Hybrid Training: Can You Run Faster and Lift Heavier?

Can you get stronger when you have already been lifting for several years while also becoming a faster runner?

The short answer is yes, but the more experienced you become, the more carefully your training needs to be managed.

In this article, I’m going to explain the interference effect, why it may not be as important as people once thought, and how to programme strength and endurance training together.

The Interference Effect

The interference effect describes the possibility that endurance training could reduce some of the adaptations we want from strength training, particularly maximal strength, power and muscle growth. One proposed explanation involved two cell-signalling pathways called AMPK and mTOR. AMPK acts as an energy sensor. It becomes more active when a cell is under energy stress, such as during endurance exercise, fasting or calorie restriction. It encourages the cell to produce energy and temporarily reduce energy expensive processes.

mTOR supports growth, repair and muscle-protein synthesis. It is stimulated by resistance training, amino acids and the availability of sufficient energy. Because AMPK can inhibit mTOR under certain conditions, it was proposed that endurance training would activate AMPK, switch off mTOR and prevent the body from responding properly to strength training. This led to the simple idea that “cardio kills your gains.”

Research in humans now presents a more nuanced picture. AMPK and mTOR are not two simple on-and-off switches. Both pathways can signal within the same overall training period, and activating AMPK through endurance exercise does not automatically prevent the mTOR response to resistance training. The interference effect has not disappeared, but the AMPK-versus-mTOR explanation does not fully account for when or why it occurs.

Why It Isn’t as Big a Problem as People Think

AMPK and mTOR represent only one part of a much bigger puzzle. For most people, there are more important factors affecting hybrid performance:

• Excessive endurance or strength-training volume
• Accumulated muscle damage and fatigue
• Performing too many demanding sessions close together
• Poorly organised training weeks
• Insufficient calories, carbohydrate or protein
• Inadequate sleep and recovery
• Trying to lose weight aggressively while improving everything else
• Too many beers at the weekend

In other words, cardio does not automatically kill your gains. Poor programming and insufficient recovery might.

Can You Improve Strength and Endurance Together?

Most people can improve both strength and endurance simultaneously, especially when they are relatively inexperienced in one or both disciplines.

For example, an experienced powerlifter who is new to running can probably improve their running considerably while maintaining and potentially still improving their strength. An experienced runner who is new to lifting can usually make rapid strength gains without compromising their running.

The challenge becomes greater when someone is already highly trained in both qualities. At that point, you may be able to improve both, but it becomes increasingly difficult to maximise top-end strength and endurance performance at exactly the same time. Both require substantial training and recovery resources.

The solution is to establish a priority.

You can place one quality on maintenance volume while pushing the other for an entire training phase. Alternatively, you can shift the emphasis within a phase. For example:

• Weeks 1–4: build running volume while maintaining strength
• Weeks 5–7: reduce running volume while increasing strength intensity
• Weeks 8–9: develop race-specific running at reduced volumes with peaking strength sessions also at reduced volumes

The mistake is attempting to increase running volume, running intensity, strength volume and lifting intensity simultaneously throughout an entire programme.

How to Programme Strength and Endurance Together

Over a training week, aim to include:

• Two or three strength sessions
• Two or three endurance sessions
• One complete rest day

The exact balance depends on your current priority. Most endurance work should be easy or moderate. If every run is hard and fatiguing, it becomes difficult to recover while still producing high-quality strength sessions.

Your endurance programme could include:

• One easy session
• One interval or race pace session
• One aerobic power (tempo) session

Your strength programme should prioritise high-quality work rather than accumulating unnecessary fatigue:

• Focus on the main movement patterns
• Manage RPE/Intensity over a training phase
• Use enough volume to progress without compromising your running or recovery
• Avoid excessive lower-body soreness and volume

Organising the Training Week

Where possible, avoid placing your hardest endurance and lower-body focused strength sessions on consecutive days.

A balanced week might look like this:

Monday: Full Body Strength (Squat Focused)
Tuesday: Easy Aerobic Run
Wednesday: Full Body Strength (Bench Focused)
Thursday: Interval Run
Friday: Full Body Strength (Deadlift Focused)
Saturday: Tempo/Aerobic Power Run
Sunday: Rest

Summary

So, you can get stronger and run faster at the same time, but it takes a careful approach and good programming. If all of that sounds a bit too much for you to figure out for yourself then don’t stress, because the MARCHON Hybrid program takes into consideration all the points I have touched on today and more!

See you on the leaderboard,