Each athlete’s training plan will vary significantly depending on their experience, fitness goals, and availability.
There are also several distinct methods that coaches use with their athletes. Training has become trial and error as each athlete performs and reacts differently to different training methods, stressors, and schedules.
Consistent research has given us greater knowledge; however, it makes it more challenging when making decisions as we, as coaches and runners, need to sift through a plethora of information.
The most efficient and safest way to train for a race, whether a road 5K or a trail ultramarathon, is by professional guidance from a running coach and a well-thought-out, personalized training plan.
The most challenging task for a coach or athlete is organizing and combining cardio sessions (long runs, recovery runs, interval training, speedwork, etc.), weight training, and rest into the perfect training plan. This is a giant puzzle to put together.
A common question for athletes is whether or not they should do cardio and weights on the same day or on separate days; the truth is, it depends on your fitness goals, but yes, you can.
As a running and weight training coach, I analyze each of my athletes individually to determine which path is the best for what they are trying to achieve, and today, I will help you do the same.
What Counts As Cardio?
Cardio, short for cardiovascular exercise, is exercise that increases your heart and breathing rates for a period of time. This type of exercise will improve the function of your heart, circulatory system, and lungs.
Cardio is not just running but includes many other types of physical activities. Some examples include biking, swimming, power walking, jumping rope, rowing, high-intensity circuit training, and dancing. If it gets that heart rate up and keeps it up, it’s cardio!
For runners, most of our cardio is running. Still, some of our cardio workout sessions could be cross-training, such as biking, rowing, or elliptical, intending to reduce impact and, ultimately, the risk of injury.
Cardio fills up most of our training program, but please remember how valuable weight training is for runners and athletes in general!
What Counts As Weight Training?
Weight training is a system of conditioning involving lifting weights or another for of resistance, especially for strength and endurance.
As cardiovascular exercise strengthens your heart, weight training, resistance training, or “strength training” strengthens other muscles in your body.
This is done using a type of resistance such as body weight, resistance bands, dumbbells, kettlebells, a great variety of weight machines, and other fun gym toys.
As runners, we should incorporate strength training into our weekly plan at least twice a week. This will strengthen our muscles, protect our joints, and improve our speed, running economy, and overall athletic performance.
Related: Working Out Twice A Day: Pros, Cons + How To Maximize Results
Can You Do Cardio And Weights On The Same Day?
Yes, you can do cardio and strength workouts on the same day.
But let’s look at how exactly to make it work and why you should organize your training schedule this way.
Double Sessions
As we progress as athletes and runners, our training load increases, and time becomes tight.
This is when we consider adding “double sessions” to our training program to fit everything in. A double session is when you train twice daily, ideally once in the morning and once in the afternoon or evening, leaving a window of at least 6 hours between sessions if possible.
This practice is commonly used with triathletes who must work in at least three different sports plus weight training throughout their training week. Most seasoned runners also work in double sessions to increase volume and include strength training.
Suppose you run six sessions a week but must also fit in two weight training sessions and still have at least one full day of complete rest. In that case, you will have to make some adjustments, double sessions, to fit this into a 7-day weekly training plan.
Should You Do Cardio Or Weights First?
When organizing your training plan, the best way to work in weight training sessions is to add them on the afternoon of the same day you run speedwork sessions (sprinting, tempos tuns, high-intensity interval training, hill repeats, etc.)
Since running is the priority for runners, we want to be at our best for our endurance training and running sessions.
That being said, schedule your running sessions in the morning and weights in the afternoon, with an ideal six-hour rest window in between.
This allows you some time to recover from your run before hitting the gym and banging out your squats, deadlifts, lunges, and whichever other exercises you include to build muscle and strength to improve your running performance.
According to sports training researcher Dr. Kenji Doma,1Dr Kenji Doma – Research Portfolio – James Cook University. (n.d.). Research.jcu.edu.au. Retrieved March 1, 2024, from https://research.jcu.edu.au/portfolio/kenji.doma/ studies show that running after weight training, even 6 hours apart, impairs running performance greater than running before weight training.
