Runners ask all the time: How should I fit strength training into my endurance goals, and how can I get as strong as possible with limited time?
Holly Martin is a personal fitness trainer and run coach based in Nashville, TN, who specializes in time-efficient circuit training and individually tailored run programs.
Holly has a background in professional ballet and helps runners use time-efficient strength training to reach their endurance goals.
Holly comes from a diverse background of professional ballet, ultramarathon running, and 10 years of experience in CrossFit. She’s certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine and has finished many ultra marathons, including two 100 milers.
Holly loves teaching her clients to trade excuses and plateaued training attempts for the ability to embrace hard work with lifelong results.
Holly Martin on Strength Training for Runners to Improve Endurance and Prevent Injuries
You might recognize Holly if you see clips of this episode on my Instagram. She filmed hundreds of videos for The Run Experience over the years and coaches both running and strength training.
Our conversation today explores the juggle of ultrarunning and strength training. Should ultra runners do strength training? How should strength training for ultras be different from training for middle distance? What happens when running needs to take priority over strength training? And how should strength training progress over the course of an ultra season?
In this episode, Holly Martin and I talk about:
- Strength training for ultra runners to prevent injury and improve endurance,
- Single leg work to reveal weaknesses, imbalances, and poor movement patterns
- Proper mechanics and activation of certain areas, particularly for runners with weak glutes or other imbalances
- Purposeful workouts over working out for appearance
- Strength training for trail runners, focusing on heavy lifts and single leg exercises
- Alternating between heavier weights and technical work like agility to improve power and explosiveness
- Quality over quantity in strength training while training for an ultra-marathon
- When to modify or cut back on strength training for runners based on hunger, fatigue, and form
- Matching strength training to current fitness level and adjusting as needed in the final two months before the race
- Enjoying the training process for an ultra-marathon, rather than solely focusing on numbers and metrics
- Avoiding technical or skill-based movements in the gym that don’t directly benefit running
- Mobility work and static stretching for runners who experience tightness or muscle boundness after training
This is a must-listen episode for an ultra runner who knows they need to step up their strength training game in an approachable way.
Subscribe to the podcast in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or Google Play
Links & Resources from the Show:
- Holly Martin’s Patreon
- Holly on YouTube
- Holly’s website
- Holly on Instagram
- Learn to lift weights like elite runners.
Thank you 2Before!
We are supported by 2Before, a powerful sports supplement made from New Zealand Blackcurrants designed to increase endurance, manage inflammation, support immunity, and promote adaptation. 2Before helps to boost performance by increasing blood flow, making it more efficient for the body to pump oxygenated nutrient-rich blood into the muscles.
So, if you want to try to boost your performance and immune system, use code JASON for 30% off 20 packs and multi-serve packs at 2Before.com.
Thank you to 2Before for supporting Strength Running!
Thank you AG1!
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