The Strength Running Podcast

5 Ways to Level Up in 2026 (My Top Ideas for Dramatic Improvement!)

Jan 1, 2026
Explore five transformative strategies to enhance your running performance. Discover the power of hill sprints to boost speed and resilience. Learn how to safely hit monthly mileage personal records for long-term aerobic capacity. Delve into the exciting benefits of heat training and its impact on your physiology. Uncover the advantages of incorporating high-volume cross-training, like cycling, to minimize injury risk. Finally, understand how heavy weightlifting can improve your strength and running economy.
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ADVICE

Add Short Max-Effort Hill Sprints

  • Do weekly 8–10 second maximal hill sprints to build speed, power, and injury resilience.
  • Walk 90–120 seconds between reps and treat them as speed sessions, not endurance workouts.
INSIGHT

Chase Monthly Mileage Records

  • Target monthly mileage PRs rather than weekly spikes to safely increase long-term training volume.
  • Hitting sustained higher monthly miles builds aerobic capacity and enables faster future training.
ADVICE

Use Heat Training Regularly

  • Start passive heat training 2–3 times weekly (20–30 minutes in a sauna or hot tub) to raise plasma volume and stroke volume.
  • Maintain once-weekly heat sessions after initial adaptation because benefits fade quickly.
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