Two strength sessions a week is enough
High confidence
Two strength sessions a week, kept up for a couple of months, is enough to make running feel easier at the same pace. That easier feeling is what runners mean by running economy. Adding more than that is not clearly better for runners.
Why it works
Strength work trains your muscles and nerves to fire together and makes your tendons springier, the qualities behind running economy. Those changes build over weeks, so you don't need to lift every day.
What it means in practice
Aim for two strength sessions a week on non-consecutive days, and keep them apart from your hard running days. Hold the habit for at least a couple of months before deciding whether it works. During heavy race weeks, one session a week is enough to keep the gains.
The evidence
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Trained distance runners who added strength work to their endurance training improved running economy, time-trial performance, and maximal sprint speed. Heavy resistance training and plyometric training both delivered these gains, with effect sizes generally moderate. None of it shifted VO2 max or body composition. That points to a neuromuscular and tendon-related mechanism, not a cardiovascular one.
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Strength training improves running economy in highly trained middle- and long-distance runners. This meta-analysis pooled 5 controlled trials (n=93), all with VO2max above 60 ml/kg/min, in which runners added low-to-high intensity resistance work plus plyometrics 2 to 3 times per week for 8 to 12 weeks. The authors note how rarely elite runners do this: at the 2008 US Olympic Marathon Trials, nearly half reported no strength training at all. That VO2max threshold excludes typical recreational runners, so the effect at lower fitness levels stays an open question.
n=93
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Foot-ankle strengthening (Taddei 2020) cut the running injury rate 2.42-fold versus controls in recreational runners over 12 months, and in military cohorts resistance exercise at least 3 times per week was associated with 54% lower injury risk than doing none or less than weekly. Six weeks of neuromuscular training (jumping, landing, strength, endurance, agility, trunk) lowered injury incidence in track and field, most clearly for MTSS (p=0.012). Trail-runner risk factors include less running experience, skipped warm-ups, no specialized plan, asphalt training, and double daily sessions. Poor technique and weak neuromuscular control drive injuries alongside training-load problems, and more than 70% of running injuries are overuse.
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Strength training improved running economy in trained middle- and long-distance runners, but the best method tracked with pace. Plyometrics helped most at lower speeds, at or below 12 km/h (ES -0.307, p=0.028). Heavy loads at 80% 1RM or above worked better at faster speeds and in runners with high VO2 max. Submaximal and isometric loading barely moved economy at all.
n=652
Why we call confidence high
Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of strength training in distance runners agree: roughly two sessions a week over 6 to 24 week blocks improves how easily and how fast they run. The exact smallest dose that still works is less settled.
Where it applies
Adult distance runners from recreational to elite who train strength and endurance at the same time.
Does not apply to: pure sprinters; athletes in a dedicated strength-only block.
Last reviewed Jun 19, 2026. See how we score.