RUNNING
Strength training for runners: what to lift and how often
Add two short lifting days to your running week: heavy lower-body lifts, single-leg work and jumps. In studies of runners, that kind of strength training improved running economy, which is how little energy a given pace costs, and in one trial it helped economy hold up late in a long run. Complete starts from your long-term goals, counts every run and every lift that reaches Apple Health and tells you what to do each day.
What lifting does for a runner
Three things set how fast you can run for a long time. VO2max is the most oxygen your body can use. Your lactate threshold is the hardest steady pace you can hold before fatigue builds fast. Running economy is how much energy a given pace costs you. Researchers call all three key factors in endurance performance (Joyner and Coyle, 2008).
Running itself builds the first two. Lifting and jumping aim at the third. A review of 24 studies found that in most of them, runners who added strength training improved their running economy compared with runners who only ran. Their times over 1.5 to 10 kilometers tended to improve too (Blagrove and colleagues, 2018).
Heavy lifts, jumps or both
A pooled analysis of strength programs for distance runners found that heavy lifting, jump training and a mix of the two all improved running economy. Lighter loads and isometric work, where you hold a position without moving, did less. The analysis counted loads at or above 80 percent of your one-rep max, the most you can lift once, as heavy (Llanos-Lagos and colleagues, 2024).
Your running speed changes the answer. In the pooled data, jumps helped economy at slower running speeds, up to about 12 kilometers an hour, which is a 5:00 kilometer or an 8-minute mile. Heavy lifting helped more at higher speeds and in runners with a higher VO2max. A second meta-analysis, of 21 jump-training studies, found better 2 to 5 kilometer time trials, better running economy and faster sprints, with no change in VO2max (Ramirez-Campillo and colleagues, 2021).
Strength work and the last hour of a long run
Economy slips as you tire. Durability is how long your economy holds before it drops. In one trial, 28 well-trained male runners added two strength sessions a week for 10 weeks, heavy lifts plus jumps, to their running. By minute 90 of a 90-minute run at a hard, steady pace, the strength group’s economy was better than it was at the start of the trial. The running-only group’s economy was a little worse. The strength group also lasted longer in the hard run to exhaustion that followed (Zanini and colleagues, 2025).
All 28 runners were well-trained men, so treat the result as a lead for everyone else.
From 5K to the marathon
The distance you race shifts where the weight goes. Use the table to pick your emphasis.
| Distance | Lean on | What the research says |
|---|---|---|
| 5K and 10K | Heavy lifts and jumps for speed and springy legs | Jump training improved 2 to 5 kilometer time trials (Ramirez-Campillo 2021). Strength training tended to improve times from 1.5 to 10 kilometers (Blagrove 2018). Heavy lifting helped economy more at higher speeds (Llanos-Lagos 2024). |
| Half marathon | A blend of the 10K and marathon approach | No study we found separates the half marathon from its neighbors, so treat it as a mix of the two. |
| Marathon | Long runs, weekly volume and strength work for late-run economy | Marathon speed sits near threshold speed (Joyner 1991). Runners with regular long runs and more weekly volume held economy better across a 90-minute run (Zanini 2026). |
- Ramirez-Campillo et al., Journal of Sports Sciences, 2021: jump training in endurance runners checked 19 Oct 2026
- Blagrove et al., Sports Medicine, 2018: strength training and middle- and long-distance running performance checked 19 Oct 2026
- Llanos-Lagos et al., Sports Medicine, 2024: strength training and running economy at different speeds checked 19 Oct 2026
- Joyner, Journal of Applied Physiology, 1991: modeling optimal marathon performance checked 19 Oct 2026
- Zanini et al., Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2026: long runs, training volume and running economy durability checked 19 Oct 2026
Marathon runners
A marathon asks you to hold one pace for hours. A classic model puts marathon speed near the speed at your lactate threshold (Joyner, 1991). That paper models performance. It did not test a training program.
Late in a long run, economy drifts. Runners who did regular long runs and ran more each week held their economy better across a 90-minute run than runners matched to them on 10K time (Zanini and colleagues, 2026). That study compared 26 male runners at one point in time. It shows an association, and the authors say training trials need to confirm it.
Our reading of these studies, not a tested marathon program: regular long runs, enough weekly volume, and two short lifting days that keep your legs efficient when they are tired. Jumps helped economy at slower speeds in the pooled data, so they may suit a slower marathon pace, and heavy lifting may suit a faster one.
- Joyner, Journal of Applied Physiology, 1991: modeling optimal marathon performance checked 19 Oct 2026
- Zanini et al., Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2026: long runs, training volume and running economy durability checked 19 Oct 2026
- Llanos-Lagos et al., Sports Medicine, 2024: strength training and running economy at different speeds checked 19 Oct 2026
Trail runners
We found no study of trail runners in the research behind this page, so this section is training advice and carries no research claim. A trail run lands you on one leg at a time, often on a climb or a drop, so the single-leg session below suits it as well as it suits road running. If your trails climb, use a higher step on the step-ups and finish an easy run with a few short uphill sprints.
