Running builds fitness, but it doesn't build all the strength running demands. With every stride, one leg takes several times your body weight, and it's the muscles in your legs, hips and core that absorb it.
The research points the same way from two directions. In a large review of randomized studies, strength training cut sports injuries to less than a third, while stretching had no measurable effect. And for experienced runners, heavy weights and jumps made running less energy-demanding, while moderate weights didn't.
Choose your path based on where you are:
- Body weight at home if you're new to strength training. That's where injury protection starts.
- Heavy weights at the gym if you want to get faster and already know the technique.
- Jumps and plyometrics if you're injury-free and want something more demanding.
Two short sessions a week go a long way. Put them on the same day as an easy run, or on a day without running.
A first step today: after your next run, do 3 × 10 lunges per leg, 3 × 12 glute bridges and 3 × 30 seconds plank. Ten minutes.
If an exercise hurts in a joint in a way that doesn't feel like muscle soreness, switch exercises and talk to a doctor if it doesn't go away.
Strength training for runners doesn't have to mean long gym sessions. Two short sessions a week go a long way, and what you do in them depends on what you want: fewer injuries, faster running, or both. Here's what the research says about those two goals, three paths you can take depending on where you are, and how to place strength training so it doesn't get in the way of your running.
Running builds fitness, not all the strength it demands
Running is one of the most effective ways to build fitness. But it's also a long series of small landings. With every stride, one leg takes several times your body weight, and it's the muscles in your legs, hips and core that catch the force before it reaches your joints.
Running trains those muscles, but in only one direction and under the same load. It builds endurance, not the extra strength you need when you get tired, run downhill or increase your mileage. That's where strength training comes in.
The WHO recommends that adults do muscle-strengthening training for the body's major muscle groups at least two days a week, on top of cardio. That recommendation applies to runners too. How strength and cardio fit together in an ordinary week is in the guide to starting to exercise.
What the research says: fewer injuries, easier running
In 2014, Lauersen and colleagues reviewed 25 randomized studies with just over 26,000 participants on exercise to prevent sports injuries. Strength training cut injuries to less than a third. Stretching had no measurable effect. A follow-up review in 2018 of six studies with more than 7,700 participants aged 12 to 40 reached roughly the same conclusion, and found that more strength training was linked to lower risk. The studies covered sports in general, not just running, but the direction is clear.
The second question is whether strength makes running easier. In 2024, Llanos-Lagos and colleagues pooled studies on middle- and long-distance runners that measured running economy, meaning how much energy it costs to run at a given pace. Heavy weights, combinations of methods and jumps improved running economy. Moderate weights and static exercises where you hold a position didn't. Jumps seemed to help most at easier paces, heavy weights most at faster paces and in runners with good fitness. The participants were mostly experienced runners.
Two lessons follow. Almost any strength training protects you. But if you want it to make you faster, it has to be heavy or explosive, not just lots of reps with moderate weight.
Three paths
No setup is best for everyone. Choose based on where you are now, and move on once it's become routine.
Body weight at home. For you if you're new to strength training or want to start without a gym. Running is a movement on one leg at a time, so single-leg exercises train strength and balance the way running demands them: lunges, step-ups onto a box, glute bridges, calf raises on a stair, plank and side plank. It takes about twenty minutes. It gives you the injury protection, but probably not the better running economy. First step: do 3 × 10 lunges per leg, 3 × 12 glute bridges and 3 × 30 seconds plank after your next run.
Heavy weights at the gym. For you if you want to get faster and have already done strength training for a few months. Squats, deadlifts, dumbbell lunges and weighted calf raises, with few reps, three to six, and one or two left in the tank on every set. Learn the technique with a light weight first, ideally with help from someone at the gym. First step: book a gym session this week and learn to squat with a light bar. If you're starting from scratch, there's a gym workout schedule to start from.
Jumps and plyometrics. For you if you're injury-free, have done strength training for a few weeks and want something more demanding. Jump rope, jumps in place, jumps onto a low box and long bounds. A few jumps at full power with soft landings, on a soft surface. First step: after warming up on your next easy run, do 3 × 10 jumps in place on grass and rest a minute between sets.
Put strength where it gets in the way of running least
Strength training and running compete for the same legs. A heavy strength session the day before a hard run makes the run worse, and vice versa. That's why it matters where in the week the strength goes. Two approaches that tend to work:
- The same day as an easy run, straight after or a few hours later. That way your legs get to rest the next day.
- A day without running, but not the day before your hardest run of the week.
A balanced week can look like this: three runs, most of them easy, two short strength sessions and one day with no training at all. A short strength session after your run has the advantage that you're already warm and have already decided to train. How hard those runs should be is in heart rate when running.
Heavier over time, not heavier right away
If you run a lot, you can be strong in fitness and unused to strength work. The first session can leave you sorer than expected, especially after lunges. So start with fewer sets than you think you can manage.
When an exercise has become easy, make it harder. One leg instead of two. Slower on the way down. Dumbbells or a barbell. Then jumps. Increase one thing at a time, and keep your running the same in the week you step up the strength. That makes it easier to notice what makes a difference, and harder to do too much at once.
The challenge should be in your muscles, not your joints. If an exercise hurts in a knee or a hip in a way that doesn't feel like muscle soreness, switch exercises and talk to a doctor if it doesn't go away.
A first step today: after your next run, do 3 × 10 lunges per leg, 3 × 12 glute bridges and 3 × 30 seconds plank. Ten minutes.
This is the understanding and a first session. Atlas is where it becomes a habit. With This week's three you decide in advance which days you train, and The minimum workout is a ten-minute strength session you can do anywhere. You can add your own runs and strength sessions as exercises of your own, log every time and see your pace week by week. Try Atlas free for 7 days, and cancel whenever you want.