Longtime Runner, First Time Lifter
Yes, ideally you would have started lifting before the running season started. But if the start of this running season was the push you needed to finally add some lifting to your training regime it's not too late to reap the rewards. The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago, but the second best time is right now - so let's get to it. Balancing the physical stresses of the running season with getting stronger can seem like a tedious task, but with a little strategy you can end the running season stronger and more knowledgeable than when you started. Luckily you have two distinct advantages: you’re new to lifting, and you’re here reading this article - where I’ll do my best to go over the main things I keep in mind as a strength coach when dealing with a longtime runner, first time lifter.
First off, you don’t need to do very much.
People who poo-poo on in-season strength training are just strength training wrong. If your strength training is causing aches and pains, or making your legs feel heavy on your important runs, you're likely starting with too much.
As I’ve talked about in another article - even for more experienced lifters the minimum amount of lifting to make progress is way less than you’d think. If you’re currently not doing any lifting, the minimum amount for you is literally any strength training at all. I usually recommend starting with one short session per week, and building up from there as needed. This “minimalist approach” will give you the many of the benefits of lifting while avoiding large amounts of fatigue that may interfere with your runs.
For the first few weeks of lifting most of the strength you gain isn’t from building muscle - it’s from neural adaptations like learning technique, becoming more efficient at using your body, and your brain getting better at telling certain muscles to do their job [1]. Just showing up to the gym and learning movements is already getting you many of these benefits without causing enough fatigue or soreness to take away from your running.
Stick to Mostly Compound Movements.
This is solid training advice for most stages of your lifting career, but sticking to mostly compound movements like squat, deadlift, overhead and bench press, and row variations for the in-season runner and beginner lifter has some added advantages. When you are still in this early “neural adaptation phase” of being new to lifting your body isn’t really good enough at exercise technique or muscle recruitment to lift any massive weight. Compound movements have a higher learning curve or “skill barrier” than isolation movements (like leg extensions or hamstring curls). The higher skill barrier will make it a little harder for you to do as much muscle damage in the first couple weeks of lifting while you’re learning the movements. (That's "harder", not "impossible". It is still important that you start easy, and progress gradually with compound lifts). For example: if you start off training your legs with leg extensions it will take you about 15 seconds to get good enough at the exercise to destroy your quads and be running like Bambi for the next 2 weeks. Compare that to a goblet squat - if you’ve never done one before and are picky about performing the movement well, it will take you a bit longer to get to the “working to the point of Bambi-legs point”.
Spending some time lifting submaximal weight while you learn movement patterns will help you get some of the initial neural benefits of lifting, keep fatigue at a level that doesn’t interfere with your running, and set you up with a solid foundation of technique so that you’re ready to push a little harder once the running season winds down and you can take a more lifting-heavy off-season approach. While you’re taking things a little easier, here is a (non-comprehensive) checklist of not-overly-fatiguing things you can work on to build competency around each major lift, and set you up with the technique foundation to push a little harder further down the line:Squats
Find a squat stance that works for you.
Learn to consistently find below-parallel depth, and work on any mobility restrictions that prevent you from doing it.
Work on paused squats to get comfortable in a deep squat position (also a nice stretch for tight running legs).
Learn to brace your “core” during the squat.
Deadlifts/Hinges
Learn to hinge with your hips, instead of your back.
Learn to brace your “core” during a hinge.
Learn how to create tension with your lats.
Learn how to balance over your mid-foot on an RDL.
Presses
Learn how to press overhead, and work on any mobility restrictions that prevent you from doing it.
Learn about elbow positioning on presses like bench press or pushups, and find one that works for you
Learn how to safely bring weights in and out of DB presses.
Pulls
Work on keeping your shoulder blades involved in rowing.
Work on preventing excessive shrugging and upper-trap use when rowing.
Learn how to pull with your back muscles, not just your arms.
Get better at knowing where your shoulder blades are in space (proprioception).
