4 Common Strength Mistakes (and how to avoid them)
“I’ve tried strength training in the past but I just end up feeling super sore and tired. It feels like it’s taking away from my running instead of supporting it? Am I doing something wrong?”
Before working together, a client of mine had tried strength training classes as a way to support running but kept running into nagging pains and injuries and wanted to see what was causing it.
After analyzing her program and training, we found several key issues causing the fatigue and nagging injuries.
While it is true that strength training can help you feel stronger on runs, reduce your risk of injury, and even prevent those nagging pains.
It has the be done the RIGHT way to get these results.
We tweaked some of the things I’m going to teach you below and my client is now training for a half marathon feeling the strongest she’s ever been. AND her recovery scores on her Garmin are through-the-roof good.
In this post, I’m going to break down the four biggest mistakes I see with strength training for running and share how you can create a plan that works for your needs.
Let’s get into it!
Mistake #1: Not Focusing on Resistance Specificity
If you’ve tried online workouts or group classes for strength training, you may have noticed that they focus on lots of reps with smaller rest periods. This might give you a good muscle burn, but it doesn’t always target the specific strength and power you need for running.
Understanding Resistance Specificity
In strength training, the concept of resistance specificity means that how much weight or resistance you use changes the results you get. There are four primary goals that different levels of resistance can target:
Strength – How much load your muscles can handle.
Power – Your ability to move quickly from point A to B, which can translate into faster sprints.
Hypertrophy – This is about building the size of your muscles.
Endurance – Your muscles’ ability to withstand prolonged activity.
The key for runners is to focus on strength and power because research shows this is what will make you feel stronger, prevent injuries and offset the effects of aging.
Unlike endurance-focused workouts (where you might be doing 20 reps per set), focusing on strength and power involves higher resistance and fewer repetitions, helping you build the muscle resilience that reduces injury risk.
For example, to work on strength, you should be lifting enough weight so that you can only do around 6 reps per set, with a couple of minutes of rest between sets. For power, you might work with slightly less weight, but the goal would be to move with explosive speed for a short set of 3-6 reps.
Now, some of your stability exercises will need to focus on higher reps, but this should be 1-2 exercises a training session - not the entirety of your training.
For example, one strength session may have:
High-resistance deadlifts
High-resistance lunges
Core exercise (bodyweight resistance)
Ankle stability (lighter resistance)
Foot strengthening (for injury prevention - lighter resistance)
Think back to workouts you’ve tried—how many of them followed this format? Likely, very few. When your workout focuses on resistance specificity and incorporates adequate rest, you’ll build strength that’s tailored for running.
Mistake #2: Skipping Progressions and Progressive Overload
Many generic plans focus on muscle “burn” and often jump around between different exercises every week. While this can be fun, it misses a core principle of effective strength training: progressive overload.
Why Progressive Overload Matters
When you’re working toward building strength, your body needs consistent, gradual increases in challenge to keep adapting. Progressive overload means you should continue adding resistance, reps, or intensity to your workouts over time. Without it, you hit a plateau, which is when your muscles adapt to the current level of resistance and gains stall.
An effective plan should involve doing the same exercise for 4-6 weeks, then moving to a more challenging exercise that targets the same muscle group. This structured progression ensures you’re building strength from month to month.
Here’s an Example
Let’s say you’re working to strengthen the gluteus medius (a key muscle for hip stability). Here’s what a progression might look like:
Weeks 1-6: Start with clamshells, focusing on engaging your glutes.
Weeks 7-12: Move on to lateral banded walks, increasing the resistance.
Weeks 13-18: Add side planks, which challenges your core and hips.
Weeks 19-24: Progress to an advanced side plank with leg lifts, adding intensity.
Ask yourself: Is the program you’re following allowing for this kind of structured progression? Does it include exercises that change every 4-6 weeks? If not, you might be missing out on gains that would help you feel stronger, more stable, and injury-resistant on your runs.
Mistake #3: Quantity Over Quality
As a runner, you’re already doing a high-impact, repetitive activity, so adding too much strength training can backfire. So, yes, for some runners…injury prevention and gaining strength has to do with working smarter - not harder.
Which can mean doing far less strength training and additional workouts outside of running.
Yes, you can do less and get better results.
The Importance of Quality Over Quantity
Studies show that runners need only two sessions per week, each with around four to five targeted exercises. Any more than this, and you risk overtraining. Overtraining can lead to muscle fatigue, making you feel weaker and even slowing you down on your runs. It’s about targeting key muscle groups with the most effective moves, not squeezing in every exercise under the sun.
