Lifting weights isn’t just about building muscle. Adding strength workouts to your training plan can make you more efficient by improving running economy, and with that, get you to the finish line in a quicker clip.

That’s because lifting weights not only builds strong muscles, but also adds force and forward propulsion to your stride, helping you run faster for this workout, but a dumbbell will also work. An exercise mat is optional.

“Strength training also makes our bodies more resilient, and the more resilient we are, the more load our bodies can handle,” Danielle Hirt, a.k.a Coach D, NASM-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach based in Arlington, Virginia, tells Runner’s World. “Running is an extremely high-impact sport, so the stronger our muscles are, the better we can absorb that load.”

Thankfully, Hirt designed a full workout that’s all about building speed in the weight room. It takes just 20 minutes to complete and taps into your strength, power, and resiliency, with moves chosen specifically to upgrade your pace.

“These exercises are excellent power moves. Being able to move through an exercise quickly and with control creates power,” Hirt says. “Through these movements, we generate that neuromuscular response and develop movement patterns that translate to the run.”

One thing to keep in mind before you jump into this routine: Master the movement first, before you increase the tempo. You want to feel strong and stable through each exercise, Hirt says, so don’t rush it. Also, start with lighter weights to get the movements down, and then start to increase that load the more comfortable you become with each exercise.

DAA Industry Opt Out weight training. You don’t want to conquer speed training in the weight room without first mastering a squat, deadlift, and lunge—three main movement patterns you’ll see throughout the workout. Nail the form for those moves, add in weight slowly, and then you’re ready to conquer this workout.

The Workout That Helps You Build Speed in the Weight Room

How to use this list: Perform each exercise below for the reps and sets listed. You’ll start with a warmup, move on to set one, then set two, and end with a finisher.

Best Running Headphones kettlebell Knee Exercises for Runners.

Hirt demonstrates the entire workout in the video above so you can follow along and learn the form for each exercise.

Warmup: 2 rounds

Good Morning

  1. Repeat. Do 10 reps.
  2. Hinge at hips by sending glutes straight back. Keep back flat and core engaged.
  3. Drive through feet to extend hips and stand back up.
  4. Repeat for 30 seconds.

Air Squat

  1. Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, toes turned slightly out.
  2. What to Know About Pelvic Floor Dysfunction.
  3. Drive through feet to stand back up.
  4. Repeat for 30 seconds.

Kettlebell High Pull

  1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a kettlebell by the handle with both hands. Pack shoulders down and back.
  2. Pull elbows straight up, bringing kettlebell to chest.
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  4. Repeat for 30 seconds.

Set 1: 3 rounds

Kettlebell Deadlift

  1. Pack shoulders down and back and tip the kettlebell toward you.
  2. Hinge at hips by sending glutes straight back, keeping back flat and core engaged. You don’t want to conquer speed training in the weight room without first mastering a.
  3. Pull elbows straight up, bringing kettlebell to chest.
  4. Repeat, holding the kettlebell. Do 12 reps.

Kettlebell Squat Clean

  1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a kettlebell by the handle with both hands, arms straight down in front of you. Pack shoulders down and back.
  2. Pull elbows straight up, and as the kettlebell reaches chest height, bring hands around handle to hold at the bottom of the handle.
  3. Then, immediately drive hips down and back to lower into a squat. Aim to get hips below knees if possible.
  4. Drive through feet to stand back up.
  5. Fastest Marathon Runners.
  6. Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, toes turned slightly out.

Kettlebell Swing

  1. Repeat. Do 6 reps.
  2. With a kettlebell placed arm’s-length away, hinge at hips by sending glutes straight back, and grab the kettlebell with both hands.
  3. Drive through feet to stand back up.
  4. Stand on left leg, holding a kettlebell down in front of you in right hand.
  5. Use glutes and hamstrings and drive feet into the floor to swing the kettlebell through legs and up to chest height, engaging core so you hit an upright plank-like position at the top.
  6. Let the kettlebell’s momentum bring you back into a hinge, kettlebell coming back between legs.
  7. Repeat. Do 20 reps.

