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. In pooled trials, more sessions a week did not add benefit.
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, spaced apart and kept away from your hard running days (a scheduling convention, not a tested variable). Hold the habit for at least a couple of months before deciding whether it works.
The evidence
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Distance runners who added strength work (heavy resistance, explosive resistance or plyometric training) to their running generally improved running economy (2-8% versus running-only controls), time-trial performance over 1.5-10 km, and sprint speed, though these gains were not a consistent finding across every study reviewed. Maximal oxygen uptake, blood lactate and body composition were typically unaffected, and body composition was not negatively affected. That points to a neuromuscular and tendon-related mechanism, not a cardiovascular one.
n=469
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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 pooled effect on running economy was large (SMD -1.42, 95% CI -2.23 to -0.60), and 4 of the 5 trials used low-to-moderate loads (40-70% of 1RM). That VO2max threshold excludes typical recreational runners, so the effect at lower fitness levels stays an open question.
n=93
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High-load strength training produced a moderate improvement in running performance (time trial and time to exhaustion; ES -0.469) and combined methods a large one (ES -1.035). Plyometric training alone did not reach significance (ES -0.210, p = 0.064). No method improved VO2max, vVO2max, maximum metabolic steady state or sprint capacity. Program characteristics, including weeks, sessions per week and total sessions, did not moderate the effects (all p > 0.166).
n=894
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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
Meta-analyses of strength training in distance runners find better running economy and performance from programs of one to four sessions a week, most often two to three (Blagrove 2018; Balsalobre-Fernandez 2016; Llanos-Lagos 2024 economy). In the 2024 performance meta-analysis (38 studies, 894 runners), sessions per week did not change the effect (all moderator p > 0.166), so about two sessions captures the benefit. The smallest dose that still works has not been tested head-to-head.
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 Oct 14, 2026. See how we score.