The Strength Running Podcast

Listeners know I'm a relentless advocate of  strength training , whether you're doing bodyweight exercises at home or lifting heavy in the gym. But some runners take strength training to a level above and beyond the rest of us - and find great success along the way. Elizabeth Corkum is a fellow running coach and one of my former private coaching clients. Elizabeth - who goes by the nickname Corky...

Vikash Sharma, DPT is going to help you return to running after your next injury - faster and with less fitness loss possible. He's the owner of Perfect Stride PT , a certified running coach, the creator of Running for Life , and a Board-Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist.  Our conversation today is about how to come back after your next injury. The "return to run" plan post-injury can be as...

Jonathan Pierce is an ART certified massage therapist, a Stanford All-American in the 3,000m steeplechase, and a former pro runner for Reebok, ASICS, and the Mammoth Track Club. Not only has he competed at the Olympic Trials, he's worked there as a therapist.  He's also the founder of  NOVOS Athlete in San Diego, a physical therapy and performance center for athletes.  Jonathan joins us to discuss...

What if you have to make the hard decision to stop running altogether? That's the heartbreaking choice Dimity McDowell, a long-time runner and sports journalist, had to make a few years ago. In this conversation and in her new book, The 27th Mile , we explore what it means to hang up your running shoes for good:  The loss of identity, community, and purpose  How to fill the hole that running once...

Ken Rideout is one of the fastest 50+ runners in the world, clocking 2:28 at age 50. A former addict, he turned his focus to running and became unstoppable, winning the 155-mile Gobi Desert March and the 2021 NYC Marathon Master's Division. His new book, Everything You Want is on the Other Side of Hard: A Memoir , is now available. Ken's on the podcast today to discuss:  His extraordinary mindset...

Brent Edwards is a professor of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. He's an expert on how mechanical load affects the body and influences musculoskeletal health and injury risk. Learn how to build injury resiliency here with my best advice! In addition to running experiments in the lab, he's also working with the smart shoe company Avelo to help them figure out how to keep runners healthy. H...

Dr. Jordan Metzl is a Harvard-trained medical doctor, bestselling author, and a highly sought after international speaker. His new book, Push: Unlock the Science of Fitness Motivation to Embrace Health and Longevity , is now available! Jordan is the creator of the immensely popular Iron Strength workout, a medical columnist for Triathlete Magazine, and a 37-time marathon finisher (not to mention a...

Brad Stulberg is the New York Times best-selling author of The Way of Excellence . He cohosts the Growth Equation podcast, coaches executives and entrepreneurs, and is on the faculty at the University of Michigan's Graduate School of Public Health. He also deadlifts 530 pounds! He's also the author of The Practice of Groundedness and coauthor of Peak Performance .  In this conversation, we explore...

Jason sits down with fellow podcaster and friend Jonathan Levitt to chat about their training, upcoming goals, updates with the Avelo smart running shoe, and their new business The Huddle. The Huddle is a private peer network of entrepreneurs, creators, and executives. We meet regularly to solve problems, examine opportunities, and get support with goals. Growth happens together and we're excited...

John Goldman is a former bodybuilder and currently the CEO of Rebel Health Alliance . After running a 5:13 marathon last December, he's not attempting the unreasonable: to qualify for Boston in a year. He enlisted the coaching of physiologist and ultra-endurance coach Alan Couzens to guide his training. This episode is a case study on how to accomplish unreasonable goals. How do you progress your...

Should women think differently about training and weightlifting when they're pregnant and post-partum? In this episode, Olympian Shannon Rowbury and her physical therapist Jessica Dorrington explain the specific training needs of pregnant and post-partum women, including:  Exercise that's advised vs. not recommended How to modify training as pregnancy evolves The role of strength training during p...

Dr. Andrew Best is a professor at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts where he focuses on evolutionary questions about human physiology. You can email him at  andrew.best@mcla.edu .  His latest study was titled " Ultra Endurance Athletes and the Metabolic Ceiling ." They looked at the maximum, sustainable amount of energy expenditure that can be done over a long time period. It answers the q...

Sam Alexander is the head coach of the men's cross country and track & field teams at Connecticut College (Jason's alma mater!). Sam recently coached the track team to a historically high finish at the New England championships and helped the cross country team qualify for the National Championships for only the second time in program history.  This episode focuses on development - or, how to prog...

Why did American Record holder Zach Bitter fail at his goal of besting his own 100-mile record? Was it his new embrace of high carb fueling instead of his tradition low-carb approach? In this episode, former WR holder and current AR holder Zach Bitter joins us to discuss how he navigates failure, what led to his DNF at his recent 100-mile record attempt, his experiments with fueling and carbs, and...

Do you want to improve and race faster in 2026? I want to help you do exactly that! In this episode, coach Jason Fitzgerald is sharing his most impactful training interventions for dramatic running improvement. We're discussing: Hill Sprints ( see here ) Monthly mileage Aerobic cross-training Heat training Heavy weightlifting ( start here ) If you haven't yet, follow or subscribe to the podcast! T...

Dan Cleather is a strength and conditioning coach, professor at St. Mary's University, and author of The Practice of Change: The Art & Science of Training .  So, what exactly is "training?" Is it different than "exercise?" In this episode, we discuss what training specifically is, what it's not, and what it's attempting to do. Once you understand that we're after change in our bodies, we can bette...

Jonah Rosner is an applied sport scientist who spent 10 years working with athletes and teams from all major American professional team sports, particularly the National Football League.  He's a certified running coach and strength and conditioning specialist and he previously partnered with Nike to run the Nike Running Performance Lab in New York City. You can sign up for his Marathon Science new...

Elisabeth Scott is a USATF, RRCA, and UESCA certified running coach and the host of the enormously popular Running Explained Podcast . She and Jason are answering questions from Jason's Instagram about: Optimal ratio of hard to easy mileage Physiological benefits of moderate paced running Helpful cues to ensure you're truly running easy How you figure out your training paces Elisabeth is an authen...

Floris Gierman is a 2:44 marathoner, cofounder of Path Projects , 100-mile ultramarathon finisher, and author of the new book Running Breakthroughs .  He's done something rare: interview the world's best runners (like Eliud Kipchoge, Courtney Dauwalter, and Killian Jornet) and put all the best lessons, insights, and wisdom into his new book. You'll learn what keeps the most competitive runners goi...

How did we transition from a society with no "sports" or competition, to one where they're ubiquitous? Learn the history of the fitness industry: how weightlifting and running emerged, early versions of equipment, how people trained 200+ years ago, and more. Dr. Conor Heffernan explores the main themes from his book, When Fitness Went Global . If you like history and training, you're going to love...

Listen in on a Team Strength Running coaching call, where Jason takes questions from the community about training, long runs, workout strategy, and more.  To join one of these calls, join the team here .  We discuss:  Long run strategy ( related podcast with David Roche!) The value of lifting heavy weights ( start here ) How to balance speed and mileage  Thank you for listening and supporting the...

Brodie Sharpe is a physiotherapist, the host of the Run Smarter Podcast , and author of Run Smarter . As a Physical therapist who specializes in endurance runners, Brodie Sharpe takes a holistic approach to injury prevention . He helps runners learn how to correct mistakes and work with their bodies to get healthy. Brodie emphasizes the importance of looking at training as well as your lifestyle a...

Dr. Matthew Silver is a physical therapist, author, and owner of Alpha Project Phyzio and Performance in Maryland. His book Built to Run is now available. While he set his college's 8k record and made the all-conference team, injuries prematurely ended Matt's career, sparking his interest in physical therapy.  In today's conversation, we're talking about the different types of strength training th...

Nick Thompson has been running and racing for 35 years. He's the 40-44 age group American record holder in the 50k with a 3:04 finish time (that's 5:56 per mile for 31 miles), and was previously the world's top ranked runner in his age group in the 50-mile. He's now the CEO of the Atlantic Magazine and his new book is now available: The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports....

Dr. John Rusin is a physical therapist and trainer who's worked with nearly every professional sports league as well as Olympic athletes. His new book, Pain-Free Performance , is now available. Our conversation focuses on movement, coordination, and building efficiency. We discuss: common mistakes in the weight room how to structure better strength workouts mindfulness and breathing a nervous-syst...