How to avoid hitting the wall in your next race.
New research shines light on how to power through the home stretch feeling strong!
We’ve all been there: the home stretch of a long run or race where form falls apart and the "sloppy shuffle" begins.
You know, that moment where you’re just fighting to keep one foot in front of the other, crossing your fingers that things don’t get worse before the finish line.
New research is highlighting one key tool to push that moment off as long as possible: strength training. While lifting is often praised for making runners more explosive when they’re fresh, a recent study suggests it goes much deeper. Strength training actually helps you stay more efficient and durable during the final miles of a hard effort. Here’s how.
What the research says
Researchers compared trained runners who added strength and plyometric training to their routine with a running-only control group. After 10 weeks, both groups performed a hard 90-minute run, immediately followed by a "time to exhaustion" test at 95% of their VO2 Max (ouch!).
The results might make you rethink skipping your next gym session. Relative to pre-training:
The strength training group improved their time-to-exhaustion following the 90-minute effort by 35%, while the run-only group saw an 8% decline.
At the 90-minute mark, the strength group held onto their running economy much better than the run-only group, with a 2.1% increase relative to pre-training. By comparison, the run-only group saw a 0.6% decrease in their running economy.
In short, the strength group held onto their efficiency at the end of a long run and significantly improved their ability to push hard while fatigued. Two key factors that can separate those who tackle their race goals, from those who fizzle out.
Why does this happen? (Hint: It’s not "bulking up")
Interestingly, researchers measured leg mass and found no significant change in either group. The "win" didn't come from bigger muscles; it came from neuromuscular efficiency. Essentially, the brain learned how to recruit existing muscle fibres more effectively.
When we layer this into what we know about fatigue, it gets even more exciting. When you’re fresh, you rely heavily on your calf complex to propel you forward. Remember that the Achilles tendon acts like a giant spring, propelling you forward without expending additional energy. In other words, this strategy is super efficient.
As you fatigue, that load starts to shift upward to the quads. Because the quads are a much larger muscle group, they’re a "more expensive" strategy to rely on, as they burn through energy much faster.
By improving your durability through strength training, you can hold onto that efficient "calf-driven" pattern deeper into the run and delay the switch to those costly backup strategies.
How To Make it Happen
Whenever we look at these studies, we’re curious to see what the strength group actually did. The good news for those looking to put this into practice is that it was a pretty simple protocol consisting of a progressive 10-week plan that included:
Hop variations for vertical plyometrics
Bounding progressions for horizontal plyometrics
Back squats
Single leg press
Isometric calf raises in a seated position
Key things to consider:
The plan was progressive! Keep levelling up to keep seeing benefits.
If you look at the research on the “best” way to strength train to see the greatest benefit in your running, you’ll likely walk away dissatisfied. There is no consensus here (and it’s a really tough thing to study). But if you really squint at the plethora of studies, you’ll see that plyometrics and lifting relatively heavy are probably going to be big wins.
The Bottom Line
If you want to finish your next race feeling like you're holding it together, rather than defaulting to a survival shuffle while crossing your fingers, dial in your strength training, and good things will happen. Strength training alone won’t change how you run, but it can help ensure you have the capacity to keep running well until the very last mile.
Not sure where to start with your strength work? Our team can help you build a runner-specific program that meets you where you’re at. Let’s chat!
Want to dive deeper into the research?
Zanini M. (2026). Durability of running economy in well-trained runners: the influence of performance, training status and a strength intervention (PhD Academy Award). British journal of sports medicine, bjsports-2025-111156. Advance online publication.
PMID: 41605612
Willy, R. W., & Davis, I. S. (2011). The effect of a hip-strengthening program on mechanics during running and during a single-leg squat. The Journal of orthopaedic and sports physical therapy, 41(9), 625–632.
PMID: 21765220