It’s no surprise that marathon training involves a lot of running. What you might not know is that many runners also lift weights as part of their race prep—and if strength work isn't part of your marathon training plan, you may want to reconsider.

“Strength training has a wide range of benefits,” says Peloton instructor Rad Lopez, including enhanced muscular endurance, improved running economy, and reduced injury risk. However, if you’re marathon training, you have to be strategic about scheduling your strength workouts so they don’t interfere with your runs, but still offer payoffs on race day.

Want to see what marathon strength training could do for your own running? Here’s what experts want you to know before you get started. 

How Strength Training Can Help You Run Your Best Marathon

For starters, resistance training can boost your running performance. A 2024 study published in the journal Sports Medicine found that heavy strength training can improve running economy, or the amount of energy it takes to run at speeds below your all-out max.

There’s also some evidence that resistance training can increase how much force you generate with each stride, says physical therapist and orthopedic clinical specialist Vikash Sharma of Perfect Stride Physical Therapy. Doing strength work also provokes neuromuscular changes, enhancing your body’s ability to recruit, synchronize, and fire motor units, Sharma says. These adaptations allow you to more efficiently activate muscles while you run.

Another perk is that resistance training can help protect you from injury. “Not only does strength training improve your muscles' ability to contract and produce power, but it's also improving the capacity of your tendons and your bones—which are often things that get injured—to tolerate the forces that go through those tissues while running for 26.2 miles,” says physical therapist Lyssa Cleary of Athletic Lab Physical Therapy and Performance Training.

How Often Should You Do Strength Workouts While Training for a Marathon?

The ideal amount of strength training for marathon runners can range from one to four sessions a week, depending on your history with strength work, where you are in your marathon training plan, and, well, how much free time you have (considering you’re already dedicating several hours a week to running). 

For instance, when Rad’s prepping for a marathon, he’ll typically strength train three or four times a week. But he acknowledges that other runners could benefit from just a couple of sessions. 

Sharma says that he likes to start runners at three strength sessions during their off-season, then bring that down to two once they start a dedicated marathon training block. “And then as they start to approach the bigger, meatier chunks of their training, we’ll further reduce to once a week to accommodate that increased volume in running,” he says. 

No matter your starting point, you’ll want to pull back as race day approaches. “The closer you get to race day, the more you want to start focusing on maintenance,” Rad says. During a taper period (when a runner dials back on training volume and/or intensity, often just before a race), Sharma says he’ll have runners decrease the number of sets they complete during a strength workout, and he’ll forgo strength work altogether in the 72 hours before a race. 

How to Strength Train During Marathon Training

You’re already challenging your body with a ton of miles during marathon training—strength work should support that rather than wear you out. Go easy at first and pay attention to how your body responds before amping up the challenge, Rad says. Sharma says he’ll often give runners who are new to strength work just one set of an exercise to start, then bump it up as their body adapts. 

“During strength training, we want to focus on exercise quality,” Rad says. He suggests aiming for a “challenging but manageable amount of reps rather than working to exhaustion.” In terms of load, Cleary recommends reaching for weights that you can lift for three sets of eight to 10 reps. “If you feel like you can do 20 reps, then you need to increase the weight,” she says. 

One sign you’ve gone too far? If you’re super sore post-workout. “If you're programming your workouts well, you may have a little bit of soreness afterwards, but it's not debilitating,” Sharma says. Remember: You don’t want to hit the weights so hard that you need to pull back on your runs. 

For more guidance, consider taking on a running-specific strength training program in the Peloton App, like Train Like Usain Bolt, Lift to Run, or Road to Your 26.2, the last of which is a fully fleshed-out marathon training program including running and strength workouts.

5 Best Strength Exercises for Marathon Training

When you’re preparing your body to run 26.2 miles, there are a few things to zero in on. In addition to strengthening the major lower body muscle groups that power your running—your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and calves—Rad suggests focusing on core and single-leg exercises. “Working on your core is going to allow you to use your energy more efficiently throughout the race,” Rad explains. “And since your legs are going to be working separately during the marathon, it's important to strength train them in this way.” That is, unilaterally, or one at a time. 

With this in mind, here are a few of the best exercises to incorporate into your marathon strength training workouts. 

1. Single-Leg Calf Raises

Sharma and Cleary both say this calf exercise should be a staple in any runner’s routine. Calf strength can improve your running and protect your lower legs—one of the most common areas to get injured among marathon runners. Sharma recommends working up to lifting 25 to 33 percent of your body weight with this move.

2. Single-Leg Deadlifts

The classic single-leg deadlift is a tricky balance challenge, so runners sometimes shy away from lifting too heavy when doing it; however, if you can work up to lifting 25 to 33 percent of your body weight, you'll majorly strengthen your hamstrings and glutes, Sharma says. 

3. Single-Leg Deficit Squat

This variation of the classic squat mainly targets your glutes, but also works the core and postural muscles in the upper back. Those might not sound important for running, but they’ll help keep you from slouching in the final miles of your marathon. 

4. Dumbbell March

Cleary recommends this exercise to strengthen your core and postural muscles. For a bigger challenge, she suggests looping a resistance band around the balls of your feet. 

5. Side Plank Crunches

“Something that's often overlooked with runners is oblique strength,” Cleary says. Your trunk slightly rotates with each stride, and is stabilized by the obliques, an important group of core muscles that wrap around the sides of your torso. Side planks are one way to target these muscles, and she likes this variation that also works the side of your hips (aka your hip abductors). 

Should You Lift Weights Before or After Your Training Runs?

Whether you lift before or after your runs, there are pros and cons to each approach, Rad says. Deciding whether to do cardio before or after weights depends on your training goals as well as your goal for that specific day.

“Strength training before your run will lead to better muscle activation,” Rad says. However, you’ll want to keep the intensity of your strength work pretty light—hitting a moderate at most—so you don’t fatigue your muscles so much that you can’t get in a quality run, he adds. 

On the other hand, running first allows you to focus your energy on your mileage. That way, you get in a solid running workout, but your muscles might be too tired to lift much. (In that case, be sure to keep a close eye on your form, since you’ll already be a bit fatigued.) Alternatively, you can also use an easy recovery run to prep your body for a lifting session. “A short run is a good warm-up for a strength-training day,” Rad says. 

If you need to do a running workout and strength session in the same day, ideally you’d run in the morning, then rest for a few hours before a strength session, Sharma says. That way your muscles are recovered enough to lift, but you aren’t using up a precious day off from running to get in your strength work—you’ll still have time in your weekly schedule for a total rest day.

4 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Marathon Strength Training

When you’re adding a whole extra workout modality to your marathon training plan, you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of all the energy and time you’re putting in. Consider these strategies that can amplify the running-specific benefits of your strength sessions.