Training & body composition
CONCURRENT TRAINING.
You can improve your strength and fitness at the same time. Make sure the amount you’re doing gives you enough time to recover, especially when you’re combining hard classes with your own training.
Strength and cardio work together
Most recreational exercisers can improve strength, muscle and aerobic fitness together. Research generally finds similar strength and muscle gains, but how you organise the total training still matters. (1) (3)
Put it into practice: Keep a couple of suitable lifting sessions in your week and record weights, reps and effort. You may need fewer sets during demanding endurance weeks.
Give power work enough recovery
Explosive strength is more sensitive to fatigue and combined sessions than maximum strength or whole-muscle growth. Small effects on muscle fibres remain possible, especially when advanced goals make small differences important. (2) (5)
Put it into practice: Separate demanding cardio and heavy leg work by several hours or different days where possible. If they must happen together, reduce the work for your secondary goal.
Fitness is more than VO₂max
VO₂max measures maximum oxygen use, but performance also depends on efficiency, skill and handling fatigue. Strength training can help performance without changing VO₂max. (3) (8) (9)
Put it into practice: Track the result that matters to you. Include running to improve running; cycling, rowing or swimming may suit general fitness with different recovery demands.
Put your priority first
Lifting first tends to favour lower-body strength. The familiar six-hour gap between sessions comes partly from a small rugby trial, so it isn't a universal rule. (6) (7)
Put it into practice: Choose your main goal for the next block and give its key sessions your freshest time. Lift first for strength, or do your key endurance session first when that's the priority.
Build a week you can recover from
Building duration, frequency and intensity together can make recovery difficult. Running can fit alongside lifting, while lower-impact options may help when soreness gets in the way. These example weeks are coaching starting points to adapt, not research-defined prescriptions. (2) (5)
| Current priority | Example weekly structure |
|---|---|
| Balanced health and fitness | Two or three strength sessions plus two or three aerobic sessions, with only one or two genuinely hard days. |
| Strength or muscle emphasis | Protect three or four lifting sessions; use two aerobic sessions that are mostly controlled and add intervals only when recoverable. |
| Endurance or hybrid emphasis | Keep two strength sessions; build sport-specific aerobic volume and separate the hardest leg and endurance work where practical. |
Put it into practice: Keep easy cardio at a conversational effort and increase one demand at a time. Count hard classes before adding intervals; an already demanding week may need no extra hard work.
HYROX needs running and station practice
A small observational study linked faster HYROX times with better aerobic fitness, but couldn't establish the best programme. (10)
Put it into practice: Build your running, retain strength training and practise loaded stations and transitions. Keep some practice controlled instead of turning every workout into a race.
Advanced goals need individual planning
Most evidence comes from recreational adults in relatively short programmes. Differences by sex and experience remain uncertain; elite goals and high-volume hybrid plans need more individual judgement. (4)
Put it into practice: If key lifts or cardio performance worsen across several sessions, review sleep, food and attendance. Reduce less important hard work or improve spacing before adding more.