Strength For Endurance

How endurance athletes should think about strength training to go faster, for longer

In order to determine if this article applies to you we need to have a look at what constitutes an endurance athlete. There is a lot of variation in both physiology and preparation, but we know that events of 3-4 minutes have typical aerobic contributions of 70-85%, which is generally reflected in the training undertaken. Events of 90-120 seconds are around 50/50 in terms of aerobic/anaerobic, so although still very aerobic, aren’t typically known as the typical timeframe for endurance training and athletes.

For the sake of clarity let’s assume that if your target event is longer than 3 minutes you are an endurance athlete. Sports like rugby, soccer, and hockey and other team ball sports aren’t necessarily endurance sports because the activity is intermittent. When I say 3 minutes I mean 3 minutes of continuous output. This then includes rowing, cross-country skiing, swimming for events 400m and longer, cycling for events 4km and longer and running for events 1500m and longer. You can also add mixed modality sports like triathlon and Hyrox.

Why Endurance Athletes Should Strength Train

If your goal is endurance performance then strength training, like all your training, is a means to an end. Depending on what information you’ve been exposed to, you may think that the only reason a person would lift weights is to get jacked. While strength training is the best way to increase muscularity, that’s typically not the goal for the endurance athlete.

Where strength training is beneficial for endurance athletes is as follows:

• Strength training improves economy by increasing force production and stiffness relative to the submaximal demands of movement, reducing the relative effort and energy cost required at a given pace or workload.

• Strength training improves injury resilience in endurance athletes by increasing the capacity of muscles, tendons, bones, and connective tissues to tolerate and distribute repetitive loading forces.

• Strength training improves fatigue resistance in endurance athletes by helping maintain force production, mechanics, and tissue integrity as fatigue accumulates, reducing late-race deterioration in performance.

• Strength training offsets the potential adverse effects of endurance training, but preserving muscle mass, neural capability, range of motion, tissue health and posture.

Consider a Phasic Approach

If you are an endurance athlete then endurance performance and training are your priority. However, if strength, size or resilience is the limiting factor in your ability to express endurance then it makes sense to periodise your training calendar with respect to your needs.