Strength training while following an ultramarathon plan can seem like a mountain of its own to climb. On the other hand, strength training is an opportunity that most of us ultrarunners are leaving on the table. This article delves into how the two can be balanced in order to get the most optimal performance in the next race.
Ultrarunners are a peculiar bunch. We find immense joy in spending countless hours at a stretch in the most beautiful natural wilderness and the most mundane urban jungles alike. When we're in our zone, we couldn't care less for anything else. Race times, speed, performance, and to a large extent, even life, take the backseat amidst the conversations between 'me, myself and I'. For most of us, the joy of running alone is enough to propel us to ultramarathon success, and we really don't mind running being the only thing we do.
But what if there was a way to take your running to the next level, to shave seconds off your finish time, power through those tough hills, and finish races strong in the face of any physical or mental challenge? Enter - strength training - the secret weapon that not many ultrarunners talk about.
Why Strength Training Matters for Ultrarunners
Strength training is often seen as something that's just about aesthetics or building bulky muscles. As a result, it's often sent to the 'us versus them' world of out-in-the-outdoors endurance afficionados and the looks-obsessed gym bros. In the world of running, however, strength training can be used a targeted strategy to transform your body to deliver peak performance over long distances. Strength training isn't just an add-on for runners - when done correctly, it's a fundamental part of any training plan.
In a nutshell, strength training is associated with the following benefits:
Enhanced Power: Stronger muscles mean more power with each stride. Strength training helps develop explosive power that is essential to propel you forward with each stride. By working on improving the quality and magnitude of muscle recruitment, athletes can deliver more power to their uphill, downhill or flat terrain movements.
Improved Efficiency: Strengthening muscles builds fatigue-resilience and runners tire less easily, allowing them to run farther and faster. Stronger muscles also require less energy to propel you forward, which will let you conserve resources for the crucial final miles. Further, a well-coordinated muscular setup is directly correlated to a better running form, which imposes efficiency and a better running economy.
Reduced Injury Risk: This follows almost as a side-effect of strength training - as you do workouts that focus on stiffening your tendons and improve the elasticity of connective tissue, the body gets primed by creating more 'springs' or shock absorption centres. This, along with general strength of muscle contractions, can vastly reduce the risks associated with overuse and overtraining.
Supplementing Ultramarathon Prep with Strength Training
The most popular ultramarathon training strategies give a high level indication or thumb rules on what training volumes are needed at a bare minimum. According to Jason Koop (author of Training Essentials for Ultrarunning and head coach at CTS):
For a 50k or a 50M ultramarathon, athletes should have a weekly training volume of 6-9 hours for 3 weeks before taper;
For a 100k or a 100M ultramarathon, athletes should have a weekly training volume of 9-12 hours for 6 weeks before taper.
Conventionally, these would have translated to 6-9 hours or 9-12 hours of 'running volume' alone. However, with concurrent training getting more eyeballs, coaches are agreeing that the training volumes need to be looked at holistically. This essentially means that instead of running (or cardiovascular endurance) monopolising the training volume, supplementary strength training can be thrown in in order to a) strengthen the muscular capacity, and, b) reduce the overall running volume, thereby reducing risks associated with overtraining.
At the same time, it is also understood and agreed that one paradigm has to always support the other paradigm - in other words, you can't strength train your way to get a 50k PR and a powerlifting 1RM at the same time.
So how do we sync up the two? The answer to this lies in effective programming and periodisation. And the way to program and periodise strength training is no different from how an ultramarathon training is programmed and periodised.
