5 off-season strength training mistakes holding back your running and cycling.
- Emma O'Toole
- Oct 12
- 6 min read
If you’re a runner or cyclist over 30, the off-season is where you build strength that actually carries over to your sport. In this guide you’ll learn the five biggest strength mistakes (lifting heavy too soon, ignoring weak links, training like a bodybuilder, skipping upper body, and not periodising) and a simple blueprint to fix them so you can train harder, recover better, and stay consistent next season.
Strength training for runners and cyclists over 30 is a game-changer for performance, resilience, and long-term health.
If you want the full breakdown, check out my Strength Training Over 30 Guides:
TRAINING BREAKDOWN
"Build the strength that keeps you consistent, resilient, and able to train harder, for longer."
By Emma O'Toole
Hi everyone,
Last week, we dug into the five biggest endurance mistakes athletes make in the off-season (check that out here). Today we’re shifting focus to your strength training because what you do (or don’t do) here is just as important for how you perform when the season comes around again.
The off-season should be where you build strength that carries over to your sport. Build the strength that keeps you consistent, resilient, and able to train harder, for longer.
Unfortunately, most runners and cyclists over 30 miss this opportunity. They either train like bodybuilders, skip the foundations, or repeat the same routine until it stops working.
Here are the 5x biggest off-season strength training mistakes I see runners and cyclists over 30 make, and importantly, what to do instead.
1. Lifting heavy too soon
The temptation is always to rush here. You finish your season, and want to jump straight back into “heavy” squats or deadlifts.
This is not the answer to get stronger for the two following reasons.
a) Most runners and cyclists over 30 have a very low training age with strength and conditioning.
What I mean here is that you might have ten years of training and racing experience, but if you’ve only dipped in and out of the strength training from October to the end of January for the last 2 years, you’ve only got 8 months worth of strength training experience meaning that you’re really still a beginner when it comes to strength training. That means your connective tissues, movement patterns, and tolerance to load aren’t ready for maximal lifting right away.
b) You haven’t touched a weight for months.
If you stopped strength training at the end of January last year and are now looking to start it up again for the first time, that’s over 9 months ago. Echoing the above, your body is not prepared for “heavy” lifting right now.
And remember: when you’re over 30, recovery isn’t as fast as it used to be.
Muscles adapt fairly quickly, but tendons and ligaments take longer. If you push heavy too soon, you’ll be sore, frustrated, and at higher risk of injury. Instead, think of building capacity first: master the movement, control the range, and build the base that lets you handle load later… and remember, the weights aren’t going anywhere!
2. Ignoring your weaknesses
This is where strength training becomes sport-specific, and no I don’t mean doing bicep curls whilst sat on the turbo 😆.
Your weak links are the things that keep breaking down in training or racing. For runners, that often means hip stability, calf strength, or the ability to absorb force eccentrically. For cyclists, it’s usually core strength, single-leg strength and power expression.
The off-season is when you can finally give these areas the attention they need.
If your lower back tightens on climbs → target posterior chain strength and core stability.
If your knees ache at the end of long runs → work on eccentric control with step-downs, split squats, and hip stability.
If you fade in the final kilometres of races → build the capacity to hold form under fatigue with loaded carries and single-leg strength work.
Last week, I talked about how we can use the off season to target our weaknesses that are affecting our running and cycling, we can think of strength training as giving you the tools to actually fix it.
3. Training like a bodybuilder
This one is everywhere. Sets of 3x12 on the leg press, endless isolation exercises. Having to have DOMS so bad to mean it’s a “good session” despite that meaning that you can’t run/ride properly for days.
The issue isn’t that bodybuilding training doesn’t “work.” It’s that it doesn’t work for you. Bodybuilders train for size. Endurance athletes train for force production, resilience, and coordination… and endurance athletes over 30 also train for longevity in endurance sports and general life, to offset the natural ageing process with things like muscle loss (sarcopenia) that’s happening after 30.
When we’re back in-season and often limited for time, we want to make sure that we are using that time to build strength that carries over to our sport. Compound movements, like squats, deadlifts etc are great exercises that give you a lot of return for your time investment.
4. Training legs only
Unlike the bodybuilder example above, runners and cyclists NEVER skip leg day!! and most often question “why do I need to do upper body work?”
It’s a fair question. Most overuse injuries in endurance sport happen in the lower body. So it makes sense that runners and cyclists think “train the legs, protect the legs.”
But endurance performance is full-body. Look at marathon technique: the first 10k, most runners look relaxed and smooth. By 30k, shoulders are hunched, arms are heavy, chest collapsed forward, stride broken. That’s not just quads giving out, that’s the body struggling to hold form under fatigue.
Adding simple push, pull and press work: rows, push ups, overhead carries, builds core strength (remember the core is everything between your neck, elbow and knees) to keep you efficient when fatigue sets in to help you maintain your stride, form, and power deep into races.
5. Not periodising your strength training
This is a mistake that extends far beyond the off-season. Too many runners and cyclists treat strength like a tick-box exercise: the same weights, the same number of reps, week after week.
However, just as your endurance training evolves through base, build, and peak phases, your strength training needs to progress too. There isn’t one “perfect” way to do it, because the best approach depends on your background and training history.
Here’s one example of how you might structure it:
Off-season - Early season (general prep): higher reps, moderate loads. Rebuild capacity, control range of motion, and master the movements. This is where we lay the foundations for what is to come
Early season - Pre-season (sport specific prep): lower reps, heavier loads. This is your sport specific strength phase.
Pre-season - Main-season (competition prep): Converting strength into sport-specific qualities by moving weight explosively, this is like marathon pace work in your marathon training plan or sustained power intervals at target race power on the bike.
Skip these steps, and you cut corners your body isn’t ready for. Build them properly, and by the time your season arrives, you’re not just fit instead you’re stronger, faster, and more resilient.
Your strength training off-season blueprint:
Build foundations first, don’t rush heavy lifting.
Make your weaknesses your off-season project.
Train for force and resilience, not bodybuilding.
Train full-body, not just your legs.
Progress your plan like you progress your running or cycling.
If there’s one takeaway from these past 2 newsletters it’s that the off-season is where next season is built. Last week, we looked at the endurance side. This week, it’s strength. Both matter, and both need structure, progression, and intent.
Remember, the runners and cyclists who keep improving into their 40s, 50s, and 60s aren’t the ones chasing soreness or hammering every ride. They’re the ones training smart, consistent, and deliberate year after year and if you’re not convinced by that, head over to my wonderful free community where you can see everyday runners and cyclists over 30, just like you, get fitter, faster, stronger each week!
Have a great day!
Thank you!
Emma x
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