A 5K Strength-Training Plan to Support Your Run Schedule
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Adding strength training to your calendar when you’re gearing up for a half or full marathon makes sense to protect your joints over all those miles and to help build your stamina to last for the main event. But a 5K seems so much easier on your body in comparison, so is hitting the weight room really necessary?
Yes, says Matt Jones, personal trainer, running coach, and founder of Run Strong Academy. “Whether you’re training for a 5K or an endurance event, the fundamentals of strength work are very similar—you’re building a more robust base to spring off from during the race and to minimize your chances of getting injured,” he says. “But because a 5K is a shorter and faster distance, there’s even bigger potential for added power and explosiveness.”
Meg Takacs, NASM-CPT, a run coach and founder of the Movement & Miles app, agrees. “Training for a 5K is definitely different in terms of intensity and volume than training for something like a half marathon or marathon, but that doesn’t mean strength training isn’t still important,” she says. “The biggest factor when it comes to strength training is focusing on what works for you and your body to get across the finish line injury-free and as efficiently as possible.”
To help you figure out how to do just that, we asked experts for their top tips. Read on for their advice about strength training for a 5K and building power come race day.
Benefits of Strength Training for a 5K
To put it simply, getting stronger helps boost your running power.
A large 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis in the journal Sports Medicine, suggests high load strength training (which equals at least 80 percent of the weight you can lift for only 1 rep, or your 1-rep max), submaximal load training (40 to 79 percent of your 1-rep max), and plyometrics (exercises that typically involve jumping) all led to small to moderate improvements in running economy after at least three weeks of training.
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in 2022 in Sports Medicine Open found heavy resistance training may even have an advantage over plyometrics when it comes to improving run economy and time trial performance, and the longer you train, the better the improvement.
Similarly, a 2008 systematic review in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research examined studies that looked at the effect of explosive and heavy weight lifting on running performance. Runners showed improved economy after about nine weeks of strength training (on average), and two of them that included plyometric exercises led to a 2.9 percent improvement (again, on average) in 3K and 5K times.
These strength gains and the running benefits that go with resistance training are all the more apparent in a 5K, says Jones, who notes that the shorter distance is well suited for power. “Building stronger glutes and hamstrings allows us greater speed potential, and upper-body moves can make for an efficient arm drive—which comes in handy when you're letting it rip in a 5K,” he says.
The Best Strength Training Exercises for a 5K
Start with exercises that target your lower half, says Jones. “The majority of runners will do very well to build their lower body, and glutes in particular,” he says. “A common problem runners face is that their glutes aren’t ‘switched on,’ which can lead to lower-back tightness, tight hamstrings, poor posture, and knee injuries.”
Your glutes are the biggest muscle in your body, and strengthening them will give you a more powerful stride. Jones recommends squats, glute bridges, and unilateral exercises, such as lunges and step ups.
Takacs recommends unilateral moves as well, along with plyometrics, abduction and adduction moves, upper-body moves for better posture, and core exercises. Jones agrees upper-body moves (like dumbbell rows and hammer curls) should also have a place in your strength routine to improve your posture and arm swing.
As a general rule, doing three sets of eight to 12 reps is a good place to start.
Working your core is truly key for runners. Doing five core exercises (that worked not only the abs but back and hip muscles, too) four times a week for just six weeks led runners to improve their 5K time by an average of 47 seconds in a 2009 study published in the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, which involved 20 runners.
Another study published in PLoS One in 2019, involving 21 college athletes also found an eight-week core training program could improve balance, core endurance (important for posture in the later miles of a run), and running economy.
Mixing in some plyometrics is especially helpful when prepping for a shorter race, say both coaches. They help with stability, ground force absorption, and ankle strength, Takacs notes. She recommends beginners start with bodyweight exercises like bilateral/unilateral hops, drop jumps, or skater jumps and that more advanced athletes focus on box jumps and complex plyometric movements like drop jumps to a side leap. For plyo moves, Jones recommends trying five sets of five reps, with two to three minutes of rest in between.
At the end of the day, the exercises you do are up to you. “The moves you choose should focus on depend on your experience, current level of fitness, and goals,” says Takacs.
If it’s your first 5K and/or you just want to cross the finish line injury-free, she advises getting a gait analysis to spot imbalances and then work to strengthen areas where you’re weak.
How to Add Strength to Your 5K Training Schedule
As little as two strength workouts per week is enough for big benefits, say both Jones and Takacs, and they can be as brief as 20 minutes. Try lifting on various days and see what feels like it’s giving you a boost, not leaving you burned out.
“All athletes respond differently to different stimuli,” says Takacs, who says she likes running and lifting on separate days, but knows athletes who like to keep hard days hard and do their strength sessions later in the same day as speed work. “It’s all relative to the individual athlete.”
If you’re going to do a running workout and strength on the same day, it may be more beneficial to run first.
Also, when you schedule the sessions during the day matters. High-intensity training, whether lower-body-specific or total-body, reduced runners’ time to exhaustion in run later that day in a 2014 study published in the European Journal of Sport Science. Researchers concluded that letting your body recover for at least six hours after a strength session before running is important if you want to maintain your aerobic performance.
Sample Strength Training Plan for a 5K
Here’s an example of how to incorporate strength training into your week and build on it. Keep your sets and reps consistent from week to week, Jones suggests, but add weight to keep progressing (read: getting more powerful) as you get stronger.
The above plan is just a sample; the best strength-training plan for you is unique to you, your experience, and your goals for the 5K. “Trial and error has to happen in order for you to find what works best for you,” says Takacs.
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