Why Muscular Endurance Is The Goal, Not The Start With Scott Johnston

Scott Johnston is co-founder of Evoke Endurance and coach to elite ultra runners including Tom Evans and Ruth Croft. This is his second appearance on the podcast, and the second half of a two-part series on strength training for runners, following the conversation with strength and conditioning researcher Dr Richard Blagrove, who approached the topic from the theoretical side. Scott brings the practical, athlete-facing perspective.The starting point of this conversation is that muscular endurance training isn't where you begin. Scott lays out the order it actually happens in; general strength and aerobic capacity first, and what it means to have earned the right to add weighted uphill or resistance work on top of that foundation.He also makes the case that muscular endurance benefits runners at every level, but with an important caveat. Whether you should add it comes down to something much simpler than your experience or your weekly hours, but rather, whether your legs are already the limiting factor on your long runs.We close by getting into what changes when there isn't time to build the foundation properly, injury resistance, and why so many runners are still wary of the gym for the wrong reasons.Give the full episode a listen for the breakdown.Looking for coaching or guidance? Read more at https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/p/coachingRELATED CONTENTTraining for the Uphill Athlete (Scott's Book): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1938340841#134 Strength Training For The Endurance Athlete: https://youtu.be/fRy7I6bXWJc?si=xcnXTvWeItzxZMdmMuscular Endurance: All You Need to Know: https://evokeendurance.com/resources/muscular-endurance-all-you-need-to-know/Scott Johnston on What Athletes and Coaches Get Wrong About Muscular Endurance: https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/p/scott-johnston-on-what-athletes-and-coaches-get-wrong-about-muscular-enduranceI Advised Runners to Skip the Gym. Dr. Richard Blagrove Fact-Checked Me: https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/p/i-advised-runners-to-skip-the-gymRELATED BORN ON THE TRAIL CONTENTShould We All Be Doing "Muscular Endurance" Training Now?: https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/p/should-we-all-be-doing-muscular-endurance-trainingWhy Runners Should Not Strength Train: https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/p/why-you-should-not-strength-train?r=39kjk2 and https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/p/why-runners-should-not-strength-train?r=39kjk2A Scientific Guide to Strength Training for Endurance Athletes: https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/p/a-scientific-guide-to-strength-training-for-runners?r=39kjk2The Case for Strength Training in Endurance Sport: https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/p/the-case-for-strength-training-in?r=39kjk2FOLLOW SCOTT JOHNSTONInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/coach_scott_johnstonEvoke Endurance: https://evokeendurance.com/WATCH THIS SHOW ON OTHER PLATFORMSSubstack: https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/podcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bornonthetrailSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6o5yHthUidO0No4VA3xdVbApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/born-on-the-trail-going-longer/id1857231629YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvFOih1rUBA2F_3Bi7Ii-cAqieAQSumU_FOLLOW BORN ON THE TRAIL ON SOCIAL MEDIASubstack: https://bornonthetrail.substack.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bornonthetrail/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bornonthetrailFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bornonthetrail/ Get full access to Born on the Trail at bornonthetrail.substack.com/subscribe