We know, we know. Being told to incorporate strength training into your running is a bit like your dentist telling you to floss.

You already know it’s good for you. You already know you should be doing it. And yet… it’s usually the first thing to get skipped when life, mileage, or fatigue pile up.

Over the years, Coach Sandi Nypaver has seen enough patterns, both in her own training and in the athletes she coaches, to be convinced that strength training isn’t just “nice to have” for runners. It’s foundational. The trick is doing the right kind, at the right time, and for the right reasons.

Where Do You Even Start?

Saying “all runners should strength train” is easy. Executing it well is harder.

Before you load anything, bodyweight, bands, or external weight, you need the ability to move correctly. That means activating the right muscles and having enough mobility to actually access them. If you can’t hinge, stabilize, or rotate properly, strength work tends to reinforce compensation rather than fix it.

When I first started working with a strength coach, nearly the entire first month was foam rolling, lacrosse ball work, and mobility drills. No heavy lifting. No flashy exercises. And I was sore because I was suddenly able to use muscles that had been underperforming for years. That foundation changed everything that came after it.

What’s the “Best” Type of Strength Training for Runners?

There are plenty of effective approaches, but for most runners, especially those balancing volume, intensity, and real life, core strength consistently delivers the biggest return.

Core doesn’t just mean abs. It’s your glutes, hamstrings, obliques, lower back, and deep stabilizers. These muscles are central to posture, force transfer, and efficiency.

The good news: core work is practical. It can be done at home, requires minimal equipment, and doesn’t need to be long to be effective. The key isn’t novelty or complexity. It’s correct execution and consistency.

Many of my athletes rotate between two or three short routines. A handful of exercises done well, repeatedly, will do far more for your running than a long session where you’re just checking boxes.

Why It Actually Matters

Well-designed strength training can improve running economy by increasing muscle fiber recruitment and improving rate of force development. In simple terms: you get more output for the same effort.

It also helps maintain muscle mass and bone density, which becomes increasingly important as you age. And yes, it can reduce injury risk, but only if it’s done correctly. Poor form or poor muscle activation can reinforce faulty mechanics and create new problems instead of solving old ones.

Making Strength Transfer to Your Running

One common frustration: you get stronger in the gym, but it doesn’t automatically show up in your running.

Strength gains don’t transfer on their own, because you have to teach your body how to use them. That’s where activation exercises, drills, and intentional focus during runs come in.

Activation work before a run helps you feel the muscles you want to utilize better. During the run, make a conscious effort to tap into those same sensations. You won’t feel them firing as intensely as during strength work, but they should be present.

That’s how strength stops being something you do around running and starts becoming something that actively makes you a stronger, faster, more durable runner.

In the past few years we’ve had runners come to us who were unsure whether coaching was really working for them.

They liked the idea of having a coach.
They invested in it financially.
But over time, something felt off.

They weren’t always sure how closely their workouts were being reviewed. They weren’t given clear pace ranges or guidance that reflected their current fitness. Feedback felt surface level or wasn’t there at all. There was no guidance on pacing, mindset strategies, or building a race day plan. Importantly, they never really understood why they were doing what they were doing.

There was no sense of a longer arc.
No conversation about how this training cycle fit into the next one.
No evidence that their coach truly knew them as an individual runner rather than one name on a long roster.

When that happens, it doesn’t just affect results.
It creates doubt.

Runners start questioning their training and wonder if they should just go back to guessing on their own. They worry about wasting more good training years by choosing wrong again.

That confusion is reasonable.

Thoughtful coaching is not about how many athletes someone has or large social media accounts.

It means engaging with your data and your feedback.
It means explaining decisions so you can learn and build confidence in the process.
It means planning with your long term development in mind, not just your next race.

If you still care about improving, staying healthy, and understanding your training, that hasn’t gone away. What you’re really looking for is a coaching relationship built on trust, communication, and individual attention.

Here’s a few things we’ve heard recently:

“This coaching experience is already so much better than I thought it was going to be.”
“I can tell you actually care, not just about my training, but about me.”
“You actually know how to coach. You’re not just giving me a custom schedule.”
“The advice you gave me was priceless. Good coaching is so much more than just a plan on paper. It’s shared wisdom, words, experience. I toed the line in such a good headspace this morning.”

Thoughtful coaching means engaging with your data and your context.
It means explaining decisions so you can learn and trust the process.
It means thinking beyond one race and toward who you’re becoming as a runner.
It means staying curious, continuing to learn, and approaching each athlete with individual attention.

If a previous experience made you question whether coaching is worth it, that hesitation is reasonable.

But we want to tell you that we care. And we combine that care with experience, expertise and a true love for wanting to help people reach their running goals while truly enjoying the process.