Is strength training the next secret for better ultrarunning?

This week, celebrated US ultra-runner and coach,  Megan Canfield, explores the increasing adoption of strength training for runners, having seen the sport evolve over many decades. The CurraNZ ambassador also recounts her real-world example of its importance in races, following her recent attempt at UTMB. 

Megan writes: For years there has been debate over whether strength training offers a performance benefit for runners. 

Arguments against it were that it might develop bigger and therefor heavier muscles, and that to run faster, it was better to focus on more running.

Maybe the studies were too limited in scope, but in recent past there has been a noticeable increase in runners adding strength training to their running.

Sometimes the benefits of an added training stimulus are indirect. It is known for example that lifting weights increases bone mineral density.

 It also makes tendons and ligaments stronger. Overall, this increases an athlete's durability by protecting against stress fractures, tendinopathies, and torn ligaments. In other words, keeps the runner healthy. As long as an athlete remains healthy, they can build a bigger base, safely add in interval training, and have the improvements in performance as a result.

When an athlete is regularly injured, they must start over to some extent and may never reach their athletic potential with repeatedly being benched. 

Specific strength training for your sport is going to be more beneficial for performance than more general strength training. For example, while it might be really cool to be able to bench press some percentage of your body weight, that particular strength isn’t likely to make you a faster runner or more durable, except for maybe breaking your fall and saving your nose.

Likewise, being able to deadlift 2x your body weight is impressive, but not as helpful as the amount of work it takes to achieve that feat.

Running is also a one-legged sport – in that we are propelling forward just one leg at a time, so it makes sense to do as many strength exercises as possible unilaterally that support our movement.

Examples are single-leg Romanian dead lift, single leg splits squats, forward and backward lunges. These can be started as body weight only, and as an athlete gets better balance, dumbbells can be added. 

A strong core is essential for staying healthy as well. And while six-pack abs are enviable, they aren’t always a reflection of core strength.

Other muscles that make up the core are the pelvic floor muscles, the glutes, and back muscles. Again, doing unilateral core work, such as side planks, dead bugs, and glute bridges with marching, is important – we need both sides of body to work equally well. 

Just one little imbalance can wreak havoc in an ultra event. A case in point, I recently trained many months for the UTMB TDS race in France. I had excellent coaching and strength training to address the specific challenges of running in the Alps, because where I live where there are no mountains.

My mistake was ignoring the imbalances I felt in my exercises – I was so proud of doing them at all! However, 100 km into the 150 km race, one of my hip flexors became quite angry and limited my ability to go up and down technical terrain, until it became so painful I withdrew from the race at 135 km. Once I was seen by a physical therapist, it became evident that my ignoring the fact that my right glute wasn’t firing, I set myself up for the result I got. I had a misaligned pelvis and all kinds of helper muscles just became worn out. 

It is often said that what you do off the field is more important than what you do on the field. For running, that means taking care of the things that support your running are more important that the running itself. Strength training is one of them, along with eating well and getting plenty of sleep. So, take care of the little things and reap the benefits.

About Megan Canfield

Our expert contributor, Megan Canfield, is a reknowned US ultra-runner who coaches athletes nationwide with Zenith Coaching. With 13 Western States 100 finishes (10 top-ten results), and a member of nine consecutive US World 100k teams, Megan is renowned for podium performances well into her 50s and 60s.