When you think about marathon training, your mind probably jumps straight to long runs, tempo sessions, and meticulously planned pacing strategies. While these running workouts are the backbone of any good plan, there's a crucial element that many runners neglect, often to their detriment: strength training. Far from being something only for bodybuilders, a consistent resistance training programme is one of the most powerful tools a runner can have for improving performance, boosting endurance, and, most importantly, preventing injuries.
At Speediance NZ, we're passionate about helping athletes unlock their full potential through smart, holistic training. While cardiovascular fitness is paramount for a marathon, it's your leg strength, core stability, and overall muscle resilience that will carry you through the final, gruelling kilometres. Let’s explore why strength training is a non-negotiable part of modern marathon training and how you can implement it effectively.
Why Strength Training is a Game-Changer for Runners
Adding a couple of strength sessions to your week does more than just make you stronger; it fundamentally changes how your body performs on the road. It rewires your body to be more efficient, more durable, and ultimately, more powerful.
Improved Running Economy and Efficiency
Running economy is essentially your "fuel efficiency" as a runner; how much energy you expend at a given pace. Strength training dramatically improves this. By building a stronger lower body and core, you create a more stable platform for every single stride. Imagine your pelvis as the chassis of a car; if it's wobbly and unstable, the engine has to work much harder to move forward. A strong core locks down your pelvis and torso, preventing energy from leaking out through unnecessary side-to-side twisting or vertical bouncing. This allows you to transfer force directly into the ground, propelling you forward with less effort. Think of it as fine-tuning your engine so you can go further on the same amount of fuel.
Key Exercises for Efficiency: Squats, Lunges, and Deadlifts build the powerful engine in your glutes and legs, while core work like Planks, Russian Twists, and Hanging Leg Raises provides the stable chassis.
Increased Injury Resistance
The repetitive stress of long-distance running is immense. Over the course of a marathon, you'll take tens of thousands of steps, each one sending impact forces through your body. Without a strong, supportive structure, this stress can easily lead to common running injuries like shin splints, runner's knee, or IT band syndrome. Strength training is your best defence. It strengthens not just the muscles but also the tendons and ligaments that support your joints, making them far more resilient to the pounding of the pavement. By activating and strengthening key stabilising muscles, like the glutes and hip abductors, you can correct many of the common muscular imbalances that lead to poor running mechanics and, ultimately, injury.
Key Exercises for Injury Prevention: Calf Raises to bulletproof your Achilles, Glute Bridges to activate your powerhouse muscles, and Hip Abduction exercises to improve stability and prevent knee pain.
Enhanced Speed and Power
A stronger body is a faster body. While marathons are primarily an endurance event, the ability to generate more force with each footstrike translates directly into improved speed. This is especially noticeable when you need to tackle hills, surge past a competitor, or find that extra gear for a sprint finish. This is all about improving your rate of force development (RFD); how quickly you can produce force. Explosive strength exercises teach your body to recruit muscle fibres quickly, giving you the power you need when it counts. It's the difference between pushing off the ground and springing off it.
Key Exercises for Speed: Weighted Step-Ups build leg drive, Plyometric Jumps develop explosive power, and Medicine Ball Slams improve full-body coordination and force generation.
Delayed Fatigue and Improved Endurance
Hitting "the wall" in a marathon is often a result of muscular fatigue, not just cardiovascular exhaustion. Your legs simply give out before your heart and lungs do. Marathon training must include building muscular endurance alongside your aerobic fitness. Strength training helps your muscles become more resistant to fatigue, allowing them to maintain a strong, efficient stride for longer. Stronger muscles are more efficient; they require less oxygen and energy to produce the same amount of force. This means you can hold your pace deeper into the race and finish feeling stronger, with less chance of cramping or form breakdown.
Key Exercises for Endurance: High-rep strength circuits, isometric holds like Wall Sits and Planks, and Kettlebell Swings are all fantastic for building the kind of muscular endurance that pays dividends in the final 10k.
How to Incorporate Strength Training Into Your Marathon Plan
The key is to make your strength work complement your running workouts, not detract from them. It should enhance your running, not leave you too sore to perform.
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Balance Your Week: Schedule your main strength sessions on days you have an easy run, or on a rest day from running. Avoid doing a heavy leg day the day before a long run or an intense speed session. A good rule of thumb is to have at least one full day of recovery between a hard leg workout and a key run.
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Keep It Simple and Consistent: You don't need to spend hours in the gym. Two or three focused 30-45 minute sessions per week are all you need to see significant benefits. Consistency is far more important than complexity. A simple, full-body routine performed consistently will always beat a complicated, sporadic one.
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Focus on Functional Movements: Prioritise compound exercises that mimic the mechanics of running and work multiple muscle groups at once. This gives you the most bang for your buck and ensures the strength you build in the gym translates directly to the road.
Building Your Runner's Strength Hub
Having the right equipment at home can make sticking to a strength plan much easier, removing the barrier of travelling to a gym. A smart home gym system like the Speediance Gym Monster 2.0 is ideal for runners, as it provides a huge variety of exercises and allows for precise, controlled resistance. This is perfect for building strength safely without the risk of dropping heavy weights when you're already fatigued from your running workouts.
A versatile Adjustable Bench is perfect for supporting a wide range of exercises, from split squats which target single-leg stability, to bench presses for upper body strength. For runners looking to add some low-impact cross-training that also builds strength, the Rowing Bench 2.0 is an excellent choice for improving cardiovascular fitness and leg power simultaneously, without any impact on the joints. And ensuring you have a secure grip with accessories like the Speediance PowerGrips means you can focus on the movement, not on your hands slipping, which is especially helpful when your grip is tired after a long run.