Strength training for runners improves performance and prevents injuries. But when you love to run, it can be hard to add strength training into your routine, even if you know you should.

The two main benefits of strength training are that it prevents and helps heal injuries, and it enhances performance. Done properly, strength training creates a foundation for injury-free running and allows you to keep up with increasing mileage and intensity on your runs.

On the performance side, studies have shown that resistance training improves running economy and endurance muscle fibers. Research has also linked weight training to better body composition and resting metabolic rates.

Not to mention, strength training is particularly important as we get older, in a way that running alone is not. Recent studies have proven that running does not protect against the gradual loss of lean muscle tissue and, as we lose muscle, we also lose a larger percentage of our fast-twitch muscle fibers, which is part of why we slow down as we age.

To say it another way, if you are afraid of getting slower as you get older, making strength training a part of your routine will slow down that slow down.

In this episode of the Run to the Top Podcast, Coach Claire Bartholic explains exactly how much strength training runners need, when to do it, and the four best exercises for runners.

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