifting heavy enough.
These are the strength training parameters I regularly provide for my clients:
A. Sets: 2-4 sets
B. Reps:
*3-6 reps for compound, multi-joint lifts (squats, deadlifts, lunges, leg press)
*6-15 reps for isolated, single joint lifts
C. Resistance/Intensity: 80-95% of 1RM, 7-9 RPE, or 1-3 RIR
D. Rest: 2-3 minutes
E. Frequency: Twice per week on average
F. Time of day: Separate day from endurance training if possible; however if running 5 days per week, this is not often possible and the strength training session should separated from endurance sessions by 4-8 hours
All of these are not set in stone and I’ll provide some exceptions as we go. But, overall, if you find these consistently to be true, you may want to increase the weight. Of course, be safe, use safety bars/equipment, and spotters when needed.
This is pretty fundamental. The weight you’re lifting should fatigue you prior to 15 reps and it is both my preference, and aligns with evidence-based guidelines, for this to be closer to 3-6 reps for compound lifts (squats, deadlifts)
If you find yourself consistently needing only 1, or even 2, minutes of rest between exercises or you feel bored waiting around for the next set, you’re likely not lifting heavy enough. There should even be times where you complete a hard set and find yourself not quite ready for the next set even after 3 minutes. Competitive weightlifters and powerlifters will routinely rest 3-5+ minutes between sets so they can be best recovered to optimize strength and power on subsequent sets.
An exception to this guideline can be made for beginners who often do not know how to lift heavy enough both from a psychological and neuromuscular motor unit recruitment perspective. It may take a few weeks for you to be able to lift heavy enough and you should actually find yourself requiring to rest more, opposed to less, between sets which is a positive adaptation to resistance training.
If your plan calls for you to do 3 sets of 8 repetitions and you take a bird’s eye view of the previous 4 weeks and you always hit exactly 8 repetitions for every set of every workout, there is a strong chance you should be going a little heavier.
I love seeing a client hit a rep or two less for a planned set from time to time as this shows they’re pushing themselves to, or near, failure.
Depending on the stage of your running macrocycle (base/strength phase vs race-specific vs peaking), the amount of soreness and fatigue will vary. But, especially during phases where strength is a larger focus, you should be sore and tired for a few days after you lift. This is not always the case. But if you’re rarely sore or frequently find yourself consistently only needing one day of recovery between leg days, the resistance likely isn’t where it needs to be.
Please bear with me on my next point as it will sound contradictory.
It is very easy to push yourself as hard as you can with 4 sets of 20 repetitions with 1 minute rest and feel obliterated with soreness the next day. I’m a fan of occasional higher rep burnout sets but this should not be the main focus of your lifting. The desired adaptations we’re chasing are strength and power development and lifting with very high rep ranges, with minimal rest, is a good way to get really sore but provides a lot of fatigue without providing an optimal stimulus for these adaptations.
There should be some days programmed where the focus is on much lower rep ranges (think 1-3 reps) and power development. Following workouts like these you likely won’t be that sore. This should be paired with mid-range rep ranges such as 4 sets of 5-8 reps which are a great middle ground for improving both strength and power.
This is pretty basic and intuitive but if you’re lifting consistently, you should be getting stronger. Admittedly, distance runner strength gains will often be slower than power-based athletes, or even general population lifters, but strength should still be improving.
Now there are a lot of factors that go into distance running performance and strength training is only a part of the equation. But numerous (at least 30+) studies have shown that runners can expect around a 4% improvement in distance running performance after 6-12 weeks of correctly programmed strength training. With all training and lifestyle habits being equal, and the only difference between two training blocks is strength training, your time should improve.
If you’ve been lifting consistently and haven’t shown any distance performance gains, the weight being used may be a factor to consider. Several studies have compared lighter resistance training with bodyweight and bands, moderate intensity resistance training around 70% of 1 RM, and heavier strength training at 85% of 1 RM and the heavier lifting groups consistently outperform the lighter groups.
With that being said, there are several key areas where runners often lack mobility, such as the ankles, hips, and thoracic spine, which can lead to compensations during the running gait and some have been associated with increased injury risk (but not as many as you’d think!).
Lifting form is important and you should always strive to perform exercises correctly without compensations. But if every rep of every set looks pristine, you are either extremely focused on good form (which is admirable) or you’re just not lifting heavy enough to require some ugly compensations from time to time. Again, bad form isn’t a goal and I’m not saying it is but lifting heavy isn’t always pretty and there should be some random compensations, half reps, momentum shifts, asymmetries, and reps that look and feel like a tough grind from time to time. If this never happens, you should consider increasing the weight you’re lifting.
