Getting fit and healthy is a goal that everyone should be trying to achieve for the universal benefits this brings, but sometimes it can be hard to stay motivated for the goal of staying fit for its own sake.

There are many people for whom this is not the case, but if you are a target-driven individual who will train better knowing it has a particular purpose, it helps to have something to aim for. Reaching a certain body weight, being able to lift weights of a certain measurement, or achieving an athletic goal are all examples of this.

In the latter case, anyone needing inspiration recently just had to turn the TV on and watch the London Marathon. Behind the elite runners striving to break records were the thousands of club runners aiming for personal bests, or fun runners doing it to prove to themselves what they can achieve, or raise money for charity.

Isla’s Inspiration

Great personal stories abounded, such as that of Isla Lough, the daughter of former three-time London Marathon winner Paula Radcliffe. The sporting legend, who recently ran the Boston Marathon herself, was a proud mum as she filmed 18-year-old Isla crossing the line, having won a battle she faced when diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 13.

These and other heart-warming stories will prompt many to think: “If they can do it, so can I”, but you don’t need to have had a life-changing adverse experience to be inspired to run a marathon. The challenge of 26.2 miles is enough in itself.

With 56,000 people running in London and another 36,000 in Manchester, it was the biggest day of Marathon running in British history, so inspiration was in abundant supply up north and down south.

Whether you want to take on a marathon, a half-marathon, or even a 10K, distance running requires good fitness to produce a decent time. No doubt, using your home gym weights can help you get ready.

How Weights Can Help

As a 2021 feature by Asics noted, there is a certain counterintuitive element to combining weight training with preparation for a distance run, since extra muscle bulk means you are heavier and this is weight your body needs to carry for miles. You may have drawn a similar conclusion, noting the very lean frames of the elite runners in the London Marathon.

However, it noted, there is a “sweet point” between getting fit to run and bulking up. This means that while you don’t want to end up with muscles like Arnold Schwarzenegger to emulate Paul and Isla Radcliffe, there is still a lot of benefit that using weights can give you.

Building strength is a key benefit of weight training, as well as building resilience. These make it less likely that you will suffer a muscle injury, which is exactly what you want to avoid when training for a distance run (as well as keeping you out of action in your home gym for a while as you recover).

Why Sprinters Need More Weight Training Than Distance Runners

Muscle power can also enable you to run faster, especially in a sprint. This is a point you should think carefully about, however, as it depends on what sort of running you want to do. Anyone looking at the starting block of the 100 metres final at the Olympics will see a lot of muscle, for this gives power for a sprint.

However, that contrasts starkly with the physique of lean distance runners, which shows that you should build up muscle in accordance with the kind of running you want to do. However, even in a long-distance run, you might fancy a sprint finish, and if you do middle-distance running, this ability could be crucial in winning a race.

The third benefit is known as ‘neuromuscular condition’. What this means is that the more your muscles are exercised by weight training, the better the communication pathways between the brain and muscles will be.

Be Fast Like A Ferrari

Runners World made similar points to these in an article in 2023. Discussing the balance of muscle and lean fitness, it quoted Emile Cairess, who had recently matched Sir Mo Farah’s 10K record, who said: “There's no point having a Ferrari engine but only tractor tyres. Strength training, to me, is about giving yourself Ferrari tyres.”

Not all this strength training is about weights, of course. Exercises like squats and tuck jumps can help build up muscle.

Nonetheless, by using weights the right way, you can help give yourself an edge that can help you stay injury-free and give you the best possible chance of achieving optimum performance, whether on the track for a matter of seconds or on the roads of a city for hours.