If you’ve ever tried to figure out how strength training is supposed to fit into your running, you’ve probably run into the same problem most runners do: there’s no shortage of advice, but very little structure.
You’ll find lists of exercises. Probably some circuits that promise to “activate your glutes.” Maybe even a few programs that feel more like punishment than progress. And somewhere in all of that, it’s easy to start wondering whether you should be lifting heavy, keeping it light, doing plyometrics, or just hoping your weekly yoga class counts.
The issue isn’t that runners aren’t doing enough strength work. It’s that most of it lacks context, structure, and proper timing.
Strength training isn’t just about what lifts you do in the gym. It’s about when you do it, why you’re doing it, and how it fits into the larger arc of your training. Without that, even good exercises start to feel random and unintentionally chosen, while it’s supposed to be supporting your primary sport.
That’s where this blueprint comes in.
I live and train in Colorado Springs, where most of my miles come from long days on the trails and most of my strength work happens in a home gym. After more than a decade of training, from bodybuilding to CrossFit to now ultra running, I’ve found that blending strength and endurance isn’t just helpful, it’s necessary.
Why Strength Training Feels So Confusing for Runners
Runners tend to be incredibly consistent. We follow training plans, hit mileage targets, and build our weeks around key workouts. But strength training often lives outside of that system.
It becomes something you squeeze in when you have time, or something you default to when you feel like you should be doing more. Over time, it turns into a mix of half-finished routines, repeated exercises, and just enough effort to “check it off the list" without actually getting stronger.
That middle ground is where a lot of runners get stuck. You’re doing the work, but it’s not translating. You don’t feel noticeably more powerful, more stable, or more resilient, and effort is rarely the missing piece. More often, what’s missing is a strength program that evolves alongside your running rather than staying the same year-round.
Because strength training shouldn’t exist separately from your running. It should support it, shift with it, and reflect the specific demands of whatever phase of training you’re in.
A Better Way to Think About Strength: Phases, Not Workouts
Instead of doing the same type of lifting year-round, it’s more useful to think of strength training in phases. Each phase has a different purpose, and each one supports a different stage of your running.
When those two things are aligned, strength training stops feeling like extra work and starts feeling like a performance advantage.
Base Strength: Building What Most Runners Skip
In the off-season or lower-mileage periods, the focus should shift toward building actual strength. Not just movement and activation, but the kind of strength that requires load, intention, and time.
This is where heavier compound lifts come in: squats, deadlifts, split squats, and hinging patterns. In this phase, you should finish a lift feeling stronger because you challenged major muscle groups through slow, controlled compound movements, not exhausted from expending huge amounts of fast-twitch energy.
This phase can feel unfamiliar for a lot of runners. Progress is slower and less obvious. You’re not chasing splits or distances, and the feedback loop is different. Instead of feeling “fit,” you’re learning how to produce force and how to move weight with control and confidence.
There’s also a mental adjustment that happens here. It requires patience, and sometimes a willingness to let go speed. But over time, it builds a different kind of confidence. Not just the ability to endure, but the ability to generate strength when you need it.
Power and Elasticity: Turning Strength Into Speed
As training becomes more race-focused, strength work should begin to shift with it. This is where the emphasis moves away from how much you can lift and toward how well you can move.
Explosive exercises: jumps, cleans, and other fast, controlled movements become more valuable here. They bridge the gap between strength and running performance by teaching your body to apply force quickly and efficiently.
This phase often feels more intuitive. There’s a noticeable carryover to how you move on your runs. You feel lighter, more responsive, and more connected to your stride.
But it also introduces a different kind of discipline. The goal isn’t to push to fatigue. It’s to stay sharp, to move well, and to stop before quality drops. That restraint can be just as important as the work itself.
Durability and Maintenance: Staying Consistent When It Matters Most
Once mileage is high and races are on the calendar, strength training takes on a quieter role. It’s no longer about building or even improving, it’s about maintaining what you’ve built and protecting your ability to keep showing up.
The work becomes more controlled. More unilateral. More focused on stability, balance, and joint integrity. It might not feel impressive, and it rarely feels like a breakthrough, but it plays a critical role in keeping your training consistent.
This is also the phase where mental discipline shows up in a different way. You’re not chasing progress in the traditional sense. You’re choosing to do the smaller, less exciting work that keeps you healthy over time.
