It’s a divisive question: Can you run and lift weights, or are these disciplines destined to cancel each other out? It’s time to find out – and learn why a home gym could play a key role!
Should runners lift? And should lifters run? Are hybrid athletes destined to burn out – or win at the game of life? I recently contemplated some of these questions (and plenty of others) in a three-part series on the UKHomeGym YouTube channel.
My fitness journey started with football, then morphed into football + running, then just running. And eventually, it became running + lifting. I later learned that running + lifting is known in some parts of the internet as hybrid training.
But hybrid training isn’t easy. Nor is incorporating lifting into a high-volume running schedule. Nor – for that matter – is trying to weave running into a high-intensity lifting programme.
What inspired me to make the series is the fact that I come across so many lifters doling out pretty dreadful running advice online. In real life, things are even worse. So many people I know (no names, of course!) try to combine the two disciplines with truly mediocre results.
Many well-intentioned running experts speak about the importance of “strength and conditioning work,” a term that makes me wince. Runners I know who start lifting weights inevitably get everything wrong – which usually leads them to ditch the gym after a few months.
So perhaps running and lifting just don’t go together? Let’s find out!
Can You Run and Lift Weights – An Age-old Question
First, what does the science say? I’m always a bit wary about studies done in the worlds of running and lifting weights. What works in the lab doesn’t always translate to real-life gym sessions or actual runs.
However, experts have done some fairly high-quality studies on the running-lifting question. One study on recreational trainees found that “running-specific strength training enhances maximum and explosive strength.”
The same study found that “exclusive endurance training improves” your VO2 max and other metrics, with the authors writing:
“Performing concurrent training on non-consecutive days effectively prevents the strength and endurance adaptations attained with single-mode exercise from being attenuated.”
Another study on middle-aged recreational marathon runners found “no benefits of an eight-week concurrent strength training for running economy and coordination, despite a clear improvement in leg strength.”
Crucially, the authors conceded that this was “maybe because of an insufficient sample size or a short intervention period.”
So the science, it seems to me at least, is pretty close to knowing little or nothing about the whole matter.
Let’s instead try to use logic and experience to see if we can solve this riddle.
Should Running + Lifting Work?
Running and lifting are naturally at loggerheads. If you want to get as strong as possible, you need to lift heavy weights, eat a lot and spend as much time as possible resting when you are not doing so.
At most, strength advocates will prescribe a few brisk walks here and there to help your heart health. But running 50km a week or more? You might as well ask them what they think of drinking rat poison.
Conversely, runners kind of begrudgingly know they should lift weights. But they also know that lifting heavy requires putting on weight – be it in the form of muscle mass or adipose tissue + muscle.
Excess weight is rat poison for runners. The best runners in the world, outside the world of sprinting, are stick-thin. They have trained their bodies to burn fat as an energy source on their long runs. At times, their max effort runs are slightly catabolic. For gym bros, even reading this word is like garlic to a vampire.
But deep down, even the most committed of runners and the most avid gym rat knows that a little of the “opposite” discipline will do them good. If you are carrying around enormous amounts of muscle (and body fat), heart health is important – and running provides you with bucketloads of that.
And when it comes to improving injury resistance and boosting bone density, strength training is peerless. In an ideal world, all lifters would run, at least a little bit. And all runners would stop treating the gym like something the cat brought in.
So, how to marry the two?
Mistakes to Avoid
Unless you are a committed hybrid athlete, it is unlikely that you will want to give running and lifting equal weighting in your programme.
Instead, you will need to become a “runner who lifts” or a “lifter who runs.” As for how to do this, it’s probably best to look at what people get wrong and work backwards.
Runners always seem to make these key mistakes in the gym:
- Gravitating towards cardio equipment, due to a lack of strength and their own ability to excel on the static bike, treadmill and the rest
- Going high volume, low weight on their lifts – applying the base building theory of running to the weight room
- Trying to tack their gym sessions onto their runs, or vice versa
And gym bros get running wrong in these ways:
- Starting to run with no clear progression plan
- Trying to increase intensity (and speed) instead of prioritising endurance
- Going for runs directly after heavy gym sessions
By this rationale, it seems that we can start populating a list of Do Nots when it comes to running + lifting:
Do Not:
- Begin running/lifting without carefully considering how it will fit into your weekly programme
- Gravitate to what you are good at. Runners should avoid cardio equipment and head to the barbell. Equally, lifters should avoid going for short, high-intensity sprint sessions that let them flex their fast-twitch muscles. Go slower and longer – and keep your heart rate under control
- Neglect rest. Leave space between your gym and running sessions. Your body is not a machine.
And, perhaps by extension, here are a few Dos that might point you in the right direction if you have decided that you can and want to run and lift weights:
Do:
- Create concrete goals: If you are runner, don’t be afraid to set yourself a strength goal. Even if it’s just doing a set of 5 full range of motion squats with nothing but the empty 20kg barbell on your back once a week, that is way better than spamming half-assed air squats to parallel.
- Create even more concrete goals: For long-term lifters, yes, completing your first Parkrun or running non-stop for five minutes is a good goal to start with. But what are you going to do when you have done that? Think beyond easily achievable goals and picture yourself in five years. Nobody’s forcing you to start running ultra marathons, but don’t be too conservative either.
- Remember that in terms of strength and endurance, opposite sets of rules apply: Building towards high-volume and low-intensity is the ticket in running, and the inverse is true of lifting: Low-volume, high-intensity rules – so start light, but try to add a tiny amount of weight to the bar each session.
How a Home Gym Helps
Running, particularly in the UK, with our abundance of parks and lush countryside, should be easily accessible for most people. Unless you have a special reason, you shouldn’t need a treadmill. But even if you do, it’s a one-off investment.
You can also run pretty much whenever you like. The same should be true of lifting. Unfortunately, with a commercial gym membership, your hands are often tied. So why live at the mercy of some gym’s awkward opening hours? Why not invest in a home gym and train whenever you feel like it?
You can build a gym at home for as little as £100 (click here if you don’t believe me). And if you splash out £1,000, you will likely end up working out in the home gym of your dreams every single day – and never spend a penny on gym memberships again!
Conclusion
So, can you run and lift weights? I would say yes. Unequivocally yes, even. But if you are not smart about it, you could get it wrong.
It pays to put in the time to make sure you do not bite off more than you can chew… and end up doing yourself more harm than good.
