RunFast
Strength training for runners: what the research says
In distance runners, meta-analyses found that heavy strength training can improve time-trial performance and may improve running economy. The evidence on injuries is mixed.
Strength training for runners can help performance and running economy.1, 2 In 2024 meta-analyses of middle- and long-distance runners, strength training with high loads could improve time-trial performance, and high-load, plyometric (jump) and combined strength training may improve running economy, the energy cost of running at a given pace.1, 2 A 2022 meta-analysis concluded that heavy resistance training, especially with nearly maximal loads, may be superior to plyometric training for running economy and time-trial performance.3
Most of the runners in those reviews were moderately to highly trained.1, 2 In the one trial in recreational runners opened for this guide, 20 middle-aged runners improved their running economy with either resistance or plyometric training, but not necessarily their 5-km time.4 On injuries the evidence is mixed: a 2024 meta-analysis found that exercise-based prevention programmes did not appear to reduce running injuries in endurance runners, and most of its trials were of low quality.5 So lift for how you run, not as injury insurance: a short session of heavy leg exercises twice a week, kept away from your hard runs, is a reasonable way to start.
What the reviews found
Here is what the research says about the benefits of strength training for runners, and who was studied. Each claim links to its source, and our editorial standards say how each one is checked.
Performance and running economy
A 2024 meta-analysis of middle- and long-distance runners concluded that strength training with high loads can improve performance, measured as time trials and time to exhaustion.1 A companion meta-analysis by the same authors found that high-load strength training, plyometric training and a combination of methods may improve running economy in the same kind of runners.2 Other methods, training with submaximal (lighter) loads and isometric training, where the muscle holds a position rather than moving, seemed less effective for running economy.2
A 2025 umbrella review, a review of 17 systematic reviews in middle- and long-distance endurance athletes, found moderate to large effects on running economy in every review that measured it.6
Heavy lifting or jumps
So what is the best strength training for runners? In these reviews, heavy lifting has the stronger case. A 2022 meta-analysis of 22 studies in long-distance runners concluded that heavy resistance training, especially with nearly maximal loads, may be superior to plyometric training for running economy and running time-trial performance.3 In the 2024 performance meta-analysis, plyometric training was not found to have a significant effect on performance.1
Combining methods may still help: the same authors suggest a greater improvement may come from two or more methods together, such as high-load training, submaximal-load training and plyometric training.1 And time matters: in the 2022 meta-analysis, running economy appeared to improve more when heavy resistance or plyometric training went on for longer.3
What did not change: VO2max and sprint capacity
None of the strength training methods in the 2024 performance meta-analysis improved VO2max (maximal oxygen uptake), the speed at VO2max, maximum metabolic steady state or sprint capacity.1 In these reviews, then, the gains were in running economy and time-trial performance, not in VO2max.1, 2 It adds to your running; it doesn’t replace any of it.
Who was studied
The performance meta-analysis included 324 moderately trained, 272 well-trained and 298 highly trained athletes.1 The economy meta-analysis included 195 moderately trained, 272 well-trained and 185 highly trained athletes.2 So most of what these reviews show about strength training for long-distance runners comes from runners who already train seriously.1, 2
The trial closest to most readers had 20 middle-aged recreational runners, who did resistance or plyometric training twice a week for 10 weeks alongside their daily running.4 Both kinds of training improved running economy, but not necessarily 5-km running time.4 With one small trial to go on, treat a faster race as possible rather than promised.
How to apply it
How often and for how long
The programmes in the 2024 performance meta-analysis lasted between 6 and 40 weeks, with one to four sessions a week.1 For healthy adults in general, not runners, the American College of Sports Medicine’s 2026 position stand says healthy adults should do progressive resistance training to improve muscle function, size and physical performance.7 In its overview of 137 reviews, strength gains went with 2 to 3 sets of an exercise, done at the beginning of training sessions, and at least 2 sessions a week.7
For a strength training plan for runners, that points to two sessions a week as a reasonable default, with one in busy weeks. Keep at it for months rather than weeks, since the longer programmes showed the larger gains in running economy.3 Progressive means adding a little weight or a rep or two as the lifts get easier.
What a session holds
In the recreational runners’ trial, the resistance programme was leg press, leg curl and calf raise, twice a week for 10 weeks.4 Strength training exercises for runners can follow the same lines with a squat or split squat, a hip hinge such as a Romanian deadlift or hip thrust, and calf raises. Heavy means a weight you could lift only about two more times at the end of each set, for a few reps, not a weight you can lift 20 times.
