What strength exercises help marathon runners the most?

Hip hinges (deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts), single-leg work (split squats, step-ups), calf loading, and core stability. These address the posterior chain, single-leg stability, and core stiffness that maintain running mechanics across 26.2 miles.

When should marathon runners start strength training before the LA Marathon?

Ideally 16-20 weeks out — which for March means starting in November. Strength adaptations take 8-12 weeks to develop. Starting too close to the race either produces insufficient adaptation or creates recovery demands that compete with peak mileage weeks.

How far is Gate 14 from the LA Marathon course?

Gate 14 is in El Segundo, approximately 20-25 minutes from the Downtown LA start line. South Bay and Beach Cities marathoners who train at Gate 14 during their build make this drive regularly — it is a standard part of their weekly training rotation.

LA Marathon Prep: Why South Bay Runners Add Strength to Their Build

The LA Marathon covers 26.2 miles from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica. South Bay runners training for it accumulate high weekly mileage and, consistently, insufficient strength work — the factor that determines whether the final 10km is a controlled effort or a collapse.

Gate 14 at 130 E. Grand Ave, El Segundo is the coached barbell gym where South Bay marathon runners build the strength base that holds their form when mileage peaks.

What strength training does for marathon runners

Marathon training is volume-dominant. Strength training adds what volume alone cannot:

Running economy: A 2016 systematic review in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that concurrent strength training improved running economy in marathon-distance athletes. The mechanism: stronger hip extensors produce the same forward drive with less metabolic cost. For 26.2 miles, this efficiency compounds.

Injury prevention: The majority of marathon training injuries — IT band syndrome, Achilles tendinopathy, shin splints, knee pain — stem from tissue load tolerance being exceeded by training volume. Strength training increases the structural resilience of tendons, muscles, and joints before the high-volume phase begins.

Late-race form retention: Miles 18-26 are where form breaks down and pace drops. The ability to maintain hip extension, trunk stiffness, and foot placement under fatigue is a function of strength. Runners who strength train hold their mechanics longer in the final miles.

How to integrate strength into a marathon build

Phase	Timing from race	Strength frequency
Base	20-12 weeks out	2x/week, full sessions
Build	12-6 weeks out	1-2x/week, reduced volume
Peak	6-3 weeks out	1x/week, light
Taper	3-0 weeks out	No new strength stimulus

The sessions that matter most are in the base phase. Building hip and posterior chain strength before the 18-22 mile long run weeks begin is what prevents the injury cascade that derails so many marathon builds.

The movements with the highest return

Deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts: Build hip extension strength directly. The ground-contact phase of running is a hip hinge — stronger hips produce more power per stride at less metabolic cost.

Single-leg work: Bulgarian split squats and step-ups develop the unilateral stability that bilateral squats cannot. Running is entirely single-leg, and asymmetries exposed in the gym are asymmetries that become injuries at mile 20.

Core stability: Planks, pallof presses, and dead bugs develop the anti-extension strength that maintains posture when cardiovascular fatigue is high. A collapsed torso in the final miles is wasted energy.

Calf loading: Single-leg calf raises build the Achilles tendon and calf tissue tolerance that lets runners absorb mileage increases without breakdown.

Gate 14 for marathon runners

Gate 14's coached 60-minute format is well-suited to marathon runner schedules. Athletes running 40-50+ miles per week do not need marathon-length gym sessions — they need efficient, programmed strength work that fits the gaps in the schedule without adding significant recovery debt.

The coach designs each session. Runners show up and execute. No programming decisions on top of an already complex training plan.

See running and strength training in the Beach Cities for the broader picture. See Gate 14 membership options or gate14.net/contact.