Guides

Strength Training for Runners: The Missing Piece to Running Stronger, Longer

Learn how to improve running performance and prevent annoying injuries so you can run for longer and recover faster.

Images: Cris Mahony

Jo Wood 03.04.2026

Strength training heightens running performance, minimises injury-risk, improves recovery and protects running longevity. Many runners know this, yet avoid strength training for various reasons. Once you appreciate strength training’s benefits and know how best to incorporate it in your running program, your perspective of lifting weights will change. Learn to love strength training, or simply its benefits, to become your strongest running self yet.

Eager to improve your running? Extra effort in the right area is an intelligent route to better results. But which area?

Perhaps you’ve already tweaked your run program, revolutionised your fuelling and optimised recovery and are searching for the missing piece to the puzzle of superior training and racing. So add strength training to your weekly training diet.

Countless runners baulk at the mention of strength training, despite being aware of its value. It’s true: runners love to, well, run! Logging more kilometres out on the trail can sound preferable to spending your limited training time lifting weights. However, this view is short-sighted, because strength training is a worthy investment in your overall running performance and ultimately, your longevity in the sport. Short on time? Our guide to greasing th e groove strength training for runners shows how to build strength without blowing out your weekly schedule.

Why strength training matters for runners

Strength training improves running performance in terms of speed, power, endurance and fatigue-resistance. A stronger, more robust runner’s body takes you further and faster before the inevitable onset of fatigue.

Muscular legs exert greater ground force per foot strike, creating a more powerful stride that covers greater distances. Strong glutes and calf muscles propel your grind up long, steep ascents.

Simple drills can help reinforce this too. The 100-up drill is a great way to build coordination and running efficiency without needing extra time or equipment.

Stro ng calves in particular play a huge role here—both in climbing and absorbing load on descents. Sturdy quads support your downhill bombs and prevents (or at least delays the point at which-) the legs turning to jelly. Increased leg strength equates to faster running on the flat too, because with increased ground force per stride, you’ll cover more distance before you fatigue.

Don’t Neglect Your Upper Body and Core

It’s not just about the legs. Upper-body and core-strength maintain good running form, particularly when fatigued. Good posture prevents us collapsing forwards or to one side, facilitating efficient running economy and ability to breathe easily (the exchange of oxygen into and carbon dioxide out of the lungs drives our energy production). Note that ‘core’ refers to all the muscles encircling the trunk, not just the abdominals. Develop the muscles of your front, side, and back, rather than only focusing on that coveted six-pack.

Ultra runners need upper body strength to comfortably carry several kilos of mandatory gear, nutrition and hydration. Hiking poles are an asset in ultras, but insufficient arm strength renders poles more of a hindrance than a help. And a powerful arm-swing drives the legs to turn over more quickly, contributing to your form and speed. A body blessed with all-round strength is a beautiful – and very useful – thing.

Build Strong Bones and Connective Tissue

Aside from increasing and maintaining muscle mass, strength training is a weight-bearing exercise that strengthens bones and connective tissues (tendons, ligaments, cartilage) that link the musculoskeletal system together.

These benefit help delay the onset of, and minimise, the effects of reduced bone density and muscle mass with ageing. Women can improve bone health with strength training to offset the loss of bone density associated with hormonal changes at perimenopause and menopause. Strength training also develops other valuable skills such as balance (proprioception), coordination and self-confidence. It also provides opportunities for mental fitness training, as the right mindset is necessary to adhere not only to your consistent strength training routine, but to perform all exercises correctly and importantly, to completion during every session.

Of course, you want to skip those challenging core exercises in the final 10 minutes of your program or swap an exercise you find difficult or unenjoyable for an easier option, but practicing being “comfortable with the uncomfortable” and “staying to the end” will serve you well at difficult moments of training runs or races.

Strength training for injury prevention

Injury prevention and rehabilitation post-injury are supported by strength training. Many injuries arise from poor strength or muscle imbalances. If you’ve ever visited your physio with knee pain and been advised to improve your core or glute strength, you’ll know what I mean.

