It can be very difficult to combine running and strength training correctly. Moreover, the best way to combine running and lifting for a new athlete is completely different than for experienced athletes. In this article, we will discuss all relevant research on combining running and lifting, so you can maximize your strength, muscle mass, and improve your endurance. Keep reading for more.
Long time readers of this website will remember that I’ve previously written articles on combining cardio and lifting. There are some great take aways from that article, and I’ve used it to write many of my endurance based programs, quite successfully. After all, who wants to be a good runner if it means losing all of your muscle mass?
This article is going to be a little different than the previous article. Until now researchers couldn’t answer how best to combine running and lifting for athletes of different experience levels. In this article we’re going to discuss a recent meta analyses (research review of all relevant studies) that looked at the impact of adding endurance training to resistance training.
In scientific parlance combining running and lifting is called concurrent style training. Here are some key take aways from the research article entitled, “Development of Maximal Dynamic Strength During Concurrent Resistance and Endurance Training in Untrained, Moderately Trained, and Trained Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.”
Key Findings How to Combine Running and Lifting
- Newer athletes can combine running and lifting with no problems
- Experienced athletes should not run in the same session as they lift
- Wait at least 2 hours between running and weight training
- Hard run intervals and hard lower body strength sessions shouldn’t be programed sequentially
- The more endurance work you do the less muscle mass you can build (sorta)
- If weight loss is your primary goal, then running and lifting is your best bet
- You can still do longer distances and be jacked!
How to Combine Running and Lifting: Research Analysis
Let’s quickly cover how the authors did their research, so you can see which conclusions matter the most to you. Like any meta analysis, the authors did a database search for any relevant studies. They simply put in a bunch of search terms like: easy run, strength gains, running program, muscle growth, and others, to see what studies were available. They then discarded studies that weren’t what they were looking for.
The authors found 27 separate studies that met inclusion criteria. This included a total of 750 male and female participants between the ages of 20-38 years of age. They were then categorized into three different training groups, based on the participants training experience: untrained, moderately trained, and trained.
Untrained participants had no previous formal experience in the gym. Moderately trained folks had been in the gym before, but hadn’t followed any formal training plan. Trained athletes had followed a formal training plan for at least three months previously.
As a coach, I would classify the untrained, and moderately trained people as new athletes. The trained athletes would be intermediate level athletes. Now that we know how the authors did their analysis, let’s take a look at their findings.
Research Findings How to Combine Running and Lifting
We need to keep in mind that the authors were looking to quantify the differences for concurrent training with athletes of different experience levels. They certainly did that. As it turns out, newer athletes can lift heavy weights, and run in the same session, with no appreciable interference effect. Interference effect is the term that scientists use for the negative impact that endurance training has on building strength and muscle mass.
The authors found no interference with the moderately trained groups of athletes either. They could lift and run/cycle in the same session without impacting their gains. All of this changed for the athletes with the most training experience under their belt.
They found that for those experienced athletes, performing aerobic exercise, or anaerobic exercise, like a long run or hard running intervals, had a huge impact on their strength and muscle mass gains, when combined with lifting in the same session. Here’s a quote from the study.
This meta-analysis shows that concurrent resistance and endurance training has a negative effect on lower-body strength development in trained but not in moderately trained or untrained individuals. The impairment observed in the trained category seems to be present only when resistance and endurance exercises were performed within a short time of each other (< 20 min), that is, within the same training session, but not when performed separately (> 2 h). Trained individuals should therefore consider separating endurance from resistance training, with > 2 h, during periods when strength development should be maximised. A concurrent training programme for untrained or moderately trained individuals can be based on more practical considerations or personal preferences rather than trying to keep resistance separated from endurance training. It is important to acknowledge that even though the strength development was impaired in the trained category, the impairment was moderate. Therefore, athletes with limited time may train for resistance and endurance within the same training sessions and still obtain appropriate increases in lower-body maximal dynamic strength.
