Maintaining Strength and Conditioning Throughout the Year: A Hybrid Approach

Maintaining Strength and Conditioning Throughout the Year: A Hybrid Approach

When you’re balancing two different fitness goals—strength training and endurance work—timing and programming become crucial. This issue came to light in a recent coaching call with a client who is an avid trail runner and obstacle course racer. She experienced a common struggle: as the winter months set in, her running seasons would wind down, and she would shift her focus to strength training. While this worked for building muscle, she would lose much of her running progress during this “strength season.” Then, as spring arrived and she switched back to running, it took time to regain her running fitness.

The problem was not just the seasonal shift—it was the lack of integration between strength training and running. She found that her running coaches typically recommended very basic strength exercises, like light rehab movements, while her strength coaches often offered general conditioning programs that did not cater to her specific needs as an experienced runner.

So, how can we balance both training styles without the frustrating back-and-forth loss and gain cycle? An effective solution is focusing on one primary goal (either strength or conditioning) while maintaining the other. Instead of sacrificing progress in one area while focusing on the other, you can structure your training so that both goals are addressed simultaneously. Here’s how it works:

Strength Focus with Maintenance Conditioning

During a strength-focused period, aim to improve your lifting performance while maintaining your conditioning through minimal, high-intensity running or other endurance work. For example, you might do two days per week of running or swimming at a high intensity but at a reduced volume (e.g., threshold training or sprints). This maintains your conditioning without interfering with your strength training.

Endurance Focus with Maintenance Strength

When you are in a running-focused phase, where increasing mileage and endurance is the priority, continue strength training but with reduced volume. You can maintain strength with two strength sessions per week, focusing on core lifts at high intensity and low volume—such as one top set at RPE 9 and two back-off sets.

This approach minimizes the loss of progress during transitions between training focuses and helps clients maintain steady, consistent improvement without sacrificing their strength or conditioning.

Making It Work for Your Clients

This hybrid training approach is especially valuable for coaches working with clients who need both strength and conditioning to reach their full potential, such as runners who want to maintain muscle or strength athletes aiming to improve endurance. The key is to prioritize the primary goal during the season and use the ladder approach to keep the secondary goal maintained.

If you’re a coach working with athletes who face similar challenges, the Complete Coach Conditioning Course is designed to help you understand how to structure such hybrid programs for your clients. Whether you’re helping a runner build strength or a lifter improve conditioning, you’ll learn how to create a program that keeps your athletes progressing year-round.