And that choice, to stay consistent when it’s not exciting, is often what separates runners who make it through a season from those who get sidelined halfway through it.
Making It Work in Real Life
All of this only matters if it actually fits into your week.
For most runners training at a moderate to high volume, that means two to four strength sessions per week, placed intentionally around your runs. Lifting after easier efforts or workouts tends to work better than before, and keeping your most demanding sessions away from long runs helps manage fatigue.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be consistent and aligned with what you’re asking your body to do on the run.
Where This Becomes Real
Like most runners, I’ve spent time on both ends of the spectrum: avoiding strength training altogether, and then trying to do too much of it at once.
I’ve lifted heavy when my mileage was too high to support it. I’ve relied on lighter, “runner-specific” work that never actually made me stronger. And for a long time, I stayed stuck in that middle ground where nothing quite clicked.
What changed wasn’t the exercises. It was the structure.
Once strength training started to match the phase of my running, everything felt more connected. Runs felt more efficient. Downhills were less punishing. Fatigue became more manageable.
Not because I was doing more, but because I was finally doing the right things at the right time.
The Bigger Picture
Strength training isn’t a supplement to running. It’s part of the system that supports it.
When it’s structured well, it doesn’t compete with your training, it reinforces it and helps you move better, stay healthier, and handle more over time.
And over the long run, that’s what matters most. Not just being a runner, but being one who can keep going.
Sample Strength Program for Runners
Below is a simple example of what strength training can look like across the three phases outlined in this article. The goal is not to follow this perfectly forever, but to understand how your lifting should shift depending on where you are in your running season.
Phase 1: Base Strength (Off-Season)
Goal: Build strength and create a foundation before mileage increases.
Frequency: 2 - 3 sessions per week
Rep Range: Mostly 3 - 6 reps on primary lifts
Rest: 2 - 3 minutes between main sets
Day 1
Back Squat: 4 x 5
Romanian Deadlift: 4 x 6
Walking Lunges: 3 x 8 each leg
Single-Leg Calf Raises: 3 x 12 each leg
Weighted Plank: 3 x 45 seconds
Day 2
Deadlift: 4 x 4
Bulgarian Split Squat: 3 x 6 each leg
Step-Ups: 3 x 8 each leg
Hamstring Curl Variation: 3 x 10
Side Plank: 3 x 30 seconds each side
Optional Day 3
Front Squat: 3 x 5
Dumbbell RDL: 3 x 8
Reverse Lunge: 3 x 8 each leg
Glute Bridge: 3 x 12
Farmer Carry: 3 x 40 yards
Phase 2: Power & Elasticity (Pre-Race)
Goal: Maintain strength while improving explosiveness, speed, and coordination.
Frequency: 2 sessions per week
Rep Range: Lower volume, explosive intent
Rest: Full recovery between sets
Day 1
Box Jumps: 4 x 3
Hang Cleans: 4 x 3
Back Squat: 3 x 3
Walking Lunges: 2 x 8 each leg
Med Ball Slams: 3 x 8
Day 2
Broad Jumps: 4 x 3
Jump Squats: 3 x 5
Romanian Deadlift: 3 x 5
Step-Ups: 2 x 8 each leg
Pallof Press: 3 x 10 each side
Phase 3: Durability & Maintenance (In-Season)
Goal: Stay healthy, maintain strength, and support recovery while mileage is high.
Frequency: 2 shorter sessions per week
Rep Range: Moderate reps, controlled movement
Rest: Shorter rest periods, focus on quality
Day 1
Goblet Squat: 3 x 8
Split Squat Isometric Hold: 3 x 20 seconds each leg
Step-Downs: 3 x 8 each leg
Single-Leg Calf Raises: 3 x 12 each leg
Dead Bug: 3 x 10 each side
Day 2
Single-Leg RDL: 3 x 8 each leg
Lateral Lunge: 3 x 8 each leg
Copenhagen Plank: 3 x 20 seconds each side
Banded Hip Airplanes: 2 x 10 each leg
Side Plank: 3 x 30 seconds each side
Author Bio
Regan Sikes is a hybrid athlete, combining her love for long-distance running with the form of training that started it all: hypertrophy-style strength training. For the past five years, she has blended high-mileage training with intentional lifting while staying largely injury-free, aside from the occasional ache or tweak here and there. She shares experience-driven insights on performance, durability, and building a strong body that can go the distance.
