Does Replacing Running Volume With Strength Actually Work for Older Athletes?

On September 24, 2026, The Sydney Morning Herald published a profile on physiotherapist Alice Baquie and her unconventional training model. The method prioritises targeted strength, mobility, and rehabilitation work over traditional high mileage marathon preparation. Baquie asserts that recreational runners may be able to almost halve their conventional marathon training mileage if they supplement the lost volume with appropriate strength routines. Her own approach involves running no more than four times per week and no farther than 10 kilometres at a time.

To build durability, she adds run specific strength work and body weight Pilates. She later developed ForRunners, a run specific Pilates program based entirely on body weight exercises. The broader endurance training conversation is slowly moving away from treating mileage as the only meaningful currency. Modern science urges athletes to consider tissue capacity, running economy, and fatigue resistance alongside their aerobic volume.

Is Lower Mileage the Right Path to the Finish Line?

The core premise of the report challenges the long held belief that maximum mileage is the only path to a fast finish. Many recreational runners instinctively try to copy the high training volume of elite athletes. The published article cites earlier research noting that the best male runners exceed 200 kilometres per week. Similarly, the best female runners top 166 kilometres per week in their peak training blocks.

Everyday athletes rarely possess the same biomechanics or medical support as professional runners. Dr. Ben Peterson of the University of Queensland points out that the cardiovascular system adapts much faster than tendons and bones. He estimates that the Achilles tendon experiences loads of approximately six to eight times body weight during running. Because of this massive structural demand, runners risk increasing their mileage faster than their connective tissues can tolerate.

Cardiovascular fitness alone is not a reliable gauge of whether a body is prepared for a sudden increase in distance. Peterson strongly recommends strength training targeted to the specific muscles and tendons used in running. He advises against treating generic gym machine work as automatically equivalent to proper running preparation. The specific strength program described in the article included squats, deadlifts, isometric calf raises, and dedicated core exercises.

These precise movements help build the posterior chain capacity necessary to absorb heavy impact forces over miles of pavement. Dr. Danielle Trowell from Deakin University provides further evidence for this shift in thinking. Her PhD research compared trained runners who completed strength sessions twice weekly against a group that steadily increased running mileage over 10 weeks. The article reports that only the strength training group improved their running performance during the testing period.

The fundamental message is not to abandon running entirely, but to question whether strength training can deliver better structural resilience than extra miles. This reallocation of stress is exactly what rethinking traditional weekly schedules aims to solve for older competitors. A 2026 PubMed-indexed study focusing on male master endurance runners reported a 3.9% improvement in running economy following plyometric training. The researchers associated this performance boost with changes in reactive jump ability and step frequency.

How Was the Lower Mileage Approach Tested?

The Sydney Morning Herald detailed two different practical applications of this methodology to illustrate its potential. The primary case study was Baquie herself. Back in 2024, she successfully completed a three hour debut marathon after adopting her lower mileage and strength focused routine. Her background as a former elite gymnast and sports physiotherapist undoubtedly gave her a high capacity to tolerate rigorous strength work.

This elite background means her specific routine may not universally translate to a novice athlete. To test the waters firsthand, journalist Sarah Berry attempted the method four weeks before the Sydney Marathon. Berry had been unable to run more than five kilometres for two years due to a chronic overuse injury. Baquie prescribed a concentrated block of five short Pilates sessions and three running workouts per week.

Berry quickly progressed from five kilometres to a 16 kilometre training run within a matter of weeks. On race day, she successfully reached the 30 kilometre mark before an ankle tendinopathy flare forced her to stop. While Berry did not finish the marathon, her incomplete experiment provides a crucial lesson regarding tissue adaptation. Reaching 30 kilometres felt easier than during a previous attempt and had seemed entirely inconceivable four weeks earlier.

However, the ankle flare serves as a stark reminder that sudden load increases carry inherent risks. Following a progressive guide to rebuilding capacity is critical for anyone managing past injuries. Tendons simply require months rather than weeks to adapt to the heavy repetitive impact of long distance racing.

What Does This Mean for the Ambitious Masters Athlete?

For ambitious athletes over 35, replacing low value running with targeted strength work offers a highly effective way to manage physical recovery. Aging bodies naturally lose elasticity, and our connective tissues require significantly more time to heal after intense track sessions. Hitting my forties brought a harsh reality check. The track workouts were not getting slower, but the days after them felt significantly heavier.

Instead of forcing my old Tuesday and Thursday intensity schedule, I looked at the data on Masters athletes and muscle protein synthesis. I pushed my second hard session to Friday, allowing an extra forty eight hours of low intensity recovery. My total weekly volume stayed the same, but the quality of my intervals skyrocketed. This intentional reallocation of training stress is exactly why targeted strength work can be so beneficial for older athletes.

You must actively match your training load to your actual physical recovery capacity. Many veteran athletes wonder if strength work prevents running injuries, and the current research strongly points toward improved stability. Olympian and physiotherapist Jess Stenson has reportedly used Baquie’s strength and mobility classes since 2020. She credits these specific sessions with improving her overall stability and postural endurance during long training blocks.

Olympian Gen Gregson is also quoted in the report, noting that she has become quite reliant on the ForRunners program. She states that Pilates-derived strength can heavily affect performance in long events where maintaining proper form matters most. This practitioner insight highlights how core stability prevents late stage form breakdown during endurance events.

Preserving the Long Run

Athletes must still respect the specific cardiovascular and muscular demands of their chosen race distance. A 2020 systematic review and meta-analysis reported by Runner’s World examined the training habits of successful marathoners. The researchers found that 32 kilometre long runs and weekly training volume were significantly associated with faster marathon finishing times. You cannot completely strength train your way out of needing a proper aerobic base and extended time on your feet.

The Sydney Morning Herald article also cites revealing data from 119,452 marathon participants. This large scale dataset shows a clear association between faster finishing times and higher weekly mileage totals. Runners finishing between two and two and a half hours averaged roughly 107 kilometres per week. Those finishing in four and a half to five hours completed roughly one-third of that distance.

This confirms that the relationship between running volume and overall performance remains highly relevant. Therefore, master runners should treat this lower mileage approach as a precise calibration tool rather than a free pass to skip long runs. Both Peterson and Trowell recommend a minimum 12-week build toward longer distances to ensure connective tissues can handle the work safely. Protect your weekly long run, maintain consistency, and trade out middle distance grey zone miles for heavy lifting and plyometrics.

Ambitious older athletes should confidently replace nonessential junk miles with targeted strength and mobility work, provided they maintain a structured progression and preserve adequate long runs for their event.

Sources

1. How the fafo approach upended the way i think about running p60y4y
2. Marathon Long Runs: Should You Follow the 3-Hour Rule?
3. Exploring Neuromuscular and Biomechanical Factors Associated ...