THE STRENGTH TO ENDURE
RUN THROUGH COACHES MATT LONG & SAM GOODCHILD LOOK AT THE WHY’S OF JOSH KERR’S S&C ROUTINE:
1st August 2026. Scotstoun Stadium. Glasgow. Men’s Mile.
With 150 metres to go an animated TNT Sports commentator Katharine Merry screams, ‘He’s going. He’s gone!” as a 28-year-old blue vested Scot kicks hard for home. 70 metres to go and the 6ft2 inch blond in shades is flying, with the 2000 Olympic 400m bronze medallist enthusing, “Josh Kerr will not be denied the Commonwealth title on his home soil, in his back yard. 2026 belongs to Josh Kerr… Was it ever in doubt?”
Perhaps you took part in our recent Josh Kerr mile in London? Maybe you had a crack at the 1609.34 metres at one of our training nights like we did in Loughborough?
Following Kerr’s magnificent world record of 3:42.66 set on 18th July in London, lots of attention has rightly been paid to the speed endurance of Kerr. Indeed this was a key facet of the previous piece on Project 222 (see https://www.runthroughcoach.com/coaching-hub/project-222). By his own exalted standards, Kerr did not have to run particularly fast in Glasgow to become the first men’s mile champion at the Games since the legendary Kip Keino in Kingston way back in 1966. In fact his gold medal winning time (3:54.12) ahead of Australia’s Cameron Myers and Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot was almost 8 seconds slower than his world record. What is all too easy to overlook, however, is the fact that 3 days earlier on 29th July, Josh won the heat of his mile with a sub 4 clocking of 3m58s.
Most of us can only dream of running one sub 4 minute mile. So, to run two of them in a matter of days is pretty special. As well as rightly focusing on the speed endurance and aerobic capacities of the 2023 World 1500m champion, this tells us that we need to pay closer attention to his strength endurance. Strength endurance is about more than simply being able to produce force. It is the ability to continue producing and controlling the forces required for running efficiently as fatigue accumulates.
This also links closely to running economy. The difference between strength endurance and running economy is how efficiently Kerr can produce this repeated force and muscle contractions. Having an efficient running economy relates to minimising unnecessary energy expenditure while a run or a race progresses.
In an excellent Runners World article recently, Geall and Boswell (2026) listed the how to’s of Josh Kerr’s 10 ‘go to’ strength exercises. What this piece aims to do is to explain the why’s of these exercises.
What needs to be noted is that S&C is not just an injury prevention tool, for all runners it is much more than that. It can be another performance session in your week, a structured period of time where the goal is to improve the athlete’s ability to produce, transmit and repeatedly tolerate force. These sessions should complement your running, not compete with it. The exercises in Josh’s program are selected according to the demands of running and his own weaknesses. The aim isn’t to make him strong in the gym, but allow him to transfer his force production effectively to his running.
S&C is only valuable insofar as the qualities developed transfer to an improving an individual’s running. The ability to produce force, tendon stiffness, coordination, power, fatigue resistance (Durability), posture and the ability to repeatedly tolerate ground-contact forces.
The publicly available video - Track: All-Access (2026) of Josh effecting the 10 exercises is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-sifdbdDBE and when the exercises are listed below, the time you need to forward to on the said video is listed in brackets for your convenience. Rather than just list the exercises as did the aforementioned Geall and Boswell (2026), this piece groups them into the binaries of (A) Body weight exercises and (B) Resistance exercises.
What is the session actually trying to achieve? Before we break down each exercise individually, it is important to consider what this collection of exercises is trying to achieve for Kerr as a runner. S&C is not simply about injury prevention or becoming stronger in the gym; it is another performance tool designed to complement his and indeed your running. Collectively, this session develops the ability to produce force, apply it quickly, absorb and control force, and maintain posture and mechanics while doing so.
This becomes particularly important over a mile. Kerr needs to reproduce these qualities stride after stride while running at an exceptionally high intensity and as fatigue builds. The aim of his S&C is therefore not simply to make him stronger, but to give him the physical capacity and strength endurance to continue expressing his running ability when it matters most. While S&C is only one part of a much bigger training programme, maintaining the quality of Kerr's mechanics deep into his 3:42.66 world record illustrates why these physical qualities matter.
Body weight exercises
Wall sit isometric calf raise (2m00s)
How will this benefit my running?...This wall-based exercise challenges the soleus and quadriceps simultaneously. It helps develop stiffness of the tendons which in turn generate the return of more energy whilst you are pushing off the ground and embarking on the flight phase of the running cycle.
Push-up With T-spine rotation (2m50s)
How will this benefit my running?...‘T-Spine’ is shorthand for ‘thoracic spine’. As well as enhancing the mobility of your mid-back helping you avoid stiffness, the rotational element helps with the expansion of your rib cage, in turn helping you to effect more efficient diaphragmatic breathing. The kind of core strength it engenders is anti-rotational and helps keep you running forward rather than wasting energy by swaying from side to side.