Development of Maximal Dynamic Strength During Concurrent Resistance and Endurance Training in Untrained, Moderately Trained, and Trained Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
I find this research to be very useful when trying to put a training plan together. In fact, it mirrors one of my training principles that I always consider when programming a functional fitness training plan. You need to separate different modalities as much as you can to maximize adaptation to either. The closer you put running and heavy lifting together, the more you impair your bodies ability to improve at either.
If you want to learn how to put together your own functional fitness program, then check out this ebook.
We can now say that newer athletes have less restrictions on how they should combine lifting and running. Experienced athletes should space their strength workout and cardio apart. Let’s take a look at what impact concurrent style training has on measures of upper body muscle/strength, and body fat/ body composition.
Concurrent Training Affect On Upper Body
The good news for people that like to skip leg day, is that running has very little effect on upper body muscle mass, and upper body strength. This makes sense, you don’t really use your upper body musculature when you run. It would be interesting to find out if something like an assault bike would impact this. Check out this infographic to see what impact concurrent training has.
This infographic highlights a few key trends. A great way to avoid losing muscle mass is to limit the amount of cardio you mix with lifting. As cardio session duration increases, your gains decrease, both in muscle mass and strength. Long distances, and many miles on the road will impact any lifting program!
The good news is that if you want to lose body fat, running is clearly your best method to do so. There is no magic, it’s just easiest to create a caloric deficit that causes weight loss, when you’re running and lifting weights. Based upon the research, it seems like you can best improve your cardiovascular fitness, and muscle mass by limiting your endurance sessions to 2-3 per week. Each session should be around 30 minutes in length.
Everyone knows you need a good training program, so let’s take a look at a few different programs that you might use to increase muscle mass, while working on conditioning. I’ll include a variety of different types of programs, depending on your goals.
Program Recommendations
Most folks reading this article are going to be interested in improving their running ability and their functional fitness, including their strength, and muscle mass. Let me tell you, I’ve got some great programs, but you should be warned. They aren’t easy. Here’s a list of my endurance and functional fitness programs.
- 15 Week Lift Heavy Run Fast Program
- 12 Week Functional Endurance Program
- 9 Week Sprinting Program for Functional Fitness
If your main goal is building muscle mass, and a little less on endurance, than I recommend checking out the premium program below. It has many different types of exercises, including specific endurance WODs, and a lot of lifting. It’s also one of my most popular programs.
Needless to say, all of these programs use a wide variety of lifts, that will keep your heart rate sky high. You can expect to see the basic compound lifts, biased towards heavier weight in each program. You’ll also see other endurance oriented activities like long runs, or high intensity interval training. I like to include a variety of different programming methods so you don’t get bored.
Recovery Tips for Running and Lifting
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you do more work, in any form of exercise, you’ll need to ensure adequate recovery. One of the most underrated methods of doing this is making sure you aren’t hammering sore muscle groups. If you just did a huge squat session the day prior, you probably aren’t ready for hard sprint intervals, even if that’s what the running workout calls for.
It’s ok to if you need to modify programs, or scale movements, just make sure you’re doing it correctly. I also recommend that you download my nutrition calculator, and use the muscle gain tab. It’ll give you a good idea of how much of each type of macro nutrient you should be eating.
The most important part of any program is finding a training schedule that works for you. I always tell my athletes, wether they’re doing a weight lifting workout, or an easy cardio workout for recovery, that they need to find a time in their schedule to prioritize the work in the gym. Any good coach or personal trainer will tell you that consistency is king. It’s even more important than having the best program!
Final Thoughts
As researchers do more and more research on combining strength training sessions with endurance work, we start to see a clear picture how to combine running and lifting. There is no free lunch, if you spend a lot of your bodies resources on endurance training, then by necessity, you will have less energy to build muscle mass and strength.
Researchers have also clarified that separating running and lifting training sessions is a must for experienced athletes. As a coach, I try to separate hard lower body sessions, and hard running sessions by several hours. Ideally they next session is done on the following day.
Now you have the knowledge, and some great training programs to work on building endurance and lifting capacity. If you have any questions or comments, then put them below, and I’ll get you an answer.
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