Cross-Training for Runners: Your Off-Season Guide
Every winter I hear some version of the same thing from runners. "I've missed a few runs and I feel terrible about it." As if the fitness drains out of you the moment you put the trainers back in the cupboard.
So let me start with the premise that this whole post hangs off: the heart and lungs don't know the difference between the sport that you're doing.
Get them going, and they'll get fitter. On a bike, on a cross-trainer, in a spin class, wherever. Which means you don't need to run to get fit. And if you're in an off-season, or nursing a niggle, or just a bit fed up of the same loop round the block, that's good news.
Your heart and lungs don't care what you're doing
Your cardiovascular system is going to improve no matter what activity you choose, as long as it's getting the heart and lungs working. That's the simple bit.
The harder bit is believing it. I completely get why runners struggle here. You're in a headspace where if you're not running, you're not getting better at running. It feels so counterintuitive to think your running could be improving while you're not doing the main sport you've signed up for.
And to be fair, there's some truth in that. When you run, it's not just your heart and lungs getting fitter. Your biomechanics and your muscles get recruited in a specific way that improves your running. Cross-training doesn't give you all of that.
But there's definitely space for cross-training within the system of training you're doing. Your overall fitness improves because of it, and that can mean you're able to do more running, faster running or harder running, or simply fit more training into your week. Runners find it difficult because they just want to keep running, and it feels so important. Actually, it's not the be-all and end-all.
What I've actually been doing
Time to practise what I preach.
Lately I've been doing a lot of work on the cross-trainer (the elliptical) in the gym. I've also been doing more weights and strength training over the past couple of years, because as I get a little bit older I know I need to focus on it.
I'm not racing or training for anything, and haven’t done in a while. So I don't have the drive to go out and do lots of running sessions. What I do have is plenty of cross-training, and I give it some proper structure:
Threshold sessions. Something like four by five minutes. Thirty minutes plodding on the cross-trainer can be quite dull. A four by five minute threshold session, I can focus on and get going with.
Short, fartlek-style intervals. 45 seconds on, 15 seconds off, up to fifteen times. Or 30 seconds on, 30 off.
Running guides, not running. I still use the Talk Test and my running heart rate zones to tell me where I want to be in the session.
So there's structure, which I want, need and enjoy, without the intensity of running. And the intervals make it a lot more fun. (It also gives me a handy excuse to test the features of the Full Potential app. I've done a lot of fine-tuning mid-session.)
The Achilles bit
The real reason I backed off lots of running in the first place was my Achilles. It often flares up when I do slightly harder interval sessions.
How did I notice cross-training helping? Honestly, it's very simple: it doesn't hurt when I cross-train. So I do it.
And there's a bonus. I still go out for a run now and then, and when I've been doing regular intervals on the cross-trainer, those runs feel more manageable. Easier, even. At the moment the two work really nicely together.
Training without a race in the diary
For me, this is everything I want. It takes the pressure off.
I'm not motivated by a race date. I'm pretty self-motivated, and I just enjoy training for training's sake: feeling fitter, getting fitter, pushing myself. So it works perfectly for me.
I know that's not everyone. Some of you need a start line to get you out of the door, and that's fine. We're all different, and that's what's wonderful about being human.
The cost of being one-dimensional
You see this a lot with younger athletes, especially kids. They think they just need to run to get fitter. And yes, they will improve, often a lot, when they do lots of running.
But what you're actually doing is limiting your entire body in how it processes movement and in your general overall fitness. If you're doing the same movement pattern every day, every week, that's a lot of pressure to put through your joints in one specific way.
Round your body out a bit and I think a couple of things happen. Your running lasts longer. You can often run a bit more. You feel better, and you move more easily.
That's why something like yoga is a great complement to your week. It's not cross-training, strictly; it's more conditioning. But it belongs in the same mindset. I'm thinking about your long-term health here, not just fine-tuning the next race.
Why I'm a big fan of a spin class
Here's the thing I love most about spin: you just get told what to do. The instructor, the music and the whole experience take you away with it.
If you're a bit like me and do most of your training on your own, having to be self-motivated all the time (never a bad thing), there's something really great about walking in and handing over the reins.
What spin builds really well is that fartlek-type fitness: working hard for a short time, recovering, then working hard again. You're not going to get long, ground-out intervals. Classes are rarely put together that way. But you'll get some really nice, fun, general fitness that you're not going to get from running, and it helps round out everything else you're doing.
You can work really hard without putting impact through your legs. There's loud music and a lot of good energy, which makes a real difference. And because it's a bike, you control the resistance, so you can make it as hard or as easy as you need it to be. That's so important.