Cat cows (3m25s)
How will this benefit my running?...As with exercise 2, cat cows help with spinal mobility and have an element of facilitating controlled breathing. In addition, the stretching of both hips and pelvis helps with stride length.
Pull Ups (18m20s)
How will this benefit my running?... It is easy to think of running as a purely lower-body activity, but the upper body plays an important role in maintaining posture and coordinating the movement of the limbs. The objective isn't to build unnecessary upper-body mass, but to develop enough strength and control to maintain an efficient position and arm action as fatigue builds.
Bench side plank with hip drop (9m30s)
How will this benefit my running?...’Trendelenburg Gait’ is the medical term for the kind of ‘hip drop’ if the pelvis tends to tilt downwards on the non-weight-bearing side. So by deliberately dropping and driving your hips back up from a raised platform, you are training the gluteus medius and minimus to stabilise your pelvis when the foot strikes, thus helping you propel yourself forwards. In addition, your adductors have to work hard in order for your body to be pulled upward. If you tend to suffer from your knees buckling inwards, this is an exercise for you!
Resistance Exercises
Kettlebell swing (7m15s)
How will this benefit my running?...Glutes, hamstrings, back and calves are part of your posterior chain which needs to be strengthened. The hip-hinge movement part of the exercise helps develop explosive power and should help you be able to sprint faster when the finish funnel comes into sight at your next RunThrough Event.
Medicine ball slam (9m00s)
How will this benefit my running?...This is an exercise which requires the recruitment of fast-twitch fibres. The inherent explosive nature of the activity helps with things like higher knee drive and as with the aforementioned kettle bell swings, should see you be able to run faster when needed during parts of your race such as that quick burst off the start line or surge past that pack in mid race.
Barbell Romanian deadlift - RDL (15m45s)
How will this benefit my running?...The propulsive power which stronger glutes will give you is particularly important if you plan to attack the hills on the trails, cross country or an off road ultra. In addition the eccentricity of the loaded stretch of your hamstrings will improve your muscular elasticity and energy storage and once again you will be a more efficient runner because you are not wasting as much energy.
Dumbbell bench press (18m00s)
How will this benefit my running?... By strengthening the upper body muscles (pectorals, anterior shoulders and triceps) this exercise helps facilitate postural control when fatigued. Furthermore, the engagement of the abdominals helps with core stability. If you tend to lean forward or ‘slouch’ later in that half marathon, then this could be the exercise for you!
Anti-rotation press-out (18m45s)
How will this benefit my running?...More popularly referred to as ‘Pallof presses’, this exercise works the obliques and transversus abdominus and the resulting stabilisation effect helps prevent the excessive and unwanted twisting of the trunk whilst running. The enhanced pelvic stability you should experience again helps the sagging of the hips and many runners who effect this kind of work report a decline in knee and IT band problems.
Ultimately this is what makes strength endurance so relevant to Kerr’s running. The objective isn’t simply just to become stronger in the gym, it’s to develop the physical qualities to repeatedly produce, absorb and control force output while maintaining efficient running mechanics. When we saw Kerr’s mile world record, we saw his ability to maintain posture and a powerful stride deep into the race allowing him to simply put one foot in front of the other to create history despite rapidly increasing levels of fatigue. S&C is only part of his performance, but it helps to provide the physical foundation to allow Kerr to express his fitness.
Evolution not Revolution of your programme
It would be folly to simply try and blindly replicate the exercises above just because they work for Josh Kerr. From an S&C perspective, the important lesson here isn’t just these specific exercises, it's understanding the qualities that are being developed from doing them. Strength, power, capacity, force control, trunk stability and the ability to maintain all of these qualities under extreme fatigue. It’s important to know you can develop these qualities in a variety of ways, knowing what works best for you and your body is key rather than just copying the exact above session blindly.
Recreational runners don’t need to replicate the exact sessions of an elite world record holder to benefit from S&C. The principles of Kerr’s session compared to your own program should stay the same. Develop the physical qualities that will complement your running, address your individual needs like your weaknesses and select exercises that you progressively overload and recover from. The exercise is simply just a tool, the adaptation that we create is what matters.
This leaves us with the following questions for self-reflection:
Does my S&C routine contain a healthy mix of body weight and resistance based exercises?
Have I considered why I am affecting the range of S&C exercises which I do in terms of how they translate to more economical and efficient running?
How can I progress or regress these exercises according to my own fitness and stage of development as a runner?
When might there be scope to include one or two of the exercises above with the counsel of my coach?
References
Geall, L. and Boswell, R. (2026) How Josh Kerr built his record-breaking speed using these 10 simple strength exercises. 27th July. https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/cross-training/a73269870/josh-kerr-strength-training-workout/
Long, M. (2026) Project 222. https://www.runthroughcoach.com/coaching-hub/project-222
Track: All-Access (2026) Inside Josh Kerr & Brooks Beats TC’s Strength Training. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-sifdbdDBE
Matt Long has served as an England Team Manager or Coach on more than 30 occasions and in 2025 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from England Athletics for his coaching contribution to our sport.