I have a love-hate relationship with the weight room—or should I say a hate-love relationship? Yes, the dislike still slightly edges out the love. For me, lifting weights can feel a bit like hitting my head against a wall: it feels good only when I stop. (Not that I spend any time hitting my head against a wall, but I can imagine.)
I greatly prefer running to weightlifting. After all, I am an endurance junkie. Give me hills, trails, views, and fresh mountain breezes over heavy metal any day. And then there is all the sitting around in the weight room. Strength training feels like watching a football game: 20 to 30 seconds of action, followed by minutes of doing nothing.
Nevertheless, even though lifting is not my favorite workout modality, I have come to embrace it as an important part of my performance longevity plan. I wish the research showed it wasn’t that beneficial. But the benefits of a well-designed, progressive resistance-training program are hard to deny. As my former boss at the Olympic Training Center used to say, sometimes what you like to do least is what you need to do most. Words to live by, at least in this case.
Physiological Resilience
In the early 1990s, physiologist Michael Joyner proposed a model to predict marathon performance based on the interaction among three determinants: VO2max, the sustainable fraction of VO2max (or lactate threshold), and running economy.1 The formula was as follows:
Marathon speed = VO₂max × sustainable fraction of VO₂max (x 60)/running economy
For example, to run a sub-two-hour marathon, a 59 kg athlete would need a VO2max of 76 mL/kg/min, would use 191 mL/kg/km of oxygen while running 21 km/h, and would sustain 88% of his VO2max.2 (Side note: running at 21 km/h requires 67 ml/kg/min of oxygen, more than most people’s VO2max.)
Nike’s Breaking2 marathon project used this framework to evaluate 16 of the world’s best distance runners. From this group, three athletes were selected for their potential to break the two-hour mark. However, only Eliud Kipchoge achieved the feat. The Joyner model slightly overestimated the other runners’ best performances, suggesting another factor was at play.
Enter resilience.
Physiological resilience has been proposed as the “fourth determinant” of endurance performance. It refers to the ability to resist performance deterioration over time. Poor resilience manifests as a pronounced decoupling of perceived effort, heart rate, and pace. In other words, pace decreases while heart rate and perceived effort increase.3
Sustained hard efforts, such as marathons, cause VO2max and running economy to deteriorate as the run continues, with a subsequent increase in the sustained fraction of VO2max. In other words, performance depends not only on how good you are when fresh, but on how well you hold that physiology together when fatigue sets in.3
The oxygen cost of running at the same speed tends to increase over time (i.e., economy decreases). This may be due to a greater reliance on fat rather than carbohydrates as the event progresses, since fat requires more oxygen to produce the same amount of energy. Glycogen depletion and muscle fiber damage may also increase the oxygen cost of muscle contraction. As fatigue accumulates, running technique and biomechanics can change, potentially making each stride less economical.3
At the same time, VO2max may decline as blood volume decreases due to sweat loss and as more blood is directed to the skin to dissipate heat. Together, a decline in VO2max and an increase in oxygen cost mean that the same pace requires a higher fraction of the runner’s VO2max.3
Building Physiological Resilience
Unfortunately, evidence identifying the specific training sessions or programs that best improve resilience remains limited. However, recent research provides some useful clues, including resistance training (RT) and plyometric training (PT). (I will discuss other proposed ideas in a subsequent article.)
Rønnestad and colleagues reported that heavy RT improved performance in a five-minute time trial performed immediately after three hours of moderate-intensity exercise, compared with those who did only endurance training.4 However, this study was conducted with male cyclists.
A subsequent study repeated the protocol in female duathletes and found that heavy RT improved performance in all-out five-minute tests of both running and cycling following extended endurance exercise.5 Additionally, VO2 and HR were lower during the last two hours of a three-hour cycling trial in the RT group, compared with the group that performed only endurance training.
Another study found that compared with a control group of well-trained runners, those who performed heavy RT plus PT for 10 weeks showed a smaller loss of running economy during an intense 90-minute run.6
A 2022 meta-analysis comparing heavy RT with PT found that heavy RT improved overall running economy more than PT. Nearly maximal loads, greater than or equal to 90% of the participant’s one-repetition maximum, or loads that could be lifted only four times or fewer, were more effective than lighter loads.7
A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis found that high-load RT, PT, and combined RT and PT improved overall running economy. High-load training, defined as greater than 80% of the one-repetition maximum, appeared particularly useful for faster runners, whereas PT appeared more effective for improving economy at moderate speeds of less than 7.5 miles per hour.7
Combining strength and plyometric training, however, may offer the greatest benefit.7
Practical Application
For RT, this means: 2–3 sessions per week, 2–4 sets, at 3–6 of repetition maximum (or around 80–90% of your one-repetition maximum), with about 2–3 min between sets. The total volume need not be high. The goal is to develop maximal strength, not hypertrophy. Examples of the lifts you could use are half squats, standing one-legged hip flexion, deadlifts, single-leg presses, and ankle plantarflexion (typically, four leg exercises are used). The program also needs to progress, i.e., add weight as strength improves.
Plyometric training can include exercises such as hops, bounds, skipping, box jumps, pogos (stiff-legged jumps), and drop jumps. These exercises train the stretch-shortening cycle.
For masters athletes, the rationale for doing RT and PT may be even stronger.8 Aging is associated with declines in fast-twitch fiber size and function, rate of force development, tendon stiffness, maximal strength, and power. However, approach plyometric training conservatively because tendons adapt more slowly than the nervous system.
Additionally, several studies used lower-intensity loads in the first weeks of training, such as a 10-repetition maximum, before gradually progressing to heavier maximum loads and fewer repetitions. Some programs also emphasized an explosive upward movement with a more controlled eccentric (lowering) phase.
This type of training is also good for bone density, but I will save that for a subsequent post.
References
- Joyner MJ. Modeling: optimal marathon performance on the basis of physiological factors. Journal of Applied Physiology. 1991;70(2):683–687.
- Jones AM, Kirby BS, Clark IE, et al. Physiological demands of running at 2-hour marathon race pace. Journal of Applied Physiology. 2021;130(2):369–379.
- Jones AM, Kirby BS. Physiological resilience: What is it and how might it be trained? Scand J Med Sci Sports. Mar 2025;35(3):e70032.
- Rønnestad BR, Hansen EA, Raastad T. Strength training improves 5-min all-out performance following 185 min of cycling. Scand J Med Sci Sports. Apr 2011;21(2):250–259.
- Vikmoen O, Rønnestad BR, Ellefsen S, Raastad T. Heavy strength training improves running and cycling performance following prolonged submaximal work in well-trained female athletes. Physiol Rep. Mar 2017;5(5).
- Zanini M. Durability of running economy in well-trained runners: the influence of performance, training status and a strength intervention (PhD Academy Award). Br J Sports Med. Mar 17 2026;60(6):488–490.
- Llanos-Lagos C, Ramirez-Campillo R, Moran J, Sáez de Villarreal E. Effect of strength training programs in middle- and long-distance runners’ economy at different running speeds: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Medicine. 2024/04/01 2024;54(4):895–932.
- Piacentini MF, De Ioannon G, Comotto S, Spedicato A, Vernillo G, La Torre A. Concurrent strength and endurance training effects on running economy in master endurance runners. J Strength Cond Res. Aug 2013;27(8):2295–2303.