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By now, you’ve probably (hopefully!) accepted that lifting weights is a non-negotiable part of any runner’s training program. But in case you need a reminder: “It helps you become a more durable runner and improves your bone mineral density and your recruitment of fast-twitch muscle fibers,” says Anh Bui, D.P.T., C.S.C.S., level 1 USATF-certified coach of Run Resiliently Physical Therapy.

Alison Marie Helms, Ph.D., C.P.T., a certified running coach, agrees that while injury is not always 100 percent preventable, strength training can “stack the deck in your favor.”

Strength training can also boost running economy, according to a 2024 study in the journal Sports Medicine. This, in turn, helps runners sustain a pace for longer and run faster without using more energy, per Cristian Llanos Lagos, Ph.D. in sports science at Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Spain, who authored the study.

All of this said, where things get confusing is exactly how to integrate lifting into your running regimen, because, yes, you can do too much of a good thing: “It can backfire just like it can with running too much,” Helms says. “If you just go all-in on strength training, it can affect your recovery and energy available for your running.”

The thing is, the best lift-run program for you is and should be a moving target that revolves around your goals and running seasons. In other words, runners should always be in one of two modes—strength building or strength maintenance—and your workout schedule should reflect that.

Below, experts share how to adapt your lift-run program based on what you’re training for, where in that training cycle you are, and your past experience with strength training.

Basic Rules of a Lift-Run Program

1. Ease Into Lifting

    If you’re training for a marathon, you’re not going to go out and run 26.2 miles on day one, Helms says, and you can apply the same way of thinking to strength training. But the most common mistake she sees runners make is doing too much, too soon. Then they get super sore, it negatively affects their running, and they stop lifting altogether.

    Bui agrees: “The biggest mistake runners make when it comes to incorporating strength training is using too heavy weight too soon. It’s better to undercook than overcook, and [instead] gradually build up.”

    Bui says you can use excessive soreness as a gauge: If you feel like soreness is impeding your running quality, meaning you can no longer hit the paces you’re aiming for, or messing with your daily life, like making you dread the stairs, that means you’re doing too much. “That’s usually a sign that you overdid it,” she says. “Strength training is there to complement your running, not take away from it!”

    If you are sore, use lighter weights (or even just your bodyweight) or do fewer sets and reps of each exercise the next week, she explains.

    2. Strength Train 2-4 Days Per Week

      Depending on your history with strength training and your current “season” of running, you should be lifting between one and four days per week, according to the experts and Lagos’s research.

      “In the studies we conducted, we didn’t find sufficient evidence to determine whether performing two or four strength-training sessions per week generates differences in improving running economy or performance,” says Lagos. In general, he says that runners focused on 5Ks and 10Ks or who are more advanced do more strength sessions per week, while long-distance and/or beginner runners do fewer.

      During your peak mileage weeks, leading up to race day, and the week of the race, dropping down to just one lifting session should suffice.

      3. Pull Back as You Reach Peak Mileage

        You’ll want to focus on hypertrophy (muscle building) and strength building in your running off season and in the build phase of your marathon or half marathon training (which is the first several weeks of your training plan), the experts agree. That means lifting heavier weights for fewer reps and sets.

        Bui recommends trying four sets of six to eight reps with a moderately heavy weight, while Helms likes the 5x5 approach (five sets of five reps) for “big” lifts like squats and deadlifts.

        A good way to know if you’re lifting heavy enough is to ask yourself how many more reps you could possibly do with good form after a set. If it’s more than one or two, you should go heavier next time.

        At four to six weeks before a half or eight weeks before a full, you should switch gears, Helms says. (For 5Ks and 10Ks, she keeps things pretty consistent, only pulling back during race week.) There are a couple of ways you can do this.

        You could switch to a muscular endurance approach, Bui says, which is essentially how long you can complete an exercise before fatiguing and means doing more reps and/or sets with a lighter weight. “That might look like three sets of 10 to 15 reps,” Bui says. So you can keep doing the same moves, just with lighter weights.

        Helms prefers to have her runners continue to lift just as heavy as they were in the off season and build, but to do even fewer sets and reps with the same weight you were doing 5x5. (So you might slowly scale it back over a few weeks by reducing sets to four, and then three, so that in the taper weeks you are doing two sets of four to five reps.) That way, the overall volume of strength training is still lower, you’re just reducing how much you’re doing rather than how heavy you’re going.

        Try the approach you’re more comfortable with or test one during one training cycle and the other the next and see what works best for your race-day performance.

        4. Play With Tempo

          Another lifting variable you can play with is time under tension or how long your muscles are working. Performing reps more slowly gives you more time under tension which adds up to more cumulative stress on your body, Helms says. These should be done in the off season or half or full marathon build phase.

