Fit Tip: Build Strength to Improve Running Efficacy

Endurance and physical strength are undeniably connected in the performance equation. Top marathoners know and embrace the idea that increased strength improves endurance—but you don’t have to be a high-level endurance athlete to apply new strength-training concepts to help you reach your own running goals.

The learning curve for endurance athletes and strength training has been long and steep. A few decades ago, endurance athletes were told to avoid “gym training” for fear they would develop heavy, bulky muscles that would inhibit performance. Intuitively, this makes sense. However, the more honest reason gym training was shunned was a cultural bias on the part of the endurance community: strength training was lumped together with the bodybuilding culture, where the main motivation for lifting weights is to build bulk. While bodybuilders also weight-train for symmetry and definition, the vast majority of their training time it is dedicated to getting bigger—an idea that couldn’t be more foreign to traditional endurance-training wisdom.

In the early 80s, a handful of distance-athletes began supplementing their regular training with weight-training in hopes of improving endurance. Their results were mixed. While these athletes generally gained some strength, they also gained weight, so their strength-to-weight ratio showed only very modest improvements—not enough to justify the energy expenditure in performing the extra workout. In other cases, their strength-to-weight-ratio dropped.

Why did they see such different (yet equally unsuccessful) results? Because they were doing bodybuilding-style workouts, designed to grow muscle size with little or no improvement in functional strength. Of course this resulted in a reduction in the endurance athletes most valued attribute: strength-to-weight ratio. It took the realization that various training principals and techniques could be reworked to make bulk-less strength gains for endurance athletes to revisit gym workouts.

While gym workouts were embraced by some endurance athletes, some still abstained. Though it was clear that a finely-tailored weight-training program could be implemented to build strength without an increase in size or weight, what remained unclear was why an endurance athlete would need strength at all. Further, many wondered about the return on investment for strength-training: would a few gym workouts to achieve increased strength be worth the extra energy expenditure?

Marathon running is an endurance event, not a strength sport—at least according to traditional wisdom. But is that wisdom completely correct? For a marathoner, what advantage is it to be able to lift more weight? As it turns out, strength can actually have a significant endurance benefit.

Here’s an example to prove the benefit: if two runners are completely equal in every respect except for muscular strength, the stronger will be faster over any distance. The lower percentage of maximum strength needed for each stride will translate into improved efficiency and therefore greater endurance.
In our example, if the stronger runner can squat 10% more weight than another, his muscles will not have to work as hard to move the body forward, which can translate to significant endurance gains. When muscles don’t need to work as hard, they also don’t require as much oxygen or circulating blood and therefore will not put as much demand on the heart, which in turn will lower that rate at which it beats. A significant improvement in endurance will be the result. Greater strength does equal greater endurance. Now common referred to as functional strength, properly structured gym workouts have been embraced by most all high-level endurance athletes.

While the focus for runners and cyclists will expectedly be the legs, gains in upper-body strength can also translate into a significant performance advantage by improving muscle efficacy. Since the arms and upper body are engaged when running, improving the efficacy by which they function contributes to overall performance. Improving whole body strength is the key to realizing the full potential of strength’s contribution to your endurance.

To get the most from your combined training efforts, remember that nutrition is a vital part of all physical training—strength and endurance included. Nutrients are the building blocks used to reconstruct the muscle tissue that training has broken down. To reduce inflammation and start the regeneration process, consume a nutrient-packed smoothie after each workout. Quick and efficient recovery from each workout is crucial to training success because the faster you recover, the sooner you can train again. Recovery is what leads to true gains and will improve your performance more so than endurance or strength training alone.

How often to you include strength training in your fitness routine?