Getting started
Strength exercises for Comrades runners: choose a starting point you can repeat
Useful strength exercises for Comrades runners can include squat, hinge, supported single-leg and calf-raise patterns. Exercise selection and loading should reflect the runner's experience and the demands of the surrounding week.
An exercise list is easy to find. Choosing a suitable version, load and place in the week takes more thought.
If you are preparing for the Comrades Down Run, the gym gives you a controlled setting in which to practise strength work. Start with movements you can perform consistently. Progress the challenge when the movement and the surrounding training week support it.
A squat pattern
A squat involves bending at the hips and knees and returning to standing. Suitable options might include a squat to a box, a goblet squat or a barbell squat.
Use a range you can control. Keep your feet stable and let your knees move in line with your feet. Choose a load that allows the final repetition to remain recognisable as the same movement as the first.
If balance, control or discomfort changes the movement, stop and review the variation, range or load.
A hip hinge
A Romanian deadlift is one possible hinge exercise. Move your hips back while keeping the load close. Use a range you can manage without forcing the movement deeper.
The hinge is a skill. A demonstration and feedback can be more useful than repeatedly adding weight to an uncertain movement.
Supported single-leg work
A supported split squat or low step-up can be useful when selected for your current ability. Hold a stable support if balance limits the movement. Use a height or range you can control.
The support allows you to focus on the exercise. You can change the challenge later as your control improves.
Calf raises
Use a stable support and a suitable variation. Lift and lower with control. Avoid turning the movement into a bounce or adding weight before you can manage the range.
These are exercise options to discuss with a coach. They do not need to become four new exercises in your next session. Choose a manageable starting dose and assess how it fits your running.
What research can tell us
A small trial in middle-aged recreational runners found improved running economy after ten weeks of resistance or plyometric training, without an improvement in five-kilometre time. [2] This supports investigating strength as part of preparation; it does not establish a Comrades outcome or prove that these exact exercises are the right prescription for every runner.
What makes the session repeatable?
Record the exercise variation, load and completed work. Note whether technique remained controlled. Review what happened to the next run and to normal activities such as walking down stairs.
If the session repeatedly compromises your running, review its dose and placement. If the work is controlled and recovery is acceptable, discuss a small progression. There is no need to change the load, repetitions and exercise difficulty together.
Research and limitations
The effects of plyometric versus resistance training on running economy and 5-km running time in middle-aged recreational runners. This small, ten-week trial supports the distinction between changes in running economy and a race-performance promise.
Exercise cues and selection are practical coaching guidance. The trial [2] used its own exercises and protocol; the options above are not a reproduction of that intervention.
This article provides general educational information, not individual training, medical or rehabilitation advice.