Calf strength is another big one for runners, especially on trails. If you’re dealing with niggles or want to build more resilience, check out our guide to calf strength for runners.

Runners returning from injury after a prolonged lay-off can expediate their return to running by strength training in the interim. Working closely with your health professional (and run coach if applicable), strength training programs can be modified so exercises support your continued recovery, avoid re-injury, and minimise fitness loss.

The goal is to build run-specific strength that expediates a safe, strong and enjoyable return to running when the body’s ready. Aside from building a more robust runner’s body, strength training might also minimise injury-risk by inadvertently preventing overtraining. Many runners’ niggles are over-use injuries, and strength training twice a week means we’re not running on those two days. Instead, we’re working our bodies in a way that supports recovery from running whilst complementing our running in myriad positive ways.

How strength training improves recovery

Consistent strength training accelerates recovery from hard training sessions and races. Runners who strength train can continue to train effectively on consecutive days and bounce back after races that might otherwise break them.

Ever been unable to walk for a week after a race, been forced to reverse down the stairs, or needed to rise from your chair with embarrassing difficulty? With strength training in your arsenal, your body builds resilience to better cope with high intensity training and racing. It transforms you from the ‘walking wounded’ to ‘fully functional’ in a more reasonable time frame.

Your overall training is therefore more efficacious. You won’t carry the residual effects of a long or intense run into subsequent sessions like a hangover. Neither will you need several days’ rest or reduced training to aid recovery. Instead, you can ‘keep on keeping on’ smashing your running goals.

How to start strength training (without overdoing it)

Are you ready to compliment your running with strength training, but unsure where to start? See our breakout box for 5 key considerations for effective and sustainable strength training. My most oft-repeated advice is to “Start exactly where you are.”

A common error is doing too much, too soon. This leads to excessive muscle soreness and potential injury, negatively impacting running and defeating the object. Be patient and persistent. As with running, bodies respond best to consistency and challenge that increases in sensible increments. Respect that it takes time to adapt to a new strength training routine. You’ll ‘feel’ the effects of strength training (delayed onset muscle soreness, DOMS) in the initial 4-6 weeks of a new routine, but this lessens over time and eventually disappears, providing you persist with your regular routine and progress sensibly. If strength training is sporadic, fitness gains are reversed because there’s too much ‘recovery’ (i.e. days off between subsequent strength training stimuli) relative to the ‘work’ (inappropriate work:recovery ratio), so progress is limited.

You’ll also need to ‘return to square 1’ with lighter loads, easier variations of each exercise, and suffer 4-6 weeks of the initial DOMS again. Similarly, if the work:recovery ratio swings too far in the opposite direction (e.g. more than 2-3 strength sessions per week), you’ll be too fatigued to run well or have insufficient time to run and make progress in your main sport).

Being mindful of these facts will keep your consistent, logical and effective strength training routine on track.

Strength training tips for runners

Strength train with purpose in terms of exercise choice and program balance – both within your week and from month-to-month. Avoid hitting the same muscle groups (and in the same manner) repeatedly, but revisit key exercises periodically.

The tempo at which you perform each exercise is also important. For strength gains, exercises must be performed slowly and with control.

Rushing through exercises can mean we execute them with poor or incorrect form so slow down. The desired outcome from your time in the gym also dictates your target number of sets and reps.

Learn to love strength training

What we repeatedly do, we become: runners who are strong, resilient and capable of mindfully enduring challenge. If you struggle to enjoy strength training itself, then teach yourself to love the effects of it. Identify a ‘why’ for strength training that resonates with you and tie the association to your twice-weekly strength training habit.

Your motivation can come from outside running too. Simply being sufficiently strong to live the life you want for yourself is reason enough. Once you’ve experienced a physically and mentally stronger version of yourself, you’ll never want to turn back. Let’s get, and stay, strong for running…and for life.