The Essential Role of Strength Training and Pilates for Runners
For road and trail runners, strength training, Pilates, core work, and mobility exercises are often overlooked.
As recreational runners, balancing running and life can be challenging without adding more training time. However, to improve performance, avoid injuries, and maintain consistency - whether for mental health, fitness, or performance - incorporating strength training and Pilates for runners into your routine is key.
To find out why and how you can experience the same benefits, let’s dive in!
The science of strength for running
Over the last two decades, a plethora of studies supporting heavy resistance training for endurance running have been published. This 2006 study showed how concurrent (alongside running) strength training, especially over longer time horizons, improves your running economy (how much energy is used to run a certain sub-maximal pace). This 2016 review compared findings of 16 different articles and came to the same conclusion about running economy.
You'll notice here I only focused on improved running economy. Alongside this, you have:
Reduced Injury Risk
Increased Capacity to Train
Increased Power
Increased Tendon Stiffness (good thing!)
Increased Bone Density (we need to load the spine!)
Improved Fatigue Resistance
Improved Stability and Balance
Rehabilitation of Injuries
The science is all there, then. Yes, there are still some (few) people opposed to strength training for runners and some of their arguments are having an increasingly weaker foundation.
In my experience, anything can be detrimental if done with incorrect prescriptions, form, periodisation and protocols. If you know what you are doing, though, then the consensus is switching in favour of concurrent strength training, rapidly.
Pilates for runners
Being a well-rounded runner is not just about lifting load to improve running economy, we also need to create a foundation of stability that allows us to maximise this strength and power development.
This is where Pilates, core work, and mobility work come in. By improving strength through range of motion, our bodies can perform essential movement patterns required for running more efficiently and help to hold our form together as we fatigue throughout a run or race.
It doesn’t matter how strong you are, if you don’t work on the smaller, often deeper muscle groups, then you simply can’t put that running strength to work (and I am 100% speaking from experience!).
If you identify more as a trail runner (we are just a runner FYI) then having strength in unstable environments, the ability to hold yourself in space whilst forces act upon you, is vital.
My pilates for running experience
I’m a bit of mixed bag with this, though. My background is Alpine Ski Racing and Power Lifting. For both, strength training and being a functional, well-rounded athlete was paramount. Being able to produce large amounts of force in unstable environments parallels both sports. This also covers running, and especially trail running. However, I’ve never been into pilates.
Well, until recently, when I discovered forRunners. The inclusion of pilates, regular core, and mobility, has addressed issues strength training alone couldn’t.
This is an app for runners (funny that) by Alice Bacquie that is very much like having your own instructor in the comfort of your own home with no eyes on you (I can’t even do pilates with my wife in the room because I am embarrassed at how bad I am…). I started doing 2-3 sessions a week plus the 5 to 10 minute post-run routines after most runs and slowly I began to notice changes.
Due to a long injury history that neither of us have time to get into, I am very restricted and this creates a lot of pressure on my back and shoulder. This caused my hip to drop whilst running and my form to break down (plus I had a really, really weak core). My Myotherapist, the legendary Matt McNeil at Peak Body Hub - Wodonga, got to the stage of saying that he can’t help me if I don’t help myself - this was the catalyst for starting pilates, actually.
Gradually, the issues began to improve. The only change, Pilates. Specifically forRunners pilates.
In fact, so much so I have now partnered with Alice to help bring forFunners to my athletes, and anyone who takes the time to read my newsletter and blog articles, like you! So, if after reading this you are curious, you can get 20% off here!
Integrate strength and pilates to your training
Despite the importance, finding time to fit this all in is really tough. I get it. When a new athlete starts with me we really put the time and effort into working out what is actually achievable and realistic for their week, and ultimately their goals, not what we want to achieve.
As a general overview for when and how much, try incorporating this into your week:
2 x Strength Sessions per week ~ 30 minutes long
Either on your run session days or on non-running days, keeping 1 day per week as a full rest day
Always do the strength session second if you are doing both running and strength training on the same day
Don't do strength training within 24 hours of your running session(s) or long run
2 x Pilates per week ~ 15 to 30 minutes long
Add this on a non-running day, after a shorter run, or after a strength session for ease of integration
1-2 x Core sessions per week ~ 10 minutes long
Add this in after a run or strength session
Mobility after any runs when possible.
If you did everything here it would be an extra 2 hours 20 minutes (not including mobility). Now, I fully appreciate that this might seem impossible. Perhaps identify the time post-run and see what you do. Spending 10 minutes scrolling on Strava? Replace that with a core session. Alternatively, the time you have already cut out for the gym, adding on there is often the easiest.
Closing thoughts
There’s a lot to think about and this might be unrealistic for some of you reading this. However, by making the effort to include strength and pilates for runners, core work and mobility, not only do you help get more from your running but you also maximise the likely hood of staying injury free and consistent in training, not losing the thing that matters a lot to all of us!
Happy running!
- James
