Run Faster, Longer, Stronger: Why Runners Need Strength Training

By Dr. Trish Kana, PT, DPT

If you’re like most runners, the first thing you think of when you hear “training” is racking up mileage, chasing PRs, and trying to squeeze in speed work between life, work, family, and a million other things. But what if someone told you that one of the biggest performance boosts you can give yourself doesn’t come solely from running more miles?

The secret is strength training. And no, you’re not working on your leg strength when you run.

Let’s start with something we all want: better running economy.

That’s just a fancy way of saying “running smarter, not harder.” The more consistently you’re incorporating strength training into your routine, the stronger your muscles. Stronger muscles use oxygen more efficiently and help your body move with less effort. Instead of tiring early and feeling sloppy in your form and sluggish in your body, strength training teaches your body to be more coordinated and stable with each stride — which means you can run farther and feel fresher doing it. It’s like tuning up your engine so it runs smoother and lasts longer.

But strength training isn’t just about performance — it’s also about durability.

Running puts a lot of repetitive stress on your bones, tendons, and muscles. If those tissues aren’t prepared to handle the load, you’re left vulnerable to the kinds of overuse injuries that can derail weeks or months of training. When you do challenging resistance training exercises, you’re teaching your body to adapt — and those adaptations are incredible: bones get denser, tendons tougher, muscles more resilient. That means fewer aches, fewer setbacks, and more consistent training over time.

And yes — strength training can help you run faster.

When your muscles can produce more force, your stride becomes more powerful. That helps with those challenging tempo paces, pushing up punishing hills, and surging when you need it at the finish line. Think of strength training as unlocking a little extra horsepower that you never knew you had, a new gear that pushes you into new distances or faster paces.

You don’t have to turn into a bodybuilder — you just need targeted, runner-specific strength work that makes your running muscles more capable. And no, this kind of training isn’t going to make you bulky or slow you down. Significant muscle mass gain requires very high training volume, heavy calorie surplus, and often a totally different goal than what most runners are training for. Instead, strength work for runners improves neuromuscular efficiency and power, helping you produce more force without adding unnecessary weight — which is exactly what makes you faster, not slower.

So before you brush this training off as non-essential, or “only when you have extra time” consider this: strength training isn’t a detour from your running — it supports it. Improved running economy means easier miles. Stronger connective tissues mean fewer injuries. More muscular power means faster performance. That’s a win-win-win for any runner — from the weekend trail walker to the seasoned marathoner.

Give it a shot a couple times a week, and watch what happens to your running. Your future self (and your legs) will thank you.