No time for strength training?
- Emma O'Toole
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Many runners and cyclists believe they do not have enough time to include strength training in their weekly routine. However, the real limitation is often not time itself, but a lack of structure and clarity on how to use it effectively. Strength training for endurance athletes does not need to be time-consuming. In most cases, two well-structured sessions per week are enough to improve performance, reduce injury risk, and support consistency. This article explains how to apply the concept of minimum effective dose, how much strength training is actually needed, and how to integrate it into a busy schedule without compromising your running or cycling.
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
"The barrier to strength training for most runners and cyclists is not time, check your phone screen time or your Netflix watch time if you don't believe me, it's not knowing what to do with the time you have!"
By Emma O'Toole
Hi there!
Dianne is training for a half marathon next month. She is a mum, she runs her own business. Her training time is limited, her schedule can be unpredictable, and like most runners she has plenty of reasons why strength training could easily fall off the plan.
But it has not. She consistently completes two sessions a week, alongside her running with one of those being a double run-strength day. And she is heading into her half marathon in excellent shape!
When I look at Dianne's training data for last month, her endurance training still accounts for more than double her strength work, and in absolute terms she is doing two sessions a week of roughly 50 minutes. Her training is fitted around a busy life and rather than that be a limitation, (although more time would always be nice!), that is real life.
And Dianne is certainly not alone as a time-crunched endurance athlete.
When it comes to strength training, time is one of the biggest objections: “I just do not have enough of it!" Between work, family, commuting, and getting the runs and rides in, there is nothing left in the week for anything else.”
I hear you! I really do, and I am not going to pretend that fitting strength training in is always easy.
But I want to challenge the idea that it needs to take up a significant chunk of your week to be worth doing, because it does not!
Think of it as minimum effective dose: the smallest amount of a stimulus needed to produce the desired adaptation.
For runners and cyclists, that dose is two sessions per week of roughly 45 minutes each. That is it.
Not five days a week, nor two hour long sessions. Just two sessions, done consistently and structured specifically around your running and cycling.
Something not said enough is that going beyond two sessions, or completing longer strength sessions, does not proportionally increase the benefit for an endurance athlete. More strength sessions start to compete with the recovery your running and cycling demands. Sure there may be times in your season where we increase the dose to 3x sessions a week or pull it back to 1x session, but on the whole 2x sessions per week is the sweetspot.
What the data shows:
Now let me show you what this looks like in practice across three very different athletes last month.
Robert runs his own business and is a dad. He is riding Etape Loch Ness today and on for a great ride! He also recently came 15th out of 146 riders in a Zwift racing league and was the 6th Cat C rider, having only recently been promoted to Cat C. Last month Robert logged over 42 hours on the bike with just over 7.5 hours of strength training, sitting at 15.3% of his total training time split between 2x strength sessions a week.
Kate is a farmer who has just come through lambing season, a really busy and demanding period in her year. She is preparing for a 500km adventure event in a few weeks followed by a 70.3 triathlon this summer. Last month Kate logged just over 50 hours of endurance training with 9 hours of strength and conditioning at 15% of her total training time. Lambing season, 50 hours of endurance work, and she still got her strength sessions in!
And then there is Dianne. A mum, runs her own business, training for a half marathon next month. Last month her endurance training accounted for more than double her strength work. Two sessions a week of roughly 45 minutes fitted around everything else. She is heading into race month feeling strong and ready.
Three completely different athletes with completely different goals and training availability.
Yet the pattern remains:
Strength training supports your endurance performance, it is your endurance enabler.
So what does two sessions a week actually look like in practice?
It looks like roughly 45 minute sessions, twice a week, with a clear structure and the right exercises and doses for a runner or cyclist. Progressive, purposeful strength work built around the demands of your sport(s), not random HIIT or circuit classes, or YouTube videos.
It does not require a gym membership or a multitude of equipment. Dumbbells or kettlebells and a resistance band is a great place to start, but 30 minutes and your bodyweight is enough to get going.
The barrier to strength training for most runners and cyclists is not time, check your phone screen time or your Netflix watch time if you don’t believe me, it’s not knowing what to do with the time you have!
For that reason, to help you get the most out of your time, you can grab a free strength workout for runners and cyclists by joining my free coaching group. There are over 800 runners and cyclists over 30 inside and it is the place where these conversations continue beyond the newsletter.
Happy running and riding!
Emma x
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It is a small time investment when you see it like that.