When I build strength programs for runners, I focus on these specific areas that impact running:
Glutes – Essential for hip stability, power going up hills and knee stability
Calves – This is the muscle that works hardest in your body when you run, so having strength and power here is essential especially if you’re over 35.
Quads and Hamstrings – Strong knees = less likely to have knee pain.
Ankle mobility - Helps many common types of ankle and knee pain for runners
Core - Improves your running form efficiency
Here’s an example: In a single session, you might do weighted lunges, single-leg deadlifts, a plank variation, an ankle mobility exercise and a calf raise. These exercises would cover the major muscle groups you need, without excessive volume that could lead to fatigue or burnout.
Check your current routine: If you’re doing more than 8 high-resistance lower body exercises a week, it may be time to scale back. Opting for high-quality exercises, focused on fewer muscle groups, will help you build targeted strength while leaving you enough energy for your runs.
Mistake #4: Improperly Scheduling Strength Training Around Your Runs
A common question among runners training for specific events, such as a 5K, 10K, half marathon, or marathon, is how to structure their weekly schedule. They wonder: Which days should I strength train? When should I rest? Where should my long runs and speed work fit in?
Without proper guidance, runners often face unnecessary fatigue, nagging pains, and even injuries. This can lead to a frustrating cycle where strength training is blamed and abandoned, even though the real issue lies in scheduling.
Understanding Workout Fatigue
Certain workouts are naturally more fatiguing than others. If strength training is scheduled too close to these workouts, it can lead to heavy, tired legs and make it difficult to perform well during runs. Worse, this overwork increases the risk of injuries, sidelining you from both running and strength training altogether.
The most fatiguing workouts are:
Long runs
Speed sessions or threshold runs
How to Schedule Strength Training
To avoid these pitfalls, you need to understand which workouts are the most fatiguing and strategically space them out during the week. Here’s a breakdown of how to approach this:
Long Runs
Your long run is on of the two most taxing workouts of the week. It requires the longest recovery time, which is why most training plans schedule a rest day afterward. Avoid doing strength training the day after your long run, as your muscles will still be recovering.Speed Work
Speed workouts, such as intervals or tempo runs, are also highly fatiguing. Similar to long runs, avoid strength training on the same day as your speed work or the day before.
By removing strength sessions from these high-fatigue days, you allow your body the recovery it needs to get the most out of your training.
Here’s an example schedule of someone running 4x/week:
Monday: Easy run + strength
Tuesday: Easy run
Wednesday: Speed work
Thursday: Strength
Friday: Easy run or rest day
Saturday: Long run
Sunday: Rest day
Notice how there is no strength training on the long run day or after?
And how there is no strength training on the speed day or the day before?
This structure ensures that your muscles have the time they need to recover from both running and strength training, leaving you feeling stronger and fresher for every workout.
Here’s what a balanced weekly strength plan might look like:
Day 1
Exercise 1: Weighted lunges for knee strength | 3 sets of 6 reps, with 3 minutes rest
Exercise 2: Deadlifts for glute strength | 3 sets of 6 reps, with 3 minutes rest
Exercise 3: Calf Raises | 3 sets of 6 reps, with 3 minutes rest
Exercise 4: Core Stability Exercise | 3 sets of 30 seconds per side
Day 2
Exercise 1: Ankle mobility exercise | 3 sets of 20 reps (training for ankle endurance)
Exercise 2: Hamstring curls | 3 sets of 6 reps, with 3 minutes rest
Exercise 3: Foot strength exercise for injury prevention
Exercise 4: Hip stability exercise for running efficiency
Each exercise is designed to build strength in key areas for running without fatiguing your body for your runs!
Ready to Feel Stronger and More Confident in Your Running?
If you’re feeling the pull to get serious about strength training but still feel overwhelmed, know that it’s completely normal.
With the right guidance, it’s possible to find a plan that fits your lifestyle and keeps you running strong and injury-free.
Over the next few months, I’ll be sharing more educational content to help you understand what a science-backed strength training plan looks like and how it can transform your running.
Soon, I’ll be introducing a way to get personalized strength and mobility programs from me, along with accountability and frequent check-ins for support. If you’re interested, I’ll link the waitlist below!
Spots will be limited to ensure everyone receives the support they need, so add yourself to the list to get first access when spots open.
