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When to complete your strength sessions
When to complete your strength sessions

Wondering how to plan your week best to nail your strength work

Ben avatar
Written by Ben
Updated over a year ago

There are lots of factors to consider in regards to when to train - there is no black or white answer (even though a lot of us look for this). Ultimately, we want to ensure your training fits in with your lifestyle with an end goal of finding a routine which makes you happy and helps you to be the best you can be.


Does it matter what day to train on?


It is very important to consider which day to train on. This is due to the 'interference effect'. The 'Interference effect' is where opposing adaptations are made by our body during both strength training and endurance training (i.e. running) at the same time. Strength adaptations are key for runners to improve performance and reduce the risk of injury. Under-going endurance training before strength training can have a negative impact on the strength training performance and adaptations from it.
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I have to complete my strength training and running on the same day - what shall I do?


Sometimes we can't have the ideal training schedule. Things come up and we want to help you to be able to be flexible with your training and alter things when needed.
Our recommendation is to complete strength training before your run with ideally 6 hours between them if possible. By doing the strength training before the run session will have a lesser impact on the interference effect.
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The interference will still effect the run session performed on the same day but not by as much hence doing the run second is preferable. Given this, we advise on a double day (aka a day with strength and run) to do your easy runs. This way we're saving the days when you're fresher for those more intense and demanding speed sessions or long run sessions and you can give it your all! Another top tip would be that if you cannot avoid doing strength after your run, think about doing more core / upper body work to give your legs a rest and reduce the effect of the interference effect.

Ultimately, strength training is hugely important to help you to become a better runner and reduce the risk of injury. For any further advice on this, please reach out via the Support Tab.

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