If you're training for an autumn half or full marathon, you've probably heard it a hundred times: strength training for runners isn't optional. And yet it's usually the first thing to drop off the list when time gets tight. I get it. Between the long runs, the intervals, and everything else life throws at you, fitting in strength work can feel like one more thing.
I asked our ambassador Sara, a qualified PT and runner herself, to put together a circuit that actually works with a runner's schedule. Here's what she shared.
Why Strength Training for Runners Matters
As Sara puts it, working on strength is imperative to support the load your body goes through during an endurance event, while also reducing your risk of injury. Stronger glutes, calves, and hamstrings don't just help you run further and hold your pace. They support the smaller muscle groups around them too, taking pressure off your joints when the miles start to add up.
The Strength Circuit
This circuit takes around 40 minutes and can be done at home or in the gym with minimal equipment. Sara recommends weighted exercises using dumbbells to build muscular endurance and give your muscles more time under tension, though bodyweight versions work well too if that's what you have access to.
Complete 3 sets of 12-15 reps on each exercise.
Calf Raises
Targets: calves
Hold a dumbbell in each hand, with soft knees and your body straight. Lift your heels off the floor, pause, then slowly lower them back down. Rest between sets.
Glute Bridges
Targets: glutes, hamstrings
Lie flat on your back, ideally on a mat, with a dumbbell resting on your hips. Raise your hips until your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees. Squeeze your glutes at the top and really focus on that mind-to-muscle connection, adjusting your foot position if needed. Lower slowly and repeat.
Front Squats
Targets: glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings
Hold a dumbbell in each hand, either by your sides or racked on your shoulders. Keep your knees, hips, and ankles aligned, then sit into your squat, letting the weight go into your heels. Keep your knees behind your toes throughout.
Alternating Forward Lunges
Targets: glutes, quadriceps
Hold a dumbbell in each hand by your sides. Step forward into your heel, lowering your back knee until it's almost touching the floor. Push back to your starting position and alternate sides.
Romanian Deadlifts
Targets: hamstrings
Stand with a dumbbell in each hand in front of your thighs, feet hip-width apart. Hinge from your hips with a straight back and soft knees, lowering the weights until you feel a gentle pull in your hamstrings. Drive your hips forward to return to standing.
Mobility for Runners
Warming up and cooling down properly matters just as much as the strength work itself. As a "mum who runs" herself, Sara knows time is precious, but preparing your body for exercise and helping it recover afterwards is key to avoiding injury and getting to that start line. Mobility work on rest days is a great habit too.
Calf Stretch
Hold: 20 seconds each side
Using a wall or the back of a chair for support, step one leg forward and bend it slightly, keeping your back leg straight. Lean forward gently and push your back heel into the ground.
Glute Stretch
Hold: 20 seconds each side
Lying on your back, lift one leg straight up and cross the opposite leg over it, just above the knee. Thread your hands through the gap and gently pull the raised leg towards your chest.
Hamstring Stretch (Downward Dog)
Hold: 15-20 seconds
From all fours, lift your knees so your hips rise up. Pedal your heels into the floor one at a time, then push both heels down together and hold.
Quad Stretch
Hold: 15-20 seconds each side
Using a wall, chair, or table for support, bring one heel up towards your bottom and hold. Repeat a couple of times on each side.
Final Thoughts
Strength training for runners doesn't have to mean hours in the gym. A short, focused circuit like this one, paired with consistent mobility work, goes a long way towards keeping you strong and injury-free through marathon training. Rest when you need to, stay hydrated, fuel well, and don't forget to celebrate the finish line when you get there.
Thank you to Sara, for sharing her expertise for this piece.