Should you strength train as a runner?
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: If you want to stay healthy, run faster, and keep doing this long term, it's one of the most important things you can do.
"But running is my leg workout..."
Running is AMAZING for cardiovascular health but it is NOT the same thing as building strength.
Your heart and lungs adapt quickly. Your tendons and joints? Much slower.
So what tends to happen is this: you feel great from a conditioning standpoint, but your knee starts to ache. Or your Achilles feels tight every morning. Or your hip gets angry after long runs.
That's usually not because running is "bad." It's because your body doesn't quite have the strength capacity to handle the load you're putting on it.
Why strength training actually reduces injury risk
Running is essentially a series of single-leg mini-hops. With every step, you're absorbing 2-3 times your body weight through one leg. If you don't have the strength to control your hip, knee, ankle, trunk, that force has to go somewhere.
And that's when injuries like these tend to appear:
- IT band irritation
- Achilles tendinopathy
- Plantar fasciitis
- "Random" knee pain
- Low back tightness
"...But won't lifting make me slower or bulky?"
Short answer: No.
In fact, appropriate strength training often improves:
- Running economy
- Stride efficiency
- Hill performance
- Sprint speed
So, what should runners actually focus on?
When working with runners, these are the priorities:
- Glutes - This helps control knee position, allow for full stride length, and improve force transfer.
- Calves - Your soleus works hard during distance running and is often undertrained.
- Hamstrings - Important for speed and controlling your stride.
- Lateral hip musculature - Very important in controlling the position of your knee and load through your foot.
- Core control - Bracing, anti-rotation, and learning how to manage pressure.
- Single-leg strength - Because running is single-leg (split squats, step downs, RDL variations).
How often?
Ideally 2-3 times per week. During higher mileage phases, you can adjust volume slightly, but strength work should rarely be removed completely. That's often when small aches start creeping back in.
When strength training becomes non-negotiable
Strength training is necessary if you:
- Are increasing mileage
- Are over 30
- Have a history of recurring injuries
- Notice pain that "warms up" but comes back later
- Want to get faster without just adding more miles
Exercise of the Month: Lateral Step Down
If there was one exercise to pick that transfers really well to running, this would be high on the list.
Why it matters
When you are running, you are pretty much on one leg the entire time. Every time your foot hits the ground, your body has to control your pelvis and knee over that one leg. Lateral step downs replicate that single-leg loading position in a controlled way.
If your hip isn't strong enough to control the position of your knee, you'll often see the knee collapse inward. Over time, that can contribute to lateral knee pain, patellar pain, IT band irritation, and more. This exercise trains your hip to control that position before it becomes a problem.
How to do it
- Stand sideways on a box or step (start with 4-8 inches).
- Shift your weight onto the leg that's staying on the box.
- Slowly bend that knee and tap your opposite heel to the floor.
- Keep your hips level and don't let one side drop.
- Watch that your knee stays in line with your second toe (don't let it cave inward).
- Drive back up through the heel to return to standing.
Start with 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps per side.