You'll see some influencers posting about their daily run and lift routine.
Others telling you running will ruin your gains and lose your muscle.
Which is right?
As always, context is king (aka...it depends).
But because we hate just saying 'it depends', keep reading and we'll spell out how to best maximize strength gains while getting in better shape.
The interference effect (and why it's overblown)
Those fearing combining running and lifting often cite something called the interference effect..based on a study from 1980 that showed that combining endurance and resistance training negatively impacted strength gains.
Much more research has come out since then, and those still telling you to fear mixing running and lifting are doing more harm than good.
However, this doesn't mean you can just run every day, lift every day, and expect to see great results (in your runs or lifts).
There's much more to setting your program up the right way, which we'll cover below.
If you're an elite powerlifter or athlete, it's probably best not to run 10 miles every morning and try and lift in the afternoon.
Most of you aren't trying to run 10 miles every morning (or ever again) anyways, so that probably doesn't apply to you.
The interference effect just doesn't matter as much as people think.
Especially if you're new to working out (or you've taken some time off).
It's even overblown for those that have been working out for a long time, unless you're chasing top performance in a specific area.
Marathoners don't care much about deadlifting 500 lbs.
Powerlifters don't care much about a sub 6 minute mile (or sub 6 minute rest times between sets).
If your goal is better health, performance, longevity...you should be doing some type of strength work AND some type of conditioning.
Here's how to combine lifting and running (or any conditioning) effectively:
1. separate by 4-6 hours, when possible
If you have the luxury of breaking up your strength and cardio work, this is ideal.
4-6 hours seems to be plenty to minimize the interference effect.
This could mean doing one in the morning, and one later in the day.
For most people, living outside of 'ideals' or 2x/day workouts, this could simply mean doing a heavy strength session one day, and a harder conditioning session a different day.
2. strength first, conditioning second (if doing in same session)
If you're combining strength and conditioning work in the same session, it usually makes more sense to do your strength work first.
You can still push conditioning pretty hard after some heavy strength work.
But strength work is typically going to take a hit if you do some cardio first.
All of our programs use concurrent training (combining strength and conditioning). And it's totally doable when programmed right.
3...ignore the last point if you don't care about getting really strong or have other specific goals (prioritize what matters)
If you are training for a race, or you simply want to prioritize your cardio or conditioning and don't care about top end strength, then prioritize whatever goal matters most first in the day (or first in the session).
Marathon trainers often do their runs first, because strength is secondary and the main purpose is to make them better at running. In these cases, you don’t want strength to be before a hard or quality run session.
If you are a tactical athlete, or your sport/job requires you to be very well rounded, then sometimes you have to ignore the 'rules' and train in a way that makes you more prepared for anything (like on our Hard To Kill Track).
4. mode matters
The mode (running/cycling/rowing/etc) matters a lot.
Hitting a run will impact your back squat or deadlift a lot more than a row (or ski erg). You can strategically train both if you can vary the mode from time to time.
5. duration and intensity matter
Even if your program is set up perfectly, doing too much is still overtraining.
Running an easy mile or two in the morning won't wreck your afternoon session.
A 60 minute easy run or some hard intervals will come at a cost.
6. nutrition, sleep, stress, and recovery
The more you dial in these areas, the more your body can handle.
Everyone still has a ceiling...but getting these things right will allow you to do more.
If you're a single guy with a flexible schedule, you can probably handle a bit more training stress.
If you're a dad of 5 that works 50-60 hours a week and sleeps 5 hours a night...your training stress will catch up a lot quicker.
7. speaking of, don't lose sleep over it (this probably doesn't apply to you)
Unless you're pushing your limits, or you're an elite athlete (hate to break it to you, but probably not many people reading this), you don't need to get too caught up in these details.
We've seen thousands of athletes get stronger, improve their VO2 max and reduce resting heart rates, drop body fat, and add lean muscle while combining lifting with running (and other conditioning).
We believe it's the best (and really the only) way you should be training.
If your goal is to be your best and healthiest, right now and for decades to come, don't ignore strength OR cardio.
If you have any questions about how this applies to your program, hit reply or leave a comment.
Kill comfort.
Jerred and Dave
P.S. If you can lift and run you will be harder to kill.
Excellent article!
There is one point that wasn't covered, which I think is fundamentally important when looking for hybrid performance: you have to phase. You have to periodize. If possible, following your competition schedule—in my case, CrossFit and long-distance race bibs. The two are contradictory.
I prioritize through phases where I'll work on heavy strength (1RM deadlift, bench press, etc.) with running endurance volume, or phases where I'll work on hypertrophy and running VO2max, and others where I'll combine metabolic conditioning with running in threshold/VMA/SupraVMA/VMAX programs, all in "compromised" mode.
And for me, that's THE lever that allows you to absorb heavy training volumes. Think of training as a continuous sequence spread over months, not a routine that repeats every single day.