Technique matters on the machines too
The machine you choose makes a difference to how much the session mimics running, and how much you get out of it.
The bike: you need to be on it for longer, about a quarter to half as long again, to get a similar overall effect to a run. Your heart rate also sits a bit lower on a bike for the same effort, so go by effort, not the watch.
The cross-trainer: keep your heels down and drive through them. Leave the moving handles alone: either drive your arms as if you were running, or rest your hands on the fixed bars in the middle.
The rower: there's a proper technique, so learn it.
The stepper (and the bike): same again. Technique is what gets you the most out of it.
Don't make every session flat out
I don't think there's such a thing as a "wrong" class. That's too strong a term. But it's worth thinking about how cross-training fits around everything else.
If running is your primary sport for now, whether that's because you're training for a marathon or you've just chosen it as your main thing, then cross-training should complement it. It shouldn't be where you're doing the bulk of your training. And it definitely shouldn't leave you so fatigued that you go out for a run session and can't do it.
If you're in more of a general fitness mode, like me, then it all counts. It's about finding the right blend and following the classic training principles: harder days, easier days, days you push, days you pull back. There should be a flow to the week.
What there shouldn't be is every class, flat out, every time. Do that and you won't actually improve, because your body never gets the recovery it needs to come back fitter, stronger and able to push harder. You'll plateau. Harder isn't better.
Where running has to take over
Now the catch: you'll still need to run to improve your running.
How much? It's difficult to be precise, but I think two runs a week is going to be necessary. With two, you can likely fit in a longer run and some intervals, probably some threshold work. Then you complement that with plenty of cross-training and other types of fitness to build your overall volume.
Drop to one run a week and there's so much recovery between runs that there isn't really the impetus for your body to adapt and change. And with none, you lose that running stimulus altogether.
When you're injured
There is one time you do need to stop running, though: when you're injured. And this is where cross-training really earns its keep.
One rule first: only cross-train once your physio's happy, and only if it's pain-free. Bone pain, groin or front-of-hip pain, or pain at rest or at night needs a GP or physio to see it before you do anything.
We've had some amazing examples. Runners who've spent six weeks cross-training. One who had to do their longest long run, three hours, on a cross-trainer as part of their marathon build-up. That person has never spoken to me again. But they got round their marathon, so for me it was absolutely worth it. It took serious mental resilience to get it done.
Yes, you lose some of that running-specific muscle recruitment, and running will feel a bit harder when you come back. But you can return from a block of cross-training still fit, ready to go for a race, and ready for more work later on.
A sensible off-season week
If you're not training for anything, it can follow a similar pattern to your usual training. Say your long run is normally on a Sunday:
Sunday: keep a longish run, an hour or so.
Tuesday and Thursday: your more intense sessions. Maybe one of these is a run, and the other is a gym class or some other cross-training.
Saturday: something lighter, like a steady class or an easy spin, so you're fresh for Sunday.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: a rest day in there, or a very easy day, plus some gym lifting or conditioning work alongside.
That's quite a lot of training. But when you're cross-training you can often do a bit more, because you're not putting the impact through your legs. And you can really mix it up.
What about the weights?
If you're already in the gym for cross-training, it's tempting to wander over to the weights. Good. But where cross-training ends and conditioning begins is blurry. My rough rule: if it gets the heart and lungs going, it's more cross-training. Lifting and circuits hit both.
There are so many types of conditioning and weights you can do that it deserves its own post, so I'll save it for that.
Feeling guilty about skipped runs?
Ask yourself where that guilt is coming from. Then question it.
More often than not, I'd say it's misplaced. It's trying to get you to do something you maybe don't need to do. In an off period, doing a bit less running is really good for the mind, body and soul. Listen to your body and follow what it's telling you. Maybe you do need a bit less for a while.
Longer-term running success comes from mixing things up, not doing the same thing over and over, because eventually you burn out. So feel the guilt, sure. But question whether it has a place in your training, and whether there's something different you could be up to.
The honest bit
I'll own this: I'm carrying more weight than I was when I was running a lot, and I know that makes a difference to my Achilles. If I were in the mindset to lose some, that might help. But it doesn't fit where my life is or what I want to do right now.
Cross-training is what keeps me engaged, interested and, crucially, pain-free. It's not a consolation prize. It's training.
So if this winter looks lighter on miles than you'd planned, don't panic. Get the heart and lungs going, keep a couple of runs in, and enjoy being a bit less one-dimensional for a while.
Want help building an off-season that keeps you fit without grinding you down? Drop me a line and we'll put together a block that gets you to your next start line fit, fresh and ready. Book a coaching package →
