Endurance runners aren’t a common sight in the weight room, and they typically don’t spend a lot of time working on sprinting speed, but a study published in the Journal of Applied Physiologysuggests a workout combining both elements might help improve race performance along with running economy.

Half a group of 21 male runners continued on with their normal endurance training while the rest took part in an 8-week intervention that added 30-second sprints and heavy resistance training to their workouts. Twice a week they lifted weights at 80% to 90% of their one rep max (1RM) and twice a week they sprinted in blocks of 30 seconds while reducing the time they spent on traditional endurance work by 42%.

After 4 weeks, the sprinting and weight training group cut around one and a half minutes off their 10K race time. There were no additional improvements in 10K performance after 8 weeks, but they did see quicker times in 1500 meter events. Compared to subjects who never changed their training, the experimental group finished about 15 seconds faster.

True Strength Moment: Whether it’s more than a minute shaved off a 44-minute event or cutting 15 seconds off a 5-minute race, taking your training to a place where others don’t can make all the difference.