Strength training makes running more efficient
High confidence
Add strength work and trained runners usually become 2 to 8 percent more efficient, meaning they burn less energy at the same pace. Coaches call this running economy. The gain rivals what extra easy miles would give, or beats it. VO2 max, the most oxygen the body can use, barely moves. The improvement comes from stronger muscles and stiffer tendons, not the heart and lungs.
Why it works
The nervous system learns to fire muscles more efficiently, tendons get stiffer and springier, and each stride pushes off with more force. The heart and lungs are not doing the extra work.
What it means in practice
One to two strength sessions a week belong in a distance runner's schedule as a standard part of training, not an extra. A plan that leaves strength out entirely has a real gap, and plan reviews should flag it.
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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In recreationally trained distance runners, unilateral and bilateral plyometric training improved running economy and time-trial performance equally when matched for volume and intensity. The authors favor bilateral training as the safer default, reasoning from the bilateral force deficit rather than any measured injury outcome. On that basis they recommend periodized, high-volume low-intensity bilateral plyometrics where injury risk is a concern. This is a single trial in recreational runners, so the safety edge stays inferred rather than demonstrated.
Why we call confidence high
Several randomized trials and a systematic review with meta-analysis point the same way: heavy resistance and plyometric (jump-based) training make trained distance runners more efficient. Every study finds the effect in the same direction. How big the gain is varies from one study to the next.
Where it applies
Trained adult distance runners with at least one year of consistent running. The evidence is strongest in male runners and holds in female runners too, on a smaller body of studies.
Does not apply to: novice runners with under 6 months of running; sprint athletes; sedentary adults starting running.
Plans that respect this
Plans that scored well on the rubric measures informed by this claim.
- 10-Week Run Your First 10k (3 days)
- 10-Week Run Your First 10k (4 days)
- 10-Week Run Your First Half Marathon (3 days)
- 10-Week Run Your First Half Marathon (4 days)
- 10-Week Sub-1:30 Half Marathon (4 days)
- 10-Week Sub-1:30 Half Marathon (5 days)
- 10-Week Sub-1:30 Half Marathon (6 days)
- 10-Week Sub-1:45 Half Marathon (4 days)
- 10-Week Sub-1:45 Half Marathon (5 days)
- 10-Week Sub-1:45 Half Marathon (6 days)
- 10-Week Sub-2 Half Marathon (3 days)
- 10-Week Sub-2 Half Marathon (4 days)
Last reviewed Apr 30, 2026. See how we score.