If you want some more individualized advice on this sort of thing, you can send me an email here and I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have, or point you in the direction of some resources that may help. Minimize Interference With Your Important Runs.
Lifting sub-maximal weights and focusing on learning technique will only get you so far. Most of the neural benefits seem to top out within around 4 weeks [2] so if you want to reap any real benefits from lifting weights, at some point you’ll have to push a little harder and manage the extra fatigue that comes along with it. Here’s a few strategies for when the time comes:Put Space Between Your Runs and Lifts.
Spacing your strength training and your running apart seems to be the most impactful way of managing lifting and running based on my experience (ideally 24 hours or more according to some researchers [3]).
Not exactly rocket science on this one - more time between sessions means more time to recover, which means feeling better for your session. For those of you overachievers who run more than 3 times a week this might get tangly. In that case, just try to have the most time between your most important run and any given lifting session. For example if your main goal is increasing your running pace, try to have your main speedwork day the furthest apart from any given lifting day. That way your legs will be fresh for the important stuff, and if they have to feel heavy anywhere it’ll be for a run that’s not as impactful. Focus More on the Upper Body (Just For Now).
Assuming you don’t run on your hands, having a moderately sore upper body will have very little effect on your running. So once you’ve got your technique dialed and your neural benefits exhausted you can get to gradually pumping the upper body iron harder and harder without much consequence on your runs.
That being said, your upper and lower body are both still “your body”, and you only have so much total energy to spend on physical activity of any sort throughout the week. So pushing your upper body work during the running season a few times per week is great, but trying your absolute hardest to get jacked, stacked, and capped while also training for a marathon might not be the smartest move. Train your upper body hard, but be conscious of total body fatigue.Use Movements That Help Your Running.
It doesn’t all have to be clanging and banging heavy weights. As I went a little more in depth on in a previous article for runners, some lifts can help take care of some of the bumps and bruises that are bound to come up over the course of a running season. Choosing movements that emphasize a deep stretch, movements that move your body through ranges that running doesn’t, or isometric hold movements that help your tendons and joints feel better can help you walking out of your strength workouts feeling even better than when you came in - ready to get back on the road.Above All Else - Be Gradual.
The goal of these techniques is to ease your body into the added stress of lifting during a season where physical stresses are already pretty high. These strategies are just to get your foot in the door, and not something you have to use forever. Once your body adapts to running and lifting at the same time the same general principles still apply, but you’ll have much more wiggle room for adding training stresses as your body will be stronger, more resilient, and in better all-around shape.
If you do it right, lifting should be a part of the rest of your life; playing a supportive role for your running, helping you get physically prepared for whatever activity you want to get involved with, or just for the enjoyment of lifting itself. Strength training is a marathon, not a sprint (little run/lift pun for you there, you’re welcome). You’ve got lots of time to get strong, so be gradual, let your body adjust to this new stressor little by little, and enjoy the resilience and rewards that come along with well structured strength training that works with your running.If you’d consider yourself a longtime runner and first time lifter, or you have any unanswered questions about how you can best support your running in the gym feel free to reach out. Happy to chat, send over some resources, or have you in for an in-person session at EC Fit if you’re in the St. John's area. Send me an email or DM and we can get you on the right track. References:
[1] Siddique, U. et al. (2020) ‘Determining the sites of neural adaptations to resistance training: A systematic review and meta-analysis’, Sports Medicine, 50(6), pp. 1107–1128. doi:10.1007/s40279-020-01258-z.
[2] Škarabot, J. et al. (2020) ‘The knowns and unknowns of neural adaptations to resistance training’, European Journal of Applied Physiology, 121(3), pp. 675–685. doi:10.1007/s00421-020-04567-3.
[3] Robineau, J. et al. (2016) ‘Specific training effects of concurrent aerobic and strength exercises depend on recovery duration’, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 30(3), pp. 672–683. doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000000798.
