Strong and Steady: Finding the Balance Between Strength Training and Running for Peak Performance

In the pursuit of peak performance, balancing strength training and running can seem overwhelming. But, both forms of training are important for different aspects of acheiving your running goals: running specific training helps improve speed and endurance, and improve the mental fitness needed to power through the "pain cave" when racing, while strength training helps your bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments adapt to tolerate the loads of running, improve running form, increase power production for running speed, and reduce injury risk. This blog post will explore strategies for effectively integrating these two disciplines, helping you reach your goals without compromise.

The Benefits of Strength Training and Running

Strength training is essential for building muscle mass, with studies showing that it can increase muscle size by up to 30% over a few months. This form of training boosts metabolism and helps prevent injuries. Regular strength workouts also improve running efficiency by increasing power and optimizing runnning form, allowing you to perform better in races.

Obviously, you can't get better at running by just strength training. Specific running workouts help to improve speed, power, and/or endurance, depending on the type of activity. The more you run, the better your heart becomes at pumping blood and delivering oxygen to muscles. This improved aerobic capacity enhances both running performance and overall health. Practicing being uncomfortable while running, such as with hard efforts, or long runs, trains the body and mind to keep going even when it feels hard.

By combining strength training and running, you maximize the benefits of each, leading to increased endurance and strength.

Create a Training Schedule

Establishing a well-structured training schedule is vital for achieving balance. Combining strength training and running requires strategic planning to prevent one from overshadowing the other. If you are actively training for a running event, running workouts should take priority. This means if you are planning to both run and strength train in the same day, do your run first when your legs are fresh. If you are in an off-season the order is less important.

Ideally, when scheduling your running and strength training, you want to keep your hard days hard. In a perfect world, this would look like doing your strength training on the same day as your speed or long run. For many of us, two workouts a day might not fit our schedule. In these situations, try to do your lifts the day after harder running efforts, and avoid doing strength the day before running workouts, especially key workouts. You should also keep one day as a true rest day - no running, cross training, or strength training - to give your body adequate time to recover and make the most of your training efforts.

The most important thing is to have a schedule that fits your needs. If you haven't planned when you're doing each workout, it can be easy to get off track or lean towards more strength or more running. If you consciously decide when you will do each activity, and in a way that is conducive to your schedule, you will be more consistent, and have better outcomes.

Select Specific Exercises

Many people shy away from strength training because it is perceived as taking too much time. However, I firmly beleieve that you can perform a well-rounded strength program that supports healthy running in just about 30 minutes. The key to this is picking specific exercises that help with running. This could be a whole blog post on its own, but it's important to choose exercises that work key running muscles groups (i.e. glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves, and hip stabilizers), and that address your personal areas for improvement. A running gait analysis with a professional can help you identify these areas and prescribe specific exercises to target them. When you go into the gym with a plan of exactly what you will do, you won't waste time wandering and looking at different equipment, or scrolling on instagram for the "Best Exercises for Runners".

Balancing strength training and running to reach peak performance requires commitment, strategy, and flexibility. By understanding the benefits of each form of exercise and creating a balanced training schedule with specific workouts to support your goals, you can develop a routine that helps you acheive your aspirations!

Remember, the journey to peak performance isn't a sprint; it's a marathon. Be patient and consistent, and enjoy the ride!

Thanks for reading!

Dr. Elizabeth Karr PT, DPT