If you train with resistance bands or bodyweight only, your sessions are lighter versions of these. That is closer to the submaximal-load training that seemed less effective for running economy in the 2024 economy meta-analysis, so use dumbbells or a gym when you can.2 Jumps such as pogo hops can be a short extra at the start, but on their own they did less than heavy lifting in these reviews.3, 1
| Exercise | Sets and reps | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Squat or split squat | 2–3 sets of 4–6 | Heavy, about two reps left at the end of each set |
| Hip hinge: Romanian deadlift or hip thrust | 2–3 sets of 4–6 | Heavy, about two reps left |
| Calf raise | 2–3 sets of 6–10 | One leg at a time if you have no weights |
| Trunk or hip exercise, such as a side plank | 2 sets | A small extra, not the main work |
If you are new to lifting, start with lighter weights for the first couple of weeks and learn each movement before you go heavy. Keep the session short, around 30 minutes.
Fitting it around your runs
These are suggestions, not findings: the reviews used here don’t test when to place a session around your runs. Keep your easy runs easy, as 80/20 running describes, and let the strength work fit around the hard ones.
| Day | Running | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Rest | |
| Tuesday | Intervals | |
| Wednesday | Easy run | Session 1, straight after the run |
| Thursday | Easy run | |
| Friday | Rest | |
| Saturday | Long run | |
| Sunday | Easy run | Session 2, straight after the run |
- Not on the day before intervals, a tempo run, the long run or a race, so your legs are fresh for them.
- Not on two days in a row.
- After an easy run, lift straight away; after a hard run, leave a few hours between the two.
- Fewer sessions as the race gets close: one lighter session early in the taper, and none in race week.
For strength training for marathon runners, the same rules apply through a marathon training plan, with the lighter sessions in the marathon taper. They fit a half marathon training plan or a 5K training plan in the same way.
In RunFast
RunFast’s App Store version plans your running only: strength sessions are being tested and aren’t in it yet. The strength sessions RunFast is testing are off unless you turn them on, and you say what equipment you have: a gym, dumbbells or resistance bands, with bodyweight exercises always included. They come twice a week in base and build weeks, once in a lighter or peak week, once early in each taper week before race week and none in race week, and choosing “once a week” caps them at one. They are never on the day before intervals, a tempo run, the long run or a race, never on the long-run day or race day, and never on two days in a row. On a hard-run day the session comes at least 3 hours after the run, and on an easy-run day straight after it; run days are the default, with rest days an option. Heavy sessions are 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps in build weeks when your equipment allows it, and lighter versions taken nearer failure otherwise. When a session has jumps, they come first, one to three short sets of hops; they’re left out when intervals, a tempo run, the long run or a race is two days away. Then come a squat or split squat, a hip hinge or thrust, calf raises and a trunk or hip exercise; the heavy lifts are the main work and the jumps a small part. A runner new to strength gets two lighter weeks without jumps first. A session can move to another allowed day that week, and you can swap the equipment for one day. Strength sessions don’t count towards your streak, adherence or weekly distance. These scheduling rules are RunFast’s design choices, not results from trials.
Where the evidence is thin or mixed
How sure the reviews are
The 2024 performance meta-analysis rated the certainty of its evidence very low to moderate.1 In the 2025 umbrella review, the risk-of-bias assessment found that most of the reviews it included had low or critically low confidence.6 In practice, treat a benefit as plausible and its size for you as uncertain.
Injuries
A 2024 meta-analysis of 9 randomised trials with 1904 endurance runners found that exercise-based prevention programmes did not appear to reduce the risk or rate of running-related injuries.5 The programmes were exercise other than running, not always strength training.5 In a post hoc analysis, supervised programmes were linked to a lower injury risk, and the authors suggest supervision may be essential, possibly because runners stuck to the programme better.5 Seven of the nine trials were of low quality.5 So the injury evidence is mixed and weak.5 If you have pain when you run, see a clinician rather than starting a programme to fix it on your own.
Stronger muscles, same stride?
A 2020 meta-analysis of 25 studies in distance runners found that combining strength and endurance training improved the force-generating capacity of the ankle plantarflexors (calves), quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteal muscles.8 In the studies up to its November 2018 search, it found no evidence that these changes carry over from the strength exercises to running.8 For another question about how you run, see what the research says about running cadence.