Pre-season phase: This usually refers to the weeks preceding a training programme. Ultrarunners will usually engage in no to little running, and might go for cross-training or other sports (e.g., skiing). This is the ideal candidate phase to introduce strength training and start lifting weights. With running volume being negligible, this phase can also be strategically employed to build a habit around strength training. This habit will also prime the body out of 'rest and recovery' and help prepare for the upcoming Base phase. Here's a sample strength training protocol for this phase:
Bodyweight core stability
Hip mobility and ankle strengthening
Compound movements starting from bodyweight to moderate weights (~20-30% of bodyweight)
Base phase: This is the phase where ultramarathon preparation 'starts'. Typically, these are the first 6-8 weeks of any training plan where the focus is on slowly building running volume and reaching a level of aerobic fitness via a mix of VO2max work and easy running. As the running intensity demands are still on the lower side during the base phase (note, it's intensity and not volume), this phase is where the strength training protocol can be modified to move towards maximal strength. For runners, this packages all the benefits of power, economy and resilience to improve the output of their speedwork. Here's a sample Base phase protocol for runners:
3-4 sets of 5-8 repetitions of compound movements (squats, deadlifts, glute bridges etc.) with progressive overload
Up to 3 sessions per week, each having an effective 'work time' of 20-30 minutes under high loads
Build phase: The Build phase is where race training plans start demanding more intensity in the form of lactate threshold and tempo sessions. Unlike VO2max where 'maximum' intensity is achieved for very short periods of time, these sessions demand high-enough intensities but for longer durations, which can accumulate fatigue at a much faster rate than the previous training phases. Many strength training programmes end up pulling back during this phase in terms of the training load. On the other hand, this phase can also strategically be used to introduce plyometrics and build peak power capacity. Here's a sample Build phase protocol for runners:
Bodyweight jumps (horizontal, vertical and lateral)
Power movements like cleans
3-4 sets of 8-10 repetitions of compound movements with reduced weights
2-3 sessions per week, with 1 session focused on plyometrics and other(s) focused on endurance
Peak phase: The Peak phase is where race-specific volume will be at its highest and, therefore, demand the most amount of physical and mental attention. This is also the 'most specific' phase of training, so anything that's not specific to the event will need to either be removed from the programming, or reduced to merely a supporting role. From a strength training perspective, the most race-specific paradigm is that of single-leg movements. The protocol, therefore, should focus on single-leg movements that most closely mimic the demands of the event itself. For example:
3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions of moderate load single-leg deadlifts and single-leg glute bridges for running efficiency
3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions of moderate load step-ups for uphill strength
3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions of moderate load single-leg eccentrics for downhill strength
Up to 2 sessions per week, each having an effective work time of 30-40 minutes, but under lower loads
Competition phase: The Competition phase or the pre-competition taper is where the conventional protocol was to prescribe minimum ro zero strength training. Primarily arising out of injury concerns close to race day, coaches would caution athletes against any form of strength training and focus on mobility work instead. However, taper science has been pointing towards maintaining intensity but lowering volume, and the same logic can be applied to strength training as well. Instead of abruptly stopping strength training during the taper period, it is recommended to maintain the neural activation pathways but reduce the intensity in accordance with the running training. This translates to:
Reduced loads for the single-leg movements but with the same protocol of 3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions
Up to 2 sessions per week, one focusing on weighted movements and the other using bodyweight.
Stopping any strength work up to 3 days before race
Running Phase | Duration (Weeks) | Strength Training Focus | Sample Strength Protocol | Sample Running Protocol |
Pre-season | 2-4 | Habit Formation, Active Recovery, Light Bodyweight Exercises | Bodyweight compound movements, hip mobility, ankle strengthening, core stability exercises | Minimal running, active recovery, other sports |
Base | 6-8 | Building Maximal Strength | 3 sets of 5-8 reps with progressive overload: barbell squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, glute bridges; start with bodyweight or ~30% bodyweight addon and progress to 80% of 1RM | Easy runs with strides, build and maintain aerobic base with 1-2 VO2max interval sessions per week |
Build | 4-6 | Building Strength Endurance, Building Peak Power | Combination of heavy resistance training with light bodyweight plyometrics, general single-leg work, e.g., split squats, calf raises etc. | Lactate threshold intervals, tempo intervals, steady state runs |
Peak | 3-4 | Specificity | Primarily single-leg work, focus on eccentric loading | Long runs with race-specificity, endurance focus |
Competition | 2-3 | Taper | Same intensity as Peak phase but lower volume | Same intensity as Peak phase but lower volume |
Challenges to Programming Strength Training for Ultrarunners
Strength training for ultrarunners isn't without its challenges. As ultrarunners, our love for spending quality me-time is enough to keep us out of the gym. Programming strength training, therefore, should be handled in a sustainable manner. Amidst other challenges, the top ones are:
Finding the Time: Squeezing in strength training sessions on top of an already-intense running programme can feel overwhelming. Many runners also believe that they need to spend a lot of time in the gym or doing strength training.
Prioritising Running Over Strength Training: It's easy to fall back on what's familiar, especially when you're training for a race. While running is the primary sport and needs to be prioritised where goals are concerned, many runners end up prioritising running for less convincing reasons - e.g., why not use the strength training time to squeeze in a run instead?
Lack of Motivation: Strength training can feel less exciting than hitting the trails. Add to this, challenges around loud and crowded gyms, long wait times with the squat rack, weights etc. This is further exacerbated by general overtraining which causes fatigue and burnout, and keeps ultrarunners out of the weight room.
With smart programming and efficient periodisation, most challenges can be overcome and both running and strength training can be made to play in synchrony. Three sessions a week, each no longer than 20-30 minutes, are enough to supplement any race training plan. And more importantly, strength training can act as that 'something else' that breaks the monotony of running.
The Takeaway
Studies have shown that incorporating strength training into your routine can make you a faster, more efficient, and injury-resistant runner. Whether you're a seasoned ultrarunner or just starting off on your running journey, strength training can benefit the running game in more ways than one.
In the end, it comes down to breaking down race goals into adaptations, identifying what will help in achieving those adaptations, and creating a programme around that. Most people have access to 14 sessions in a week - and in most cases, that's enough to get everything that's needed for a successful race outcome.
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