Strength Training for Endurance Runners

Strength training is critical for runners who want to get the most out of their training. While it’s easy to skimp on weights in favor of running more miles, weight training for runners has so many benefits: 

• Increased speed and power
• Greater running economy that helps improve endurance
• The ability to handle a greater workload (i.e., you can run more!)
• Improved injury resistance

In short, there’s no good reason NOT to strength train if you’re a runner!

To help answer all of your questions about strength, Tony Gentilcore has joined us. He's a former collegiate baseball player who graduated Magna Cum Laude from SUNY-Cortland with a degree in Health Education with a concentration in Health and Wellness Promotion. After almost going pro in baseball, he worked as a personal trainer for several years in NY, CT, and MA.

Tony opened a sports performance gym with two other trainers that has grown into one of the premier baseball training facilities on the east coast. He has contributed his strength training expertise to numerous publications, including T-Nation, The Boston Herald, and BodyBuilding.com, amongst others.

In today’s podcast, Tony addresses many common questions related to weight lifting. But this episode is unique because the questions come directly from members of our High Performance Lifting Program, including the following:

• How do runners find a great strength coach or gym? What are the top 1-3 things to look for?
• Should strength training routines be modified for older runners?
• If an athlete wants to avoid any Olympic lifts but still wants to develop power and explosivity, are there alternative exercises that would be helpful?
• How can runners tell if they are over or under training with regard to strength?

Check out the podcast to hear the answers to these questions and more. These questions are only a sample from the full 90min Q&A! Be sure to join HPL so you can get your hands on the full conversation!

Links & Resources from the Show:

• Follow Tony Gentilcore on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
• Visit Tony’s website
• Join High Performance Lifting to get access to the entire Q&A!
• Not ready to join yet? Sign up for our free strength training series here

Our show is supported by our longtime sponsor InsideTracker. Today, more than ever, it's essential that we’re making the right decisions to keep our bodies healthy. To help us be resilient, prevent over-training, and optimize our running to get the most from it.

InsideTracker is the ultra-personalized nutrition platform that analyzes your blood and DNA biomarkers along with your lifestyle habits to help you optimize your body and reach your goals.

InsideTracker’s patented system will transform your body's data into knowledge, insights, and a customized action plan of science-backed recommendations. The data can help you determine whether you’re running too much, not enough, or have some other issues that could be affecting your recovery or performance.

I've had my own blood drawn with InsideTracker several times and have been amazed at the valuable information that they provide. Not only are the results very detailed, but they also share guidance for how to improve any markers that are out of range.

If you’re ready to take control of your health and optimize your training, InsideTracker offers a selection of plans that best suit your needs with a limited time 25% discount.

A big thanks to Elemental Labs for their support of this episode! They make electrolyte drinks for athletes and low-carb folks with no sugar, artificial ingredients, or colors. And you can get a free sampler pack of 4 flavors and 8 individual packets when you pay $5 in shipping.

Elemental Labs' products have some of the highest sodium concentrations that you can find. Anybody who runs a lot knows that sodium, as well as other electrolytes like magnesium and potassium, are essential to our performance and how we feel throughout the day.

The citrus flavor has quickly become my favorite. I’m drinking one a day now to help me get enough fluids in our dry Colorado air. It’s tasty and delicious and I find that I’m not peeing every 45 minutes throughout the day, which might be an indication I wasn’t eating enough sodium.

There’s now mounting evidence that higher sodium intake levels are not unhealthy – and athletes need substantially more than your typical sedentary person. Of course, ask your doctor if you’re worried. But for those athletes running outside in the heat, an electrolyte replacement makes a lot of sense.

They just released their first new flavor of 2021, their most requested flavor, watermelon salt. So check out Elemental Labs to try their new flavor or get a free sampler pack.