For runners
Strength training that leaves the hard run alone
Runners do not need a leftover bodybuilding split. Two short sessions, sometimes one, sometimes three, cover a squat, a hinge, calves, hips, and something that makes you stand on one leg. The point is to keep the legs able to run, not to add a second sport.
Base, build, then taper
The block is 8, 10, or 12 weeks. If you enter a race date, the last day of the last week is that date, and the last two weeks are a taper: fewer sets, easier reps. The weeks before that split between a base, where the pattern is learned, and a build, where the sets go up. With no race date the block is 10 weeks starting today.
A race closer than 8 weeks is too soon for this block. Leave the date blank and train the general program, or wait until the next race is far enough out. A race more than 40 weeks away is too far to line up now.
Put the lift where the run is easy
Tell the form which days you run and which of those are hard. Strength days avoid the hard run and the day before it. A long run on Saturday and easy runs on Monday and Wednesday, with two strength sessions, lands on Tuesday and Thursday. The day after a hard run is used only when nothing better is free.
Equipment you already have
- None: split squats, hip hinges, calf raises, and side-lying hip work.
- Bands: the same patterns with a band for the hip and the hinge.
- Dumbbells: goblet and single-leg work you can do at home.
- A gym: a safety-bar or leg press, a Romanian deadlift, and a step-up.
Each move has a harder version and an easier one. New lifters start on the easier version. Flagging a knee, IT band, shin, Achilles, hip, or lower back does the same, and it adds a line that says to see a clinician. That line is not a treatment plan.
What you get
Week 1 is free: the exercises, sets, reps, and tempo. $12 unlocks the later weeks, the short demo notes, printable cards, an .ics calendar, and a CSV. Lifetime adds the option to rebuild from a week you already reached if the race moves. RacePlan. Course Pace Band.
Build a free weekRunner Strength is a general strength and mobility plan for runners. It is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not rehabilitation. Sharp pain, swelling, pain that changes your stride, numbness, or pain after a fall is a reason to see a clinician before you train. Stop any move that reproduces pain.