It is extremely rare for two people, even of the same size and training history, to be at exactly the same strength. With barbell lifts and most machines, weight can be adjusted by 5lbs pretty easily and the time should be taken to adjust weights so that each person is fatiguing around the same rep range. I’m generally against the idea of the stronger person keeping the weight the same but just performing more reps. If the difference is only 2-3 reps, this can be fine but if keeping the weight the same allows you to perform much higher repetitions (and especially above 10-15 reps consistently), I’d take time to change the weight.
Exercise classes are great and I promise I’m not trying to discourage participation as there are social and psychological benefits to these that often outweigh physiological adaptations. However, as someone who has attended hundreds of exercise classes over the years, exercise classes are often very aerobically demanding and have a large muscular endurance focus. Again, the best distance adaptations are achieved with lifting heavier weights with longer rest times. If an exercise class has you fatiguing out with lighter rates, emphasizes keeping your heart rate up, and there is little rest, you’re mainly getting endurance adaptations and not the strength and power adaptations we’re after.
This piggybacks off the previous point in that more of your session time should be spent resting than actually lifting. If I lift for an hour, I’d say I’m probably only actively lifting heavy for 10-15 minutes of that timeframe (maybe less). There are exceptions such as performing contrast sets with opposing muscle groups, or upper and lower body lifts, so that 2-3 minutes of rest are performed between the same exercises but other exercises are performed during that rest period. This is acceptable although it isn’t my preference as cardiovascular fatigue limits maximal force output and limits strength adaptations even if the actual muscle group received the desired 2-3 minutes of rest.
Home workouts can be fine from time to time as getting to the gym is not always feasible. Additionally, having a step, some lighter weights, and bands and focusing on single-leg movements can often fatigue runners out within the desired rep ranges.
However, unless you’re a beginner, bodyweight, lighter weight dumbbell/kettlebell, and banded exercises are not going to be heavy enough to elicit the desired changes in strength and power. And, as I’ll discuss below, performing single leg exercises, especially off of a step, may be difficult enough to fatigue you within the appropriate rep ranges, the balance and movement control requirements are likely more of a limiting factor making them less effective at improving strength and power as well.
It’s definitely more trendy to perform exercises like lunges, rear foot elevated split squats, step ups. and step downs compared to more traditional bilateral exercises like barbell squats, deadlifts, and leg presses. But if the goal is improving strength and power, as it should be for any runner who is lifting, you cannot select exercises for strength training which are more limited by balance and movement control. I almost always prescribe movement control drills and exercises to improve balance and control directly but these, in most circumstances, shouldn’t be blended with your strength and power exercises.
A big exception to this point is if you’re an advanced lifter, with good movement control, single leg and split-stance exercises are fine to perform. However, if you’re like 90% of us, and myself included, single leg and split stance movements push us towards the edge of our movement control capabilities and these exercises become more challenging from a balance and control perspective than they are from a muscular strength and power perspective.
In addition to my Physical Therapy for Runners services and private running coaching, I also provide the following services to help runners get stronger and run at their best. Note- My running coaching services include this Strength Assessment and Program Design services.
Strength Assessment- This involves me assessing every muscle group of the lower body with a handheld dynamometer to get very specific force output data, in pounds, that can be compared to establish normative data, to the opposite lower extremity, and to track your progress over time. I also conduct movement control and from testing for single leg movements and squats. With this data, I will provide exercise recommendations to help you best prevent injuries and improve your running performance. Optional follow-up visits are also typically purchased by clients to re-test strength every 3-6 months. This service does not include specific writing of each workout per week (which is included in my program design service below).
Strength and Injury Prevention Program Design– This is the service I recommend most as it involves me writing every exercise, set, and rep for your strength and injury prevention program across a training cycle. This provides the most detail and oversight as I’m writing and tracking each of your individual workouts instead of providing exercise suggestions based on your deficits. To receive these programming design services, clients must have either been a previous physical therapy client within the previous 3 months or have undergone the Strength Assessment described above.
If you’re interested in these services, please fill out the form below and I’ll contact you within 24 hours.
Strength training which best prevents running injuries and improves running performance includes lifting heavy weight with the optimal parameters included at the top of this article. In summary, runners should be lifting for 2-4 sets of 3-6 repetitions, with 80-95% of their 1RM (RPE of 7-9, 1-3 RIR), with 2-3 minutes of rest between sets, at a separate time from their running workouts, and should not be limited by cardiovascular fatigue or balance and movement control deficits.