By Marnie Kunz, NASM-certified trainer, USATF- RRCA-certified run coach

Cross training for runners improves your fitness and helps prevent injuries. As a running coach and trainer, I wanted to weigh in with my tips for cross training and offer some sample exercises. I encourage all runners I coach to do cross training to get stronger and improve cardiovascular fitness while giving the body a break from running. Cross training exercises can be endurance-building aerobic activities like biking or swimming or strength training workouts that target different muscle groups and help you become a stronger athlete and runner.

What Is Cross Training for Runners?

So what is cross training exactly? Cross training for runners basically means doing any exercise other than running. There are different forms of cross training, with activities categorized as strength training, cardiovascular training, or both. Some examples of cross training for runners include:

Strength training strengthens your muscles. Strength - also called resistance - exercises include weightlifting, resistance band exercises, and bodyweight workouts. Resistance training may include lower body exercises like squats, lunges, and hip thrusts, which strengthen your glutes, quads, and hamstrings. Upper body resistance exercises include bicep curls, triceps workouts, the bench or chest press, and more. Strength training also encompasses movements that strengthen your core muscles.
Cardio training increases your breathing and heart rate. Cardiovascular exercises include walking, cycling, swimming, basketball, dance, rowing, tennis, stair climbing, aerobics, skiing, hiking, soccer, water aerobics, jumping exercises, elliptical exercises, kickboxing, or Zumba.
Strength and cardio workouts combine elements of strength training and cardio workouts. Some examples of these combination workouts include circuit training, high-intensity interval training, and aerobic compound exercises like burpees, mountain climbers, and plyometric exercises.

Benefits of Cross Training for Runners

There are many benefits of cross training for runners. Here are some of the most significant rewards of incorporating regular cross training into your fitness routine:

Reduces your risk of injury.

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Cross training allows you to continue improving your fitness training without adding increased stress on the bones, joints, and muscles you use for running. Overuse injuries are some of the most common running injuries, and cross training helps prevent these injuries. In addition, doing exercises other than running gives your body a chance to recover from running while still making fitness progress.

Adds variety to your training.

Doing the same thing every day can be tedious. And even worse, running too much puts you at risk of overtraining, which breaks down your body and mind and leaves you feeling burned out or injured. Adding cross training to your workout routine gives your body and mind a new challenge and adds variety to your life. This will help you stay motivated and inspired in your workouts while giving your body a break from running.

Makes you a better athlete.

Running primarily uses your lower body muscles. Strength training and other cardio workouts can boost your upper body and core strength and coordination. According to the International Sports Sciences Association, adding cross training to your program improves your overall strength, stability, conditioning, and running economy.

Cross training workouts also can help correct muscle imbalances and improve your running performance and form.

Offers rehabilitation from injuries.

Running injuries can be tough to deal with mentally and physically, but cross training offers help. As you recover from an injury, you can often do cross training activities like swimming, water jogging, cycling, or walking. Cross-training exercises will help you maintain the cardiovascular fitness level you worked so hard for with your running program. They’ll also improve your strength and give you a positive mental focus as you recover from injury.

Cross training workouts are excellent to do during your off-season to improve your fitness level while putting less strain on your tendons, ligaments, and joints and reducing your running mileage.

Makes you a better runner.

Cross training can help you run faster. Whether you walk for active recovery on your rest days or add strength training to your program, a well-planned cross training routine will help you become a better runner. Strength training can help runners get faster and enjoy more power while running.

Adding some of the best cross-training workouts to your training schedule will help you achieve peak fitness levels while reducing your risk of injuries from repetitive movements and muscle imbalances.

Best Cross Training Exercises for Runners

The best cross training exercises for runners give your body a break from running while strengthening muscles that you need to be a well-balanced athlete and a better runner. These are my top picks for cross training exercises to make you a stronger, faster runner:

Strength Training

If you only do one cross training workout, make it strength training. Doing strength workouts is vital to improve your full-body strength, increase your bone density, boost your metabolism, and give you more power for running. Strength training is the most essential form of cross training that will make you a more efficient, faster runner. It also will give you the most significant health boost by offering benefits like reducing your risk of osteoporosis and muscle loss that comes with aging.

Add two to three weekly strength training workouts to your training program to see the best results. For your workouts, you can do bodyweight exercises to start and add dumbbells over time if you want to increase your intensity.

An intermediate option for strength training is weightlifting. Weightlifting offers an excellent strength training workout to improve muscle strength and conditioning. Check out my list of the Best Strength Training Exercises for Runners for guidance on what to do in your workouts.

Here is a sample beginner-friendly strength training workout you can try:

Warm up by walking or jogging for 5 minutes. (You can do it in place if you are at home or in a small space).
Do 3 sets of 10 reps of the following bodyweight exercises: Squats, side lunges, back lunges, push-ups, and seated tricep dips. Do 2 sets of planks for 20 to 30 seconds each.
Repeat to do this full-body strength training workout at least twice per week.

Low-impact Cardio

Low-impact cardio workouts offer the best cross training for runners to maintain or build cardiovascular fitness. Low-impact means these activities place little to no pressure on your joints, which gives your body a break from the high impact of running.

You can go for a bike ride, practice yoga, cross country ski, go on the elliptical machine at the gym, or do some laps in the pool for low-impact cross-training workouts.

Some of the best low-impact cross training workouts for runners include:

Swimming
Aqua jogging
Water aerobics
Walking
Cycling
Elliptical machine
Cross-country skiing
Yoga
Pilates

Whether you’re injured and doing cross training while rehabilitating or want to add an active recovery day to your program, these low-impact cardio exercises are a great option. Do at least one of these low-impact cross training workouts for 30 minutes each week to improve your overall fitness level.

Adding Cross Training to Your Routine

Cross training is one of the best things you can do to become a stronger, healthier runner. It will promote muscle recovery, give your body a break from the high impact of running, improve your fitness level, and strengthen your muscles.

Here are my recommendations as a running coach for adding cross training to your program:

Do at least one day of low-impact cardio cross training a week.
Do at least two days of strength training a week.

You can add cross training to your program by walking, swimming, or doing pilates on your recovery days after intense training sessions like long runs or speed workouts. And for strength training, even short workouts will add up to make you stronger and faster.

If you need a customized training program that includes cross training, head to the Runstreet Training Center. I will happily design a program that fits your fitness level and goals. A personalized training plan can help you crush your race time goals, improve your fitness, and feel energized.

Happy running - and cross training - to you!😊

Marnie Kunz is a NASM-certified personal trainer and USATF- and RRCA-certified running coach based in Brooklyn, NY. Marnie likes helping people get and stay active to enjoy a better quality of life. When she’s not doing fitness things, Marnie enjoys exploring with her dog, a mischievous rescue Akita.

Cross Training for Runners: Benefits, Exercises + Tips