Therefore, schedule your running session, ideally 6 hours before your weight training, to perform at your best the following day.
The day following your afternoon or evening weight training should be a low-intensity recovery run, low-impact cardio, or rest.
It’s better to have a double session of hard running and weights in one day and rest completely the next rather than spread everything out on different days and constantly feel depleted.
Of course, if hypertrophy (muscle gain or muscle growth) and/or bodybuilding is your priority, you will want to do your weight training first thing in the morning to be at your top performance and perform your aerobic exercise as your second workout of the day.
Related: 5 Low Impact Cardio Workouts To Try
Let’s see how this looks mapped out.
Example Training Schedule For Runners
According to what we have discussed, the following is an example of the scheduling of a training plan for someone who runs six times per week with two weight training sessions.
Depending on your fitness level and training load, the number of times you run per week and the intensity of your speedwork sessions will vary. Therefore, the main takeaway from this schedule is the double sessions and easy runs following weight training afternoons.
As you will see, the days after the planned double sessions are easy-run days. This will allow your body to recover from the double stress from the day before.
Training Schedule Sample
Day 1:
AM: Easy Run
Day 2:
AM: Speedwork Session (high-intensity cardio)
(6 hours between sessions)
PM: Weight Training (lower-body focus)
Day 3:
AM: Recovery Run
Day 4:
AM: Speedwork / Race Specific Session
(6 hours between sessions)
PM: Weight Training
Day 5:
AM: Recovery Run
Day 6:
AM: Long Run (low to moderate intensity)
Day 7:
Complete Rest
What Are The Benefits Of Doing Cardio And Weights On The Same Day?
Athletes can have busy training schedules, and trying to fit everything in can be a challenge. Doubling up can maximize your training time.
In addition, by performing two challenging sessions on the same day, you can maximize your rest and recovery by truly having an easy day the following day.
What Are The Cons Of Doing Cardio And Weights On The Same Day
Time Constraints
Training twice a day can be challenging for many as our jobs and personal lives can take up a lot of time.
Some of us may need to do one session immediately after another for time’s sake, as I often do. If you need to do this, run first and do your weight training session afterward.
Doing these sessions consecutively will be hard on your body, and you will likely not perform at your best in the strength session. Still, it’s better than eliminating weight training altogether.
Adaptation to Double Sessions
If you are not accustomed to having double sessions in your training program, it will take some getting used to. Slowly work this scheduling into your routine, and take it easy on the weights.
If you plan on going to classes given at your local gym instead of lifting weights on the floor, remember that these sessions are most likely not “runner-specific.” These classes may be more of a HIIT-style class, with the main goal being calorie burn, weight loss, and fat loss.
If you are a runner, you already do plenty of cardio ever day. Ask the coach giving the class about running-specific exercises focusing on strengthening your muscles, with a limited cardio component. You don’t want to tire yourself out more than necessary for running.
Final Tips For Double Sessions
Be Consistent
Be consistent with your weight training. Inconsistency will put your body through a lot of suffering each time you pick up those weights again.
Weight training is known to cause soreness, and while we are no strangers to the DOMS, it will be more tolerable if your body is well-adapted to the workouts. This way, you can run the following mornings without a problem.
Prioritize
If you are a runner, your most important training sessions are running. However, we know that weight training is essential for strength and speed and to reduce our risk of injury, so we should work it in no matter what.
It is, however, supplemental to our running, and it should not negatively affect our running days.
If you feel you are not running at your best during your training sessions, look at your weight training schedule and how you perform your strength exercises. You may need to reassess the exercise type to ensure it is “running specific” and that you are not overdoing it.
Look at the amount of weight you are lifting. You may need to decrease your weight and/or reps, add more rest, or reduce the total session time. A 30-45 minute session twice weekly is more than enough, so be careful not to overdo it.
You need to consider these factors when adjusting your weight training to complement your running and ensure it doesn’t hinder it.
Try out this setup and see if it works for you. It may surprise you how organizing the same sessions in a different order can improve your performance significantly!
Take a look at our weight training guide for runners to see what to focus on in your strength workouts:
I BELIEVE IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE INDIVIDUAL AND WHAT THERE GOALS ARE. AGE, HEALTH, MIND,BODY AND SOUL PLAYS A VERY HUGE PART. ALSO THEY NEED TO CHECK WITH THERE PHYSICIAN. BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND VERY GREAT INFORMATION 😂💪🏾🦵🏾👍🏾KUDOS TO YOU
Absolutely! Thank you for your comment!
I like your thinking. I am 76 years old all fitness seems to concentrate on the younger people. I do 3 x spin, 2 x gym weight, 2 golf and achieve 12,000 steps per day.
Recovery is the main issue being retired gives me more time to fit the programme in.I would like to here from you on training for aged people
Rex Wood0 Sydney Australia
Hi Rex. I’m so glad you enjoyed the article. I think what you are doing for your health is fantastic. Exercise is just as important for those in their 70’s as for the younger generations. What changes are the objectives.
With aged people, maintaining muscle mass and bone strength are high priorities and the best way to do this is engaging in low to moderate intensity, low-impact activities. You have shown you do this with golf, spinning, walking and weight training.
Even though the intensity of exercise should decrease as we become older, training frequency and duration should actually increase for optimum results. This helps us to maintain mobility and proper motor function. You seem to stay active 7 days a week which is ideal! Keep it up!
This is great if running is the priority. It’s the exact opposite of strength is your priority.
Exactly! This set up is based on a running-focused athlete. If strength is the priority, the organization of disciplines would need to be rearranged. Thank you for your comment!
I do both but adjust it based on my goals. Currently the goal is to increase strength and the focus is more on that. but thanks for sharing!
I’m 57 years old, I’ve just started training again after hurting my back and I can’t run due to knee injuries. I’m doing weights in the morning for an hour and boxing in the evening for 45 minutes using Sunday as my recovery day. I want to build up my strength and cardio fitness. Is what I’m doing ok?
As long as there’s a 6 or 8 hour space between cardio and weights, this should be fine. Your mTOR (energy positive/muscle building) sensory pathway won’t clash with your AMPK (energy deficit/fat loss) sensory pathway. That’s quite important.
I’ll run for an hour in the morning then hours later after refuelling and drinking some more black coffee – weight training. This is for fat loss (I’ll be in a deficit and using IF) but for weight training and muscle gain I’d probably flip these and use a stationary bike later on as lower impact.
It depends what kind of lifting you are doing. If you are lifting for max strength then it doesn’t matter as you can be a bit tired for the lifting and run first. But if you are doing power lifting (which runners can/should do if they’ve progressed that far) then lifting first makes more sense because you want to be fresh for power.
I also think that it is safer to be a bit more tired for running than to be tired for weights. The whole mTOR/AMPK business really isn’t that important to the majority of recreationally competitive runners. There are many other areas to optimize first (ie increase volume of easy running, run properly easy on those runs, run the right intensity for workouts…) If you are a pro, yes, dial this in very precisely, but if not, you need to lift when you are going to be able to lift, and run when you are going to get your runs in. So if you have to lift in the morning because that’s when your schedule allows it, but then your group workout is at night…this is totally ok and you will not negatively impact your run. You can also just lift then go run right after. If you have the time. This is also not bad.
If you are a tad slower on the run because you are sore or tired from weights, this isn’t going to kill you because your body works on effort not time. So the benefit you get from doing weights vs not will out-weigh any slight inefficiencies by lifting first.
The premise of this article is that there’s a right and a wrong way. 90% of people need to focus on the basics first before worrying about such questions.