What strength work does for a runner

Running is a repetitive movement; the same joints, tendons and muscles take the same load thousands of times in a session, whether an easy run or a more structured effort. Many runners complain about similar injuries or pain in certain joints, such as knees, hips and ankles; with the common misconception that running is bad for the body. In fact, running can be very good for the joints, especially when stronger muscles around the knee, hip and ankle support the joint through each stride, and stronger tendons cope with the repeated stretch and release that running asks of them. Over time this reduces the risk of the overuse problems that come from doing a lot of the same movement, and it lets you hold form when you are tired late in a run.

Why it feels like the thing to drop first

When your schedule gets busy, strength work is usually the first casualty. It does not feel like real training the way a run does, the benefit is slow, and it often competes for the same tired legs that your run does. But strength work for a runner does not need much time to be useful. Two short sessions a week, done consistently for months, do more than a long session done once and then abandoned. Consistency matters more than volume.

How to decide where it fits in your schedule

Rather than bolting strength work onto an already full week, it helps to look at your average schedule to make sure you’re protecting your most important commitments, both within running and beyond it.

• Protect your key runs first. Your hardest run and your longest run are the ones that drive your fitness. Put strength work where it will not impact or be impacted by them. Many runners lift on the same day as a hard run, keeping the hard things together and leaving the easy days genuinely easy.
• Piggyback on a habit you already keep. If you already run on a Tuesday and Thursday, a short strength session straight after one of those runs adds no new trip and no new decision. Attaching it to something fixed is more reliable than finding a fresh slot.
• Keep the sessions short enough to survive a bad week. A session you can finish in the time you have is one you will actually do. If twenty minutes is what a Wednesday allows, twenty minutes done is worth more than an hour you keep ditching.
• Decide the night before. Choosing when you will lift, and laying out what you need, means you are not relying on feeling motivated after work.

If you can only manage one strength session in a hard week, keep the one and let the second go. One is far better than none, and consistency is better than perfection.

Fitting it around a coached class or a fixed session

Many runners already have fixed things in their week, whether that’s part of their regular fitness programme, a work commitment, or just life. Treat those as immovable and plan strength work around them rather than trying to squeeze it in on top. If your legs are already worked by a running club session, put your strength day elsewhere in the week so nothing lands on top of something else. If you know you need to be in the office early on a certain day, don’t try to force a strength session there.

When to ease off or stop

Strength work should leave you a little tired, not in pain. Ordinary muscle soreness for a day or two after a new session is normal and eases as your body gets used to the work. Sharp or sudden pain during a movement, pain in a joint rather than a muscle, or pain that gets worse rather than better is a signal to stop that exercise. If pain is severe, does not settle, or stops you moving normally, see a physiotherapist or GP before you carry on.

Getting the balance right with your running

Strength work and running draw on the same recovery. If you add strength sessions and keep your running exactly as it was, you may find yourself more tired than usual. Watch how you feel across the week. If your easy runs start to feel heavy, if your sleep suffers, or if you are dreading sessions you used to enjoy, ease something back rather than pushing through. That might mean shortening the strength session, making an easy run easier, or dropping one thing entirely that week. The aim is a week you can repeat, not a single heroic week you pay for later.

Revay and strength for runners

Revay builds a running plan that includes strength work and adapts around the fixed sessions and commitments you tell it about, so the strength work has a place in your week rather than being the thing you always drop. Revay is currently in development; if you would like more information about the beta, sign up below and we will let you know when it is ready. Say hello any time at hello@revay.app.