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So were here to break it all down for you.
Collage: Self; Source image: Alberto Menendez Cervero/Getty Images
Heres what we mean by strength training in the first place.
When you challenge your muscles in this way, you cause tiny tears in your muscle fibers.
The motion of running works your muscles too, but not in the same way.
Strength training can reduce your risk of running-related injuries.
Thats one reason injuries likeshin splints,plantar fasciitis, and Achilles tendinopathy are so common among runners.
You have to be a little bit strong to handle the load of running.
Resistance training strengthens all your tissuesmuscles, tendons, and bonesto better prepare them for that stress.
It can make running feel easier for longer.
When youre a more efficient runner, youre expending less energy, Katz tells SELF.
Whats more, the stronger you are, the less your running economy decreases even as you fatigue.
Experts call this durability or physiologicalresilience, and it also contributes to better performance.
Plus, strength training is great for your overall health.
Stronger muscles and bones haveimplicationsthat go far beyond the road, treadmill, or trail.
In fact, lift now and you may be able to delay the ultimate finish line.
The best strength exercises for runners are pretty similar to top picks for general lifterswith some nuances.
Then you want to give some special TLC to some key smaller areas.
So that means exercises like calf raises and all their variations can come in clutch too.
This improves your stability both when youre running and through the rest of daily life, Whyte says.
(Youll see one plyo movement in each phase of Katzs program!).
Your strength training routine shouldnotfeel like running.
But remember, these sessions arent designed to increase your endurance; thats what running does.
The goal is for a heavy enough force to stimulate change in muscle to contract and grow.
In between each set, youll rest for a full two to three minutes.
There are several ways to make it fit into your running schedule.
Do the basics and build from there, Whyte says.
Advanced runners doing more mileage might have to be more strategic.
And generally, you shouldrun before liftingif thats your priority, although there are other considerations in that equation.
The whole idea is, this is going to help supplement your training, she says.
Its not separate from your training.
Its kind of all the same thing.
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