A 20-minute strength routine for runners

Most runners know they should do strength work, and most skip it. The soreness from a first session can wreck the next run. It also takes time. A short routine is easier to keep doing.

Do about 20 minutes of strength training twice a week, focused on calves, single-leg work, hips, and core. Use weights heavy enough that the last few reps are hard. Do it on the same day as a hard run or after an easy run, not the day before a key session.

Why strength training helps runners

Running economy is how much energy you use at a given pace. Støren and colleagues published a study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise in 2008. Eight well-trained runners added half squats, four sets of four repetitions at their four-rep maximum, three times a week for eight weeks. Their running economy improved by 5%, with no change in body weight. A control group that kept to normal training showed no change. The load in that study was heavy.

Most running injuries happen when the load on a muscle or tendon outgrows what it can handle. Stronger tissue can handle more. Whether strength training prevents running injuries is less settled than the economy result above. Strength work is still a standard part of rehab for Achilles problems. It is also used for runner's knee.

Steady hips and strong calves also help you hold your stride together in the last mile.

Strength training will not make a distance runner bulky. The volume here is small, and your running volume works against muscle gain.

The routine

Do this twice a week. You need a set of dumbbells or a kettlebell, a step, and a little floor space. Rest about 60 to 90 seconds between sets. With the warm-up, it takes around 20 minutes.

Warm-up (3 minutes)

• 10 bodyweight squats
• 10 walking lunges
• 10 leg swings each direction, each leg

1. Split squat, 3 sets of 8 per leg

Stand in a long stride, back heel lifted, and lower until your back knee nearly touches the floor. Hold dumbbells once bodyweight gets easy. This builds quads and glutes one leg at a time, the way you run.

2. Single-leg Romanian deadlift, 3 sets of 8 per leg

Stand on one leg, hold a weight in the opposite hand, and hinge at the hips while your free leg moves back. Keep your back flat. This works the hamstrings and glutes. It also challenges balance.

3. Calf raises, 3 sets of 12 to 15 per leg

On one leg, on the edge of a step, lower your heel below the step and rise all the way up. Go slowly, and add a dumbbell when you can do 15 easily. Do one set with the knee straight and one with it slightly bent to work both main calf muscles. Calves take a lot of the load in running and are often weak.

4. Side plank with leg lift, 2 sets of 30 seconds per side

Hold a side plank on your forearm. Once that is solid, lift the top leg a few inches. This works the hip muscles that keep your pelvis level on each stride.

5. Dead bug, 2 sets of 8 per side

Lie on your back, arms up, knees bent at 90 degrees. Lower the opposite arm and leg slowly while keeping your lower back pressed to the floor.

6. Pogo hops, 2 sets of 20 seconds

Make small, quick hops on both feet, staying on the balls of your feet with stiff ankles. These train your legs to use their spring. Start on a soft surface, and skip them if you are coming back from a bone or tendon injury.

How heavy

For the split squat, deadlift, and calf raises, choose a weight that makes the last two reps of each set hard but still allows good form. If you could do several more reps, go heavier next time. The study above used heavy loads, so light weights for high reps won't give the same benefit.

Beginners should use bodyweight for the first two weeks to learn the movements and get through the first round of soreness.

When to do it

The best time is later on the same day as a hard session, or right after an easy run. That keeps the hard days hard and the easy days easy.

In a Norwegian-style week with threshold on Tuesday and a 4x4 on Thursday, a simple setup is:

• Tuesday: threshold run, strength later in the day
• Thursday or Friday: strength after an easy run, or later on the 4x4 day

Avoid heavy leg work the day before a threshold session or a race. In race week, drop to one short session early in the week, or skip it. More on race week in How to Taper for a Race.

Progressing over time

After about six weeks of consistent work, most runners need more challenge. You can:

• Add weight
• Move from split squats to rear-foot elevated split squats
• Add a step-up with a knee drive
• Progress pogo hops to single-leg hops

Change one thing at a time, the same way you would build mileage.

For high school coaches

A team can do this routine in about 20 minutes after practice, with bodyweight only at first. Two sessions a week through the season is enough. Teach form first and keep the sets short, and the habit will carry into track season.

If you have a weight room and a coach to supervise, older athletes can progress to loaded movements. Younger and newer athletes do well with bodyweight and good form for a full season.

Common mistakes

Strength work the day before a hard session leaves sore legs, which make threshold intervals harder and tend to push heart rate higher at the same pace. Going too light is the other common error. Three sets of 30 easy reps is mostly endurance work, which you already get from running.

Many runners also skip calves, even though calves work hard in every step and need direct training. And when the season gets busy, cut to one short session a week rather than stopping. A common coaching rule of thumb is that one session a week keeps most of the strength you built.

How StartLane handles it

StartLane builds 5K and 10K running plans with heart rate zones, easy days, and threshold sessions. It does not include strength workouts, so you add those yourself. Use the plan to place them: put strength on the same day as a threshold or VO2max session or after an easy run, and keep the day before a key session free. Daily check-ins help you see whether strength work is affecting your running.

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have an injury, pain, or a health condition, check with a doctor or physical therapist before starting a new strength routine.