          As you get closer to race day, consider performing reps at a faster pace that you can still control, which will keep your muscles feeling fresher for your runs.

          Similarly, focusing on the eccentric (or lowering) phase of an exercise is thought to be a little bit more stressful on the system, says Helms, who suggests saving it for the off season or early weeks of a marathon or half marathon training cycle.

          5. Don’t Forget Plyometrics

            In Lagos’s research, plyometrics, which help runners develop explosiveness (i.e. power), were most helpful for people running at “slower speeds,” or less than 12km/hour (or about 8:06-minute miles). But for all runners it was the combination of different strength training methods (including heavy weights, medium weights, and plyometrics) that was the most beneficial.

            Similar to how you’d ease up with the weights as you approach race day, you can simplify plyos leading up to your event (for example, do pogo jumps) while they may be more complex (like box jumps) in your off season or build phase, Lagos says.

            If you do plyometrics—such as box jumps or burpees—as part of your strength training workout, do them before you lift weights in the same workout. This allows you to perform the moves on fresh legs, which is helpful considering the intensity of plyometrics.

            6. Consider 2-a-Days

              “There's a lot to be said for keeping hard days hard and then really leaning into rest on recovery days,” Helms says. In particular, for well-trained athletes who are logging a lot of miles and trying to integrate strength two to three days a week, this approach can be really helpful. Bui agrees and does this herself: “I always try to lift on the same days that I do a hard workout,” she says.

              Which you do first—lift or run—depends on whether you’re in the midst of training for a full or half, in which case you should run first, or if you’re in your off season and prioritizing strength, in which case you should lift first, per Helms.

              If you’re running fewer than six miles, you can do your sessions back to back, but if you’re running farther than that, Bui recommends trying to put at least a couple of hours in between the two sessions so you can recover and refuel properly.

              7. Find What Works for You

                “A big factor in all of this is what works best for the individual athlete,” Helms underscores. “We talked about stress from running and stress from strength training, but stress from the rest of life also factors in, and a lot of success with this purely comes from training age. The longer someone has done these things, you eventually find the right groove that works for you inside these general guidelines.”

                Bui agrees that finding the best lift-run program for you is both an art and a science—and the biggest key to success is figuring out how to fit both running and strength training into your life—and being consistent with it. “If going to the gym is a barrier for you, have some weights at home so that you can finish your run and then do your strength training from home,” she says, as one example. “Just make sure that you get it done.”

                Sample Lift-Run Schedules

                While it’s clear that there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for fitting strength training into your schedule, here are a few sample plans from Helms:

                Base Phase (off season), Option 1

                Use heavy weights, try a rep/set scheme like 4 sets of 6-8 reps, and move slowly through each rep. Incorporate plyometrics into at least one strength workout.

                Base Phase (off season), Option 2

                Use heavy weights, try a rep/set scheme like 4 sets of 6-8 reps, and move slowly through each rep. Incorporate plyometrics into at least one strength workout.

                Build Phase (first several weeks of half and full marathon training)

                • Monday: Tempo run
                • Tuesday: Lower-body strength training
                • Wednesday: Optional easy run
                • Thursday: Speed work + upper-body strength training
                • Friday: Easy run
                • Saturday: Long run + full-body strength training
                • Sunday: Off

                Use heavy weights, try a rep/set scheme like 4 sets of 6-8 reps (or 5 sets of 5 reps for big lifts), and move slowly through each rep. Incorporate plyometrics into at least one strength workout, preferably two.

                Peak Phase (starting six weeks before a half or eight weeks before a full)

                • Monday: Tempo run
                • Tuesday: Full-body strength training + optional easy run
                • Wednesday: Speed work
                • Thursday: Full-body strength training
                • Friday: Easy run
                • Saturday: Long run
                • Sunday: Off

                Reduce reps and sets (say, 2-4 sets of 3-5 reps), keeping weights heavy. Eliminate plyometrics in your strength workouts, but add moves like squat jumps and pogo jumps to run warmups.

                Taper Phase

                Both a marathon and half marathon have a taper before race day. For the marathon, it typically lasts three weeks, and for the half, about two weeks. During this time, you’ll gradually back down on mileage as you get closer to lining up at the start. Similarly, you’ll taper your strength training by cutting back to one day and reducing volume by lowering reps or sets (about 2 sets of 5 reps). This is a great time to focus more on mobility than strength building.

                The week of your race (potentially two weeks for a full), you can ditch the weights completely.

                Maintenance Phase

                After your half or full, Helms suggests taking one to two weeks fully off and then going back to the base-building phase (unless you’re training for another race). You’ll likely have lost some strength, so reassess where you are and start out lighter if you’re not sure.