Whether it’s running, swimming or cycling (or all three) you’re focusing on, you’ve got to be bringing in some form of strength training on top of these training sessions. However, as you are asking your muscles to do two quite different things, if programmed incorrectly your endurance and strength efforts could be detrimental to the effectiveness of the one another.

Below we explain how you can have the best of both, provided you take a few things into consideration…

WHY TRAIN BOTH?

As endurance athletes, we are always looking at ways to maximise our strength, endurance, power and speed in order to succeed and improve at our sport. This is where incorporating both strength sessions and endurance sessions into your training program is essential for you to succeed and see the best results you can.

Some of the key benefits include:

Helps to prevent injury and improve areas of weakness
Enables you to perform at your best
Creates a more resilient and well rounded athlete

FINDING A BALANCE

When it comes to integrating strength and conditioning into your week alongside your endurance program, you should be aiming to incorporate two to three 30-45 minute sessions, which include four to five key exercises where you’re working on your individual areas of weakness. By focusing on specific areas of weakness that you’ve previously screened for, and understanding the final outcome you want from your training, you will really be able to dial in to these areas in those two to three sessions.

Unfortunately, you can’t just hope that one month of strength training across the year will be enough to maintain your performance. You have to find the best ways to integrate this consistently across your week, month and year to see the full effect. Structure and accountability are super important.

SEPARATE YOUR SESSIONS

For maximum efficiency, you want to make sure you are scheduling separate sessions in your training program. A 2021 study by Petra et al. found that training strength and endurance back-to-back impaired one another, but when separated by roughly two hours plus, those impairments were taken away. Without this separation, you’re not going to be firing on all cylinders and therefore your body is going to be depleted. This neurological demand is why it is so important to separate your sessions.

With our clients, we ideally like them to bring their strength sessions in at least four hours before or after other training sessions to ensure adequate time for re-fuelling and recovering. Too close together and you’re going to go into your session impaired, you simply won’t find yourself in the right zone. So, try bringing your sessions at either end of the day to give yourself that nice window of opportunity to recover glycogen stores, to fuel your body with the right macronutrients and recover ready to hit another good session.

If you’re looking to really challenge your body with some complex movement patterns, or looking to put some decent load into your body, going into the session tired is just going to increase your likelihood of injury. So you really want to make sure you are splitting your time correctly, making both time for your strength and your endurance sessions.

If you’re just starting out, or are recovering from injury, you’re looking to maximise the benefits of strength training. You want to make sure you’re strong enough to get back into your sport; and this is where your strength training should become your priority.

Brian Glynn (Instagram @brianglynnphotography)

DON’T FORGET SOME IMPORTANT FACTORS

You can quite comfortably work on both areas of training, but to get the most out of both training sessions you should be making sure that you take the key variables and building blocks into consideration.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING WITH?

Firstly, you need to understand what you are working with. Do you have any areas of weaknesses or recurring injuries or niggles?

Carrying out some baseline testing with your coach will allow you to to tailor your program to your individual needs. At this point, you should also have a good understanding of what your goals are and the outcome you are hoping for.

ENERGY AND FUELLING

When it comes to effectively combining strength and endurance training, you need to make sure you are fuelling efficiently and putting the right macronutrients into your body. This will make sure you recover and adapt as quickly as possible.

Whether you are strength training or out running, you’re breaking down muscle tissue which you want to repair and essentially build back stronger. But in order for repair to occur, you need the three key building blocks: good energy availability, glycogen stores and protein intake. These will piece together your body after you’ve broken it down.

ALLOW ENOUGH TIME

We all fill our time, whether it’s with training, family life or working, but when you are looking to integrate multiple sessions into your training, you want to make sure you’re allowing enough time for that adaptation to occur to maximise the benefits of your training.

Every single endurance athlete is different; you are all coming from a different place, with a different goal and therefore your training programs will also differ from one individual to the next. Your training schedule will depend on where your starting point is, and this will impact how much emphasis you should be placing on each area. This should be something you are constantly evolving and adapting with your coach.

You want to make sure you are looking at the whole week and whole month to find the most optimal time to fit your training it.

There’s a lot to consider but it is very very doable.

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By incorporating both strength and endurance sessions into your week, you’re going to develop a great level of balance and resilience in your body, allowing you to keep doing the things you love. You want to be consistent in order to build long term resilience, allowing you to train with a clear and focused mind.

Remember, the most central part of training is making the most of every single session and maximising every minute. And on top of that, you want to make sure you are having conversations with your coach on a regular basis, as this will ensure you truly find that concurrent training.

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Take a listen to our podcast for a deeper dive into finding the right training balance!

CAN YOU TRAIN STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE AT THE SAME TIME?