What the reviews don’t test
The reviews used here don’t test core training on its own, so this guide has no finding on core strength training for runners: a trunk or hip exercise is a reasonable small part of a session, not its main work. Nor do they test when to place a session around your runs, how to change it in a taper or what to do in race week, so treat the timing advice above as a sensible convention. The 10K pace chart guide looks at one small strength training trial and 10 km pacing.
Common questions
Is strength training once a week enough for runners?
It is within what was studied: the programmes in the 2024 performance meta-analysis had one to four sessions a week.1 For healthy adults in general, the ACSM position stand links strength gains with at least 2 sessions a week.7 Aim for two when you can, and treat one as a good week rather than a missed one.
Will strength training make me faster?
It may: in mostly trained middle- and long-distance runners, strength training with high loads could improve time-trial performance.1 In 20 middle-aged recreational runners, 10 weeks of resistance training (leg press, leg curl and calf raise) improved running economy but not necessarily 5-km time.4 Better economy may come before a faster race does.
Does strength training help with injury prevention?
The evidence is mixed: in endurance runners, exercise-based prevention programmes did not appear to reduce running injuries overall, supervised programmes were linked to lower risk only in a post hoc analysis, and seven of the nine trials were of low quality.5 If you have pain, see a clinician.
Heavy lifting or plyometrics for runners?
Heavy lifting first: heavy resistance training, especially with nearly maximal loads, may be superior to plyometric training for running economy and time trials, and plyometric training alone had no significant effect on performance in the 2024 meta-analysis.3, 1 Combining methods may give a greater improvement, so a few jumps alongside the heavy work are a reasonable extra.1
This guide is general information, not medical advice. If you have an injury, a health condition or are pregnant, ask a doctor or physiotherapist before changing how you train or eat.
Related guides
- How a marathon training plan is builtA marathon training plan combines rising weekly distance, a long run, easy and hard running, lighter weeks and a taper. The research backs some of these parts and says little about how to combine them.
- 80/20 running: what the research says80/20 running means keeping most training easy. A 2024 meta-analysis found a small VO2peak advantage for polarised training, but small studies in recreational runners found no significant difference in performance.
- Running cadence: is 180 steps per minute right for you?There is no single good running cadence. The 180 steps per minute figure grew out of observations of competitive runners, and the best cadence varies between runners.
Sources
- Llanos-Lagos C, Ramirez-Campillo R, Moran J, Sáez de Villarreal E. The Effect of Strength Training Methods on Middle-Distance and Long-Distance Runners' Athletic Performance: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine. 2024. doi:10.1007/s40279-024-02018-z
- Llanos-Lagos C, Ramirez-Campillo R, Moran J, Sáez de Villarreal E. Effect of Strength Training Programs in Middle- and Long-Distance Runners' Economy at Different Running Speeds: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine. 2024. doi:10.1007/s40279-023-01978-y
- Eihara Y, Takao K, Sugiyama T, Maeo S, Terada M, Kanehisa H, Isaka T. Heavy Resistance Training Versus Plyometric Training for Improving Running Economy and Running Time Trial Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine - Open. 2022. doi:10.1186/s40798-022-00511-1
- Eihara Y, Takao K, Sugiyama T, Maeo S, Kanehisa H, Isaka T. The effects of plyometric versus resistance training on running economy and 5-km running time in middle-aged recreational runners. European Journal of Sport Science. 2024. doi:10.1002/ejsc.12197
- Wu H, Brooke-Wavell K, Fong DTP, Paquette MR, Blagrove RC. Do Exercise-Based Prevention Programs Reduce Injury in Endurance Runners? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine. 2024. doi:10.1007/s40279-024-01993-7
- Ramos-Campo DJ, Andreu-Caravaca L, Clemente-Suárez VJ, Rubio-Arias JÁ. The Effect of Strength Training on Endurance Performance Determinants in Middle- and Long-Distance Endurance Athletes: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2025. doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000005056
- Currier BS, D'Souza AC, Singh MAF, Lowisz CV, Rawson ES, Schoenfeld BJ, Smith-Ryan AE, Steen JP, Thomas GA, Triplett NT, Washington TA, Werner TJ, Phillips SM. American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Resistance Training Prescription for Muscle Function, Hypertrophy, and Physical Performance in Healthy Adults: An Overview of Reviews. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2026. doi:10.1249/mss.0000000000003897
- Trowell D, Vicenzino B, Saunders N, Fox A, Bonacci J. Effect of Strength Training on Biomechanical and Neuromuscular Variables in Distance Runners: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Sports Medicine. 2020. doi:10.1007/s40279-019-01184-9