How to Build Strength AND Endurance Simultaneously (The 2026 Science-Based Guide)

Summary

Presenter Kumar examines whether strength and endurance can be improved together, and whether common hybrid-training schedules eventually limit progress.

He opens with examples of athletes who have pursued different combinations of strength and endurance. Willy Georges, a CrossFit athlete, reportedly competed in weightlifting in 2025 before shifting toward marathon running and Hyrox. Kumar cites Georges’s 56:18 Hyrox Pro finish in Nice as an example of how a change in training focus can affect performance. Nick Baer is also mentioned as someone who enjoys both running and lifting.

What the research suggests

A review of meta-analyses on concurrent training found that, among relatively untrained people, combining strength and endurance work can improve aerobic capacity about as much as endurance training alone. It can also improve strength and power compared with endurance training alone. For muscle growth, combined training appears broadly comparable to resistance training alone, although resistance training by itself may have a slight advantage for strength.

The video also considers training dose:

• Endurance: In a study of relatively untrained adults, participants completed one to five 60-minute cycling sessions per week. Improvements in peak power were limited with one or two sessions, while larger gains appeared with four or five sessions.
• VO₂ max: A review of 69 trials involving more than 2,000 participants found that relatively small weekly amounts of high-intensity interval training—about 50–90 minutes—could produce substantial improvements. Kumar cautions that this approach may be less effective for continued long-term progress, especially for more trained athletes.
• Strength and muscle: In a study of older, previously untrained adults, some participants gained quadriceps muscle size with only two sets of leg extensions per week, while others responded better to increased volume. A separate review found that muscle growth generally increased with weekly sets, with the largest gains occurring around eight to ten sets per muscle group. Kumar suggests that roughly six to eight weekly sets can be a practical starting point for beginners.

The video also discusses maintenance. Cited research suggests that endurance-training volume can be cut substantially while intensity is preserved. Strength can often be maintained with much less work than is needed to build it, including, in some cases, one weekly session and very low set volume.

Practical recommendations

For beginners or people who are not highly trained in either area, Kumar says two weekly sessions for each goal can be enough to make progress. For endurance, he recommends including at least one high-intensity session, potentially alongside a lower-intensity or longer workout. For strength, he suggests aiming for around six to eight sets per muscle group per week.

For intermediate and advanced athletes who have plateaued but have limited time, Kumar argues against trying to increase both qualities indefinitely in parallel. Instead, he recommends block periodization: spend roughly four to six weeks emphasizing one quality with more sessions, while doing enough work in the other to maintain it. After a recovery or deload period, switch the emphasis.

For example, an endurance-focused block might include four or five endurance sessions and occasional strength work. A strength-focused block might increase lifting frequency while retaining a weekly hard endurance session.

The main takeaway is that a modest concurrent plan can work well initially, but experienced athletes may need more training volume to keep progressing. When time is limited, alternating blocks of emphasis may be more productive than trying to maximize strength and endurance at the same time.

Presenter and sources

• Presenter: Kumar, senior sports scientist at WOD-Science.
• Research cited: Held et al. (review of meta-analyses, 2026); Montero and Lundby; Maturana et al. (2026); Lixandrao et al. (2024); Pelland et al. (2026); Spearing et al.
• Athletes mentioned as examples: Willy Georges and Nick Baer.