Set 2: 3 rounds

Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift With Clean

  1. Stand on left leg, holding a kettlebell down in front of you in right hand.
  2. Hinge at hips, lowering torso toward floor with flat back and core engaged. Lift right leg behind you. Keep kettlebell close to body and slight bend in left knee. Lower until torso is about parallel to the floor
  3. Drive through left foot to stand up and as you do, pull right elbow high, rotating kettlebell around wrist for the clean so it rests on right forearm and elbow lands pointing downward, with kettlebell at shoulder. Drive right knee up to chest.
  4. Pause, then repeat the single-leg deadlift, tipping the kettlebell back down and extending right arm. Do 6 reps.

Bulgarian Split Squat

  1. Sit on a box, chair, or bench that’s about at knee height, holding a kettlebell at chest with both hands. Extend left leg, heel on the ground. Plant left foot and stand up, keeping foot where it is, so you’re standing and facing away from the box. Place right foot on the box behind you. This is the starting position.
  2. Lower into a lunge-like position, front left knee tracking over toes, and back right knee hovering just above the floor.
  3. Pause, then drive through left foot to return to starting position.
  4. Repeat. Do 6 reps.
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Finisher: 4 rounds

Deadlift

  1. Pack shoulders down and back and tip the kettlebell toward you.
  2. Hinge at hips by sending glutes straight back, keeping back flat and core engaged.
  3. You don’t want to conquer speed training in the weight room without first mastering a.
  4. Pull elbows straight up, bringing kettlebell to chest.
  5. Repeat the hinge, holding the kettlebell. Do 6 reps.

Goblet Squat

  1. Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, toes turned slightly out. Hold a kettlebell at the bottom of the handle with both hands.
  2. Drive through feet to extend hips and stand back up.
  3. Drive through feet to stand back up.
  4. Pull elbows straight up, bringing kettlebell to chest.

Swing

  1. Repeat. Do 6 reps.
  2. With a kettlebell placed arm’s-length away, hinge at hips by sending hips straight back, and grab the kettlebell with both hands.
  3. Drive through feet to stand back up.
  4. Stand on left leg, holding a kettlebell down in front of you in right hand.
  5. Use glute and hamstrings and drive feet into the floor to swing the kettlebell through legs and up to chest height, engaging core so you hit an upright plank-like position at the top.
  6. Let the kettlebell’s momentum bring you back into a hinge, kettlebell coming back between legs.
  7. Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, toes turned slightly out.

After the fourth round of the above, do 20 seconds of jump squats:

  1. Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, toes turned slightly out.
  2. What to Know About Pelvic Floor Dysfunction.
  3. Drive through feet to stand up and explode upward, jumping off the ground.
  4. Deputy Editor, Health & Fitness.
  5. Repeat.
Headshot of Pack shoulders down and back and tip the kettlebell toward you
Pack shoulders down and back and tip the kettlebell toward you
Deputy Editor, Health & Fitness

Mallory Creveling is an ACE-certified personal trainer and RRCA-certified run coach, who also holds certifications in kettlebell training, sports performance, and more. She has more than a decade of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition for a wide range of publications, and nearly 10 years of experience as a trainer and fitness instructor. Mallory stays on top of her continuing education in fitness, as well as the latest science in wellness. She has worked with some of the best experts in their medical fields, and regularly interviews researchers, trainers, athletes, and more to find the best advice for readers looking to improve their performance and well-being. As a freelance writer, Mallory's work appeared in Women's Health, Self, Men's Journal, Reader's Digest, and more. She has also held staff editorial positions at Family Circle and Shape magazines, as well as DailyBurn.com. A former New Yorker/Brooklynite, she's now based in Easton, Pennsylvania.

Headshot of Jess Movold
Reviewed byJess Movold

A running veteran for more than a decade, Movold is a licensed strength and running coach for Runner’s World+ members and at the Mile High Run Club in New York City. When she’s not motivating class-goers through grueling treadmill workouts, you’ll likely find her zig-zagging boroughs on bridges throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan or training for her next marathon . She’s ready to push you to your next running goal as she chases her own—running a marathon in under 3 hours.