A running week with two lifting days
Two lifting days fit around most running weeks. Here is one shape. It is general training advice, so move the days to fit your life.
Keep the lifting to two short sessions at first. A meta-analysis of 21 studies found that endurance training can blunt the strength, size and power you gain from lifting. The effect was bigger with running than with cycling, and bigger as the frequency and length of the endurance work went up (Wilson and colleagues, 2012). Add load in small steps and watch how your runs feel.
| Day | Session | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Easy run, 30 to 45 minutes at a pace where you can talk | Easy running builds your engine without adding much fatigue. |
| Tuesday | Strength day A: the single-leg session below | The first of your two lifting days. |
| Wednesday | Quality run: a tempo run or intervals | The hard running day of your week. |
| Thursday | Strength day B: heavy squats or deadlifts, then a few sets of jumps | Heavy lifts and jumps are the two methods in the research above. |
| Friday | Easy run or rest | It gives your legs a day before the long run. |
| Saturday | Long run | Regular long runs went with better late-run economy in the marathon study above. |
| Sunday | Rest or an easy walk | Your body adapts to the work while you rest. |
A strength day from Complete’s workout library
This is Single Leg Strength, a lower-body session of about 45 minutes where every move works one leg at a time. Each running stride lands on one leg, and this session trains that way. A Bulgarian split squat is a squat on one leg with your back foot raised on a bench. A single-leg Romanian deadlift is a one-legged hip hinge: you lower a weight toward the floor and stand back up. A step-up is a step onto a box. To failure means you stop a set when another rep would not go up.
| Block | What you do |
|---|---|
| Warm-up | World’s Greatest Stretch (a lunge with a twist that opens the hips and upper back): 1 set of 4 reps per side. Bulgarian Split Squat: 1 set of 6 reps per side with body weight only. Use it to find your stance length before you add load. |
| Main | Bulgarian Split Squat: 2 sets of 8 reps per side, 120 seconds rest, with dumbbells, to failure by about 8 reps. Keep your torso tall and let the front foot do the work. Start with the weaker leg and match its reps on the stronger side. Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift: 2 sets of 8 reps per side, 90 seconds rest, to failure. Keep your hips square and take a slow count to lower the weight. |
| Accessory | Step-Up: 2 sets of 10 reps per side, 90 seconds rest, with moderate dumbbells. Drive through the top foot only and do not push off the floor leg. |
| Finisher | Single-Leg Calf Raise: 2 sets of 15 reps per side, 45 seconds rest. Take the stretch to full depth at the bottom and pause at the top. |
Scaling the session
If you are new to lifting, use body weight on the split squats, a low step, and hold something for balance on the single-leg deadlifts. If you have lifted for a while, use heavier dumbbells and add a 31X1 tempo to the split squats: 3 seconds down, a 1 second pause at the bottom, a fast drive up and a 1 second hold at the top. Keep your depth and your balance as the load goes up.
How Complete fits a runner who lifts
Complete starts from your long-term goals: build muscle, lose fat, improve cardio, get stronger, general health or become an athlete. For a runner who lifts, improve cardio, get stronger and become an athlete often fit together. They steer what Complete recommends every day, and you do not need a plan to use it.
Every run and every lift that reaches Apple Health counts toward your score and the recommendation for each day, from any watch. If your watch records HRV and resting heart rate, Complete scores your recovery against your own baseline after about a week of data. If your recovery is red, today’s session turns into rest or an easy session.
If you add a race, from a 5K to an ultra, Complete builds your running training toward it. The session above is in Complete’s workout library. Log it in Complete, or let your watch send it through Apple Health, and it counts.
Start with your goal. Complete is an iPhone app, free to download, and logging and sharing your workouts on it stay free.
Frequently asked questions
How often should runners lift?
The trial that showed better late-run economy used two strength sessions a week for 10 weeks. Two short sessions is a sound start, because endurance training can blunt the strength you gain from lifting, more with running than with cycling and more as your weekly running grows.
Does strength training make you a faster runner?
In a review of 24 studies, runners who added strength training improved their running economy in most of them, and times over 1.5 to 10 kilometers tended to improve. It adds to your running and does not replace it.
Should runners lift heavy or do jumps?
Both worked in the research. Jumps helped economy at slower running speeds, up to about 12 kilometers an hour, and heavy lifting helped more at faster speeds and in runners with a higher VO2max. Combined programs improved economy too, so a mix of both is a sound choice.
Do marathon runners need strength training?
No trial we found tested marathon runners. In a trial of well-trained men, strength work left running economy better late in a 90-minute run, and staying efficient late in a run is what a marathon asks of you. Start with two short sessions and keep your long runs.
What is the best app for runners who also lift?
Pick one that counts both. Complete counts every run and every lift that reaches Apple Health from any watch, starts from your long-term goals and tells you what to do each day. If you add a race from a 5K to an ultra, it builds your running training toward it.