What is sport-specific strength training for runners and cyclists?
- Emma O'Toole
- May 31
- 6 min read
Sport-specific strength training is often talked about in running and cycling, but rarely explained clearly. For endurance athletes, it does not mean copying movements from their sport, but developing the physical qualities that directly improve performance and resilience. This article explains what sport-specific strength training actually is, why it matters for runners and cyclists over 30, how it differs from general strength or circuit training, and what it looks like in practice through exercise selection, intent, and programming.
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
"Sport-specific strength training is one of those phrases that gets used a lot without anyone really explaining what it means in practice."
By Emma O'Toole
Hi there!
Sport-specific strength training?
Last month a runner featured in Runner's World shared how she broke her marathon PB by 43 minutes at the London Marathon, hitting her sub 5 hour goal in the process. One of the three key changes she attributed to that result was sport-specific strength training.
I love seeing this in mainstream running media because it is what I have been banging the drum loudly on for years!
It also made me want to write today's newsletter because sport-specific strength training is one of those phrases that gets used a lot without anyone really explaining what it means in practice. And if you are a runner or cyclist trying to figure out what strength work you should actually be doing, that is not very helpful.
So today I want to explain what sport-specific strength training actually is, why it matters, and what it looks like for runners and cyclists over 30.
Let me start with what it is not, (the photo at the start of this newsletter is a good starting point!)
Sport-specific strength training is not doing bicep curls on a bike or pressing dumbbells overhead when running on a treadmill. Rather it means, training the physical qualities that your sport demands, in a way that transfers to improved performance in that sport.
For runners and cyclists those qualities are things like single leg strength and stability, hip extension power, posterior chain strength, calf and ankle resilience, and the ability to maintain force output under fatigue. These are the qualities that determine how well your body tolerates training load, how efficiently you move, and how much you slow down in the final miles of a race or the last hour of a ride.
Sport-specific strength training for a runner looks different to sport-specific strength training for a powerlifter, not because the exercises are necessarily different, but because the goal is different. A runner doing a Romanian deadlift is developing hip extension strength and posterior chain resilience that transfers directly to running mechanics and fatigue resistance. A powerlifter doing the same exercise is chasing maximum load; it is the same exercise, but executed with a completely different intent and context.
And while we are on the subject of what it is not, I want to address something I hear a lot. Many runners and cyclists assume that HIIT classes or circuit training count as sport-specific strength work. They feel hard, they often include exercises you would recognise from a sport-specific strength session, eg. squats, lunges, step ups, and they leave you breathless and sweaty, so it feels like something meaningful is happening.
But the volume is too high, the rest periods too short, and the load too light for the adaptations we are looking for. The intent is cardiovascular, not neuromuscular. Which brings us back to our powerlifter: the same exercise, executed with completely different intent and context, and therefore completely different adaptations. A circuit class will make you fitter in a general sense and if you are newer to strength training or returning after a long break, a version of this style of training can be a reasonable place to start, but long-term, it will not develop the specific strength qualities that transfer to your running and cycling performance.
So why does it matter so much for runners and cyclists over 30?
As we get older, a few things happen that make sport-specific strength training more important. Muscle mass naturally declines if we do not actively work to maintain it. Tendon and connective tissue stiffness, which refers to the ability of your tendons to store and release elastic energy efficiently and is a genuine performance quality for runners and cyclists, naturally reduces as we get older. Our recovery also takes longer and the gap between what we ask our bodies to do in training and what our bodies can actually tolerate starts to widen.
The good news is that sport-specific strength training addresses all of those things directly. It builds and maintains the muscle mass that supports your running and cycling. It develops the tendon stiffness and joint stability that makes your body more resilient to the repeated demands of endurance training. And it raises your load tolerance ceiling, which means you can handle more training before things start to break down.
This is why I always say strength is your endurance enabler. It is the foundation that allows everything else to work, not something that we just bolt on.
What does sport-specific strength training look like in practice for runners and cyclists?
For runners, sport-specific strength work tends to focus heavily on single leg exercises, because running is a single leg sport. Every stride is a single leg landing, a single leg push off, a single leg moment of force production. Exercises like split squats, step ups, single leg Romanian deadlifts, and single leg calf raises develop the strength, stability, and control that transfers directly to running, (you can find video demos of these exercises here).
Hip strength matters enormously for runners. Weak hips lead to poor pelvic control, excessive trunk rotation, and increased stress on the knees and ankles. Strong hips keep everything aligned when you are tired and your form is under pressure.
Calf and ankle resilience is another area runners consistently underinvest in. The calf complex absorbs and produces enormous forces during running, and strengthening it progressively is one of the most effective things a runner can do to reduce injury risk and improve running economy.
For cyclists, the demands shift slightly. While both legs are working simultaneously on the bike, each leg is largely working independently through its own pedal stroke, which is why single leg strength work transfers just as directly to cyclists as it does to runners. Hip extension strength and posterior chain development drive power through the bottom of the pedal stroke, so strong glutes and hamstrings matter enormously. Core stability determines how well you hold your position over long rides, which means less energy wasted and less back pain at the end of a long day in the saddle. And calf strength, something often overlooked by cyclists, plays a bigger role than most realise in ankle stability and power transfer through the pedal stroke.
Plyometric work, things like pogo jumps, depth jumps, and vertical jumps for runners, and explosive hip hinge movements like trap bar jumps for cyclists, develop the neuromuscular qualities that make you faster, sharper, and more efficient at your chosen race pace or power.
And within all of this, you matter. Your sport-specific strength programme should reflect your own strengths and weaknesses, not just the demands of your sport in general. A runner who fades in the final miles because their hips drop needs different emphasis to a runner whose calves tighten every time mileage increases. A cyclist who struggles to hold position over long climbs needs different focus to one who loses power in their sprint. The exercises may overlap but the priorities should be personal to you.
Sport-specific strength training done well is not complicated, but it does need to be intentional. The right exercises, dosed correctly, in the right phase of your training year, built around your sport and your body.
If you are not sure where to start, that is completely normal. Come and join the free coaching community and you will get access to a free strength training plan for runners and one for cyclists, both built around exactly the exercises and principles covered in today's newsletter, dosed in a way that will improve your running and cycling without leaving you too sore to train. There are over 800 runners and cyclists over 30 inside.
Happy running and riding!
Emma x
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Thanks Emma, helpful.