I've seen it so many times in the over ten years I have been coaching. Endurance athletes focusing solely on endurance and dealing with recurring injuries and plateauing performance. Then realizing something needs to change. I even dealt with it myself early on as an endurance athlete.

Incorporating strength training into your routine can be the game-changer. Building strength, power and stability helps you to run faster and stay injury-free. When athletes come to me and start to see personal record race performance often I give a lot of credit to the addition of strength training.

How should you incorporate strength training into you routine? Many athletes are unsure about how heavy they should lift or which exercises will provide the most benefit.

When you're unsure about your strength training approach, it can be hard to make progress. But don't worry, there's a structured way to do this safely and effectively. In this post, I’ll break down the perfect strength training routine for endurance athletes and provide 3 key components to get you started.

I hope this gives you the roadmap to build strength, helping you avoid injury and perform at your best.

What is the Perfect Strength Training Routine for Endurance Athletes?

A strength training routine for endurance athletes should focus on building muscular strength and stability without excessive bulk. The goal is to enhance power, endurance, and injury prevention.

In other words, we’re aiming to develop the muscles in a way that supports long-distance running, cycling, or swimming without hindering performance with excess muscle mass.

The added benefit of strength training for endurance athletes is increased power output, enhanced recovery, and improved efficiency during races and training sessions.

Compound Movements

Compound movements are exercises that engage multiple muscle groups at once. These are the movements that we do in life and in sports. Think squats, lunges, and deadlifts. These exercises are essential for endurance athletes because they build functional strength and improve overall stability.

Many endurance athletes make the mistake of sticking to bodyweight movements or only training one muscle group at a time. Sticking to bodyweight is not enough, you need to stress the muscles more to get better adaptations for performance and to prevent injury. Training on muscle group at a time is how bodybuilders train. You do not want to train like a bodybuilder they want bulk, want to look big and strong. You need to train like an athlete.

The key to building strength that supports your endurance efforts is to prioritize compound exercises that mirror the movements you perform during your sport. This will not only make you stronger but also help prevent injuries.

Get Started: Incorporate exercises like the DB Goblet Squat, DB Single Leg Deadlift, and DB Glute Bridge into your routine 2-3 times a week.

Progressive Overload

Progressive overload is the gradual increase of stress placed on your muscles during training. This can be done by increasing the weight, the number of repetitions, or the intensity of your workout over time.

If you've been doing the same weight and reps for months, you're likely missing out on the benefits of strength training. Without progressive overload, your body won’t adapt, and you won’t build the power and strength you need to support endurance sports.

What can you do? A simple yet effective way to introduce progressive overload is by tracking your weights and reps, and making small increases in either each week. This ensures continuous improvement without overloading your muscles too quickly.

Get Started: Try increasing the weight or adding one or two more reps to your sets each week to gradually build your strength.

Recovery and Mobility

Recovery is just as important as the workouts themselves. Incorporating recovery techniques such as stretching, message, and proper nutrition is key to making sure your muscles repair and grow stronger.

Endurance athletes often focus too much on the volume of training and how high they can push it, neglecting proper recovery. This can lead to burnout and injury, preventing you from reaching your full potential.

To make the most of your strength training, prioritize mobility work and ensure you're allowing your body to rest and recover. This doesn’t mean skipping workouts but instead incorporating light recovery days with a focus on stretching and flexibility.

Get Started: Include mobility exercises after each strength session and ensure you’re getting enough protein and nutrients to aid recovery.

Putting it All Together for Your Perfect Strength Training Routine

There you have it! The 3 components of a strength training routine for endurance athletes. It might seem like a lot, but strength training just 2-3x a week for 30-40 minutes will make a huge difference. You’ll see improvement in your strength and performance as well as helping prevent those overuse injuries that so many endurance athletes deal with.

Focus on adding compound movements to your workouts, applying progressive overload, and incorporating proper recovery. This will help you build functional strength, prevent injuries, and boost your endurance performance.

What’s next?

Need help getting started? Sign up for a free coaching call. All my coaching and training programs include, strength, endurance and nutrition.