Laurie's Blogs.

You know me by now… “I came across a paper that inspired this blog.”  The title of the paper:  Strength Training Improves Running Economy Durability and Fatigued High-Intensity Performance in Well-Trained Male Runners: A Randomized Control Trial.  I also watched a podcast where this paper was discussed, and it sparked my thinking about whether or not this could apply to dogs.  

Here’s the gist of the study.  They took well-trained male runners and divided them into two groups.  Group one continued their running training as usual.  Group two added supplementary strength training.  Strength training sessions were conducted twice a week and were structured as a standardized warm-up, followed by two plyometric exercises and three lower limb strength exercises. To adhere to the principle of progressive overload, every 3- to 4-wk plyometrics exercises and strength training prescription were progressed.

The Outcomes?

The study looked at ‘Running Economy’, which I decided had minimal application to most of our dogs in dog sports, except perhaps the sled dogs or skijoring dogs.  Running economy is defined as the physiological cost of covering a given distance at a submaximal speed.  So, while strength training did improve running economy, for the purposes of a canine application, this demographic is fairly small.  

The other component enhanced by strength training was “high-intensity time-to-exhaustion after the 90-min run”.  This is an important factor for finishing the end of a race.  My thinking is that this could be an important factor for dogs in other non-endurance sports where they do multiple runs in a day (i.e. Agility, Flyball, Dock Diving) or perform a task for a longer period of time, even if not continually running (i.e. Herding). 

Clinical Application

So, if you are asked by your sporting-dog owner, if strength training will benefit their dog, and how much strength training their dog should do, you can confidently say, “Likely!”   What might this look like?  Some of my favourite strength training exercises:  Destination Jumping UP onto a platform;  Push-Ups with rear legs elevated; Sit to stands facing UP hill; and Timed diagonal-leg stands.  I can’t actually come up with a 5th one that I love enough to include in a “Must-Do” list.  I’d increase repetitions and time to fatigue for these exercises as progressions.  These are just my thoughts and extrapolations.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if these types of studies could be replicated in dogs?  Until then, I guess we use the human guinea pig to help us know how to help our canine patients.

Until next time, Cheers!

Laurie

Reference:

Zanini M, Folland JP, Wu H, Blagrove RC. Strength Training Improves Running Economy Durability and Fatigued High-Intensity Performance in Well-Trained Male Runners: A Randomized Control Trial. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2025 Jul 1;57(7):1546-1558.