Over the last two years, I've been learning more and more about strength training. In fact, our new strength program High Performance Lifting (details here) has rocketed to our most popular training course.

Like many runners, I'm not in love with weightlifting (I'd rather be running!) but I've come to appreciate just how valuable it is for endurance athletes. Higher levels of strength almost always lead to faster race times.

That's why I'm thrilled to present a new podcast with strength coach Tony Gentilcore.

Tony previously joined us on the pod to talk about why runners should lift.

He's back on today to go into more detail. Tony pointed out during our conversation that all of us deadlift all day long. Whenever we pick something up from the ground (a child, a bag of groceries, your running shoes), we're performing a deadlift.

If we practice that movement and get stronger moving in that way, it will make life - and our running - a lot easier.

And that's the mentality we should all have when we think about strength training: it's exercise that makes other exercise easier.

But we're going to talk a lot more about the deadlift in this episode:

• Is there such a thing as "perfect" lifting form?
• Should we chase ideal form or make adjustments based on our own anatomy?
• The similarities between running and strength training

If you're not sure where to start, don't miss SR's free strength series.

Now, my goal at Strength Running is to always show you the most effective approach. The training that will most likely get you to achieve your biggest goals.

That’s why we don’t waste time on minutiae. We don’t chase shiny objects like CrossFit Endurance or wonder if we should go keto or run all of our miles barefoot.

We focus on what has been shown to conclusively work for runners.

As you can imagine, some prevention strategies are better than others:

• If the goal is a fast marathon, great long runs are more effective than pool running workouts
• If the goal is a fast mile, speed development is more critical than foam rolling or core routines
• If the goal is to stay healthy long-term, a good dose of strength training is better than regular ice baths

This episode will rank the most effective injury prevention strategies so you know which one to choose for your needs.

Verrelle Wyatt is a 2:24 marathoner, 4:18 miler, and an Athletic Hall of Famer for his high school. He received his doctoral degree in Physical Therapy from Walsh University in Ohio.

He has two medical licenses in both Physical Therapy and Sports Physical Therapy in addition to being certified as both a Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES) and Corrective Exercise Specialist (CES).

In this conversation, we discuss a lot:

• His experience working with Cirque du Soleil athletes
• How having a doctoral degree in PT has informed his running
• The training that led Verrelle to a 2:24 marathon
• How to avoid the common injury mistakes that land runners in his office

This episode is an excerpt from our full conversation for Team Strength Running, Strength Running's affordable group coaching program.