Lifting through a marathon build, phase by phase

Plan the strength work backwards from the race. The ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon's official site lists the date and registration details, so put race day on a calendar first, then mark the taper, the peak long-run weeks and the base phase before them. RPM is an independent gym and has no link to the event or its organisers.

Each phase asks something different of the gym, and the table further down gives the structure. The exercises themselves, and the evidence for runners in general, are in what a runner needs from a gym. For the racks and machines you would use, see RPM's strength floor.

Blagrove and colleagues' 2018 systematic review of 24 studies found that strength training generally improved running economy in distance runners, though not in every study, and did not harm body composition. They concluded that two to three sessions a week, mixing methods, were likely to help. A smaller trial in recreational marathon runners is a useful reality check.

In that 2010 trial, 22 runners with an average age of 40 added two strength sessions a week to eight weeks of marathon preparation. Their leg strength rose clearly and their body mass did not change, but running economy at marathon pace did not improve compared with runners who only ran. The authors thought the group may have been too small, or the eight weeks too short, to show a difference.

Think of strength work as a long-term part of your running, started early in the build, rather than a late fix. Pain during runs or lifts is a reason to see a doctor or physiotherapist first.

The one-session phase rests on maintenance studies. In well-trained cyclists, twice-weekly heavy strength training for 12 weeks, followed by one session a week for the first 13 weeks of the competition period, preserved the muscle size and leg strength gained earlier. In professional footballers, one session a week held strength and sprint speed through 12 weeks of the season, while one session every second week did not. Neither group were marathon runners, so read these as a guide to how little lifting keeps strength, not as a marathon rule.

A 2007 meta-analysis of 27 tapering studies in competitive athletes found performance improved most with a taper of about two weeks, in which training volume fell by 41 to 60 per cent while intensity and frequency stayed the same. In the gym, that points to keeping the weight on the bar and the weekly session in the diary while cutting the number of sets.

• Keep the main lifts and their loads, and halve the sets.
• Leave out anything you have not done during the build.
• Many coaches keep heavy leg work out of the last few days before the race, so the legs arrive fresh.
• If you want a session in race week, keep it to light upper-body and trunk work.

If the early weeks of your build are still hot, long runs may need to move to a treadmill, as the summer running guide describes. Once the weather cools, the winter outdoor and gym plan shows how runs outside and lifting inside share a week.

RPM is one club, on Level 4 of AD HUB Sports Complex in Al Manhal, with free on-site parking at AD HUB and a lift to Level 4. Its floor photos show a squat rack with colour bumper plates, a plate-loaded leg press, dumbbells and benches, and the functional area has step boxes and a turf lane. Treadmills sit by the windows for long runs on hot days.

• RPM is independent and has no link to the ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon or its organisers.
• Men train in the Mixed section, and women can also use the women-only Ladies section, which has its own strength and cardio equipment, depending on the tier.
• Engine adds coached programming and Atelier is built around one-to-one coaching, so a coach can set the phases around your race date. Book a free guided tour at your usual training hour.