Hybrid training · Guide
A hybrid split: lifting and running in the same week
Who this is for
You want to be strong and fit at the same time. Maybe you lift and want to start running, or you run and want to get stronger without losing your pace. Either way, you have four days a week to train and you want them to work together rather than against each other.
This guide is a starting week for that person. It is not a full programme and it is not tailored to you. If you are new to running or lifting, coming back from injury, or have a health condition, check with a professional before adding training. Treat every number here as a starting point you adjust.
The principles
Most running is easy. The run that builds your aerobic base is one you could hold a conversation through. One harder session a week is enough to start with. Lifters who add running often run every session too hard, then find their squats suffering.
Hard lifting and hard running get their own days. Heavy squats and deadlifts tire the same legs that do the running. Keep the interval session away from the heaviest leg day, ideally with a rest day or an upper-body day between them.
Short easy runs can follow lifting. A short, easy run after a lifting session costs little and adds up over the week. Lift first, while you are fresh, then run. The heavy work is where good form matters most.
Add one thing at a time. Raise the running a little each week, or add weight to your lifts, but not everything at once. When something aches, hold steady for a week.
A sample week
| Day | Session | Blocks used |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Lift A and a short easy run | Strength, Strength, Strength, Cardio |
| Tuesday | Rest | — |
| Wednesday | Intervals | Cardio, Cardio |
| Thursday | Rest | — |
| Friday | Lift B and a short easy run | Strength, Strength, Strength, Cardio |
| Saturday | Long easy run | Cardio |
| Sunday | Rest | — |
Lift A is squat-led and Lift B is deadlift-led, so the heaviest leg day of the week (Friday’s deadlifts) is a day away from the intervals on Wednesday and a day before an easy long run. If you would rather run long on Sunday, move it; the order that matters is keeping Wednesday’s intervals clear of a heavy leg day on either side.
When your legs are tired
Some weeks the running will leave your legs flat for a lifting day, or the lifting will leave them heavy for intervals. A few simple adjustments:
- Before lifting: if your legs feel heavy, keep the weight and cut a set from the leg lifts. Upper-body work can stay as planned.
- Before intervals: if the first repeat feels far harder than it should, cut the session to four repeats and keep them controlled.
- Before the long run: slow down rather than cutting it short. Easy means easy.
- Over a few weeks: if your lifts slide for more than a couple of weeks, take running volume down a notch before you touch the lifting.
Build it in One Rep Closer
In One Rep Closer, a session is a chain of blocks, and a template is that chain saved so you can run it again. Build each template from the Templates tab: tap +, then Add block for each block, and Save.
Monday: Lift A and a short easy run
Three Strength blocks, one per lift: a back squat, a bench press and a row. Something like 4 × 5 on the squat and bench and 3 × 8 on the row is a reasonable place to start. On the squat and bench, add warm-up sets from one of the ramps (Standard, Starting Strength, 5/3/1 or Minimal). The app works them out from your working weight and rounds them to 2.5 kg, and they do not count towards your records.
Set the rest between sets on each block. When you tap a set done, the rest clock starts itself and drains the ring, and −15s and +15s change it if you need a little more or less.
Then one Cardio block: Run, set by distance, 2000 m at an easy pace. On a distance piece, the ring holds a clