- Researchers examined studies that looked at the benefits of strength training for running performance—particularly running economy—and found it does improve efficiency.
- Comparing heavy weights and low reps, light weights and high reps, plyometric training, and isometric exercises, researchers also point out the best type of strength workouts for improving performance.
Cardio fitness and form influence your running economy, but it’s not the only factor. According to new research in Sports Medicine, strength training can be a significant variable for boosting your efficiency, but the way you train matters.
“The takeaway message from our study is clear; we need to incorporate strength training into our running programs,” principal author Cristian Llanos-Lagos, PhD(c), researcher in sports sciences at Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Spain told Runner’s World. “However, it’s essential to understand that various methods of strength training A Part of Hearst Digital Media.”
To put the findings in context, it’s helpful to revisit how running economy is defined. Running economy is one of the cornerstones of physiological performance in distance running, along with lactate threshold and VO2 max. Basically, economy isn’t just about how much oxygen you get into your body, but it’s also about how well you use it—especially at your race pace.
In the recent meta-analysis, researchers looked at 31 studies covering running economy effects from different strength-training methods, including high loads (heavier weights with a lower number of reps), plyometric training (explosive exercises), and submaximal load training that focuses on lighter weights with a higher number of reps. Studies also included combined methods, as well as isometric training, which relies on contacting a specific muscle or group of muscles held in one position.
Cardio fitness and endurance running but didn’t do strength training. In total, the studies included 195 moderately trained, 272 well trained, and 185 highly trained athletes.
Researchers found that strength training at high loads (that’s the heavier weights and lower reps) were beneficial mainly for high-level athletes and those running at high speeds, because the training method improved short-term force generation.
“The An 18-Minute Plyometric Strength Workout at high loads can improve running economy through neuromuscular adaptations and improved stiffness of the lower limbs,” said Llanos-Lagos. These neuromuscular adaptations increase recruitment and firing frequency of motor units and changes in muscle-fiber type, he added, resulting in improved rate of force development, which is the amount of force applied over time.
“This is important to understand, given that during the contact phase of running, the time we must apply force is limited,” he said. “An athlete who generates high levels of force in short periods of time can move more quickly from the braking phase to the propulsion phase of running, promoting favorable muscular conditions that allow for improved running economy.”
For those who run at low-speed levels—focusing on endurance over pace, for example—it turns out plyometric training is the way to go, because it allows for greater energy storage that can be meted out over a longer timeframe, said Llanos-Lagos. The discovery that plyometric training could be beneficial at low running speeds was a surprising find, he added. But one possible mechanism is that this type of training increases tendon elongation, which likely influences energy storage overall. This allows you to keep performing until the end of a long run or race.
In terms of the low weight and high rep approach, that turned out to be less ideal in terms of running performance, but that doesn’t mean you need to ditch it, if that’s your preferred training style. Instead, you may want to add in a different type of strength session once or twice a week.
“Submaximal load training [low weight, high rep] alone does not generate sufficient adaptations to see changes in running economy, but when combined with plyometric training or high-load training, it could improve running economy,” he added. “Therefore, it could be a safer and easier alternative to combine training methods if you have less experience in strength training.”
Isometric training also didn’t generate changes in running economy on its own, but Llanos-Lagos said it could still be used under specific conditions—such as muscle contraction in the legs done for short periods of time—that simulate running biomechanics.
“Overall, we strongly believe that the evidence underlines the need to include different strength training methods in runners’ training programs, regardless of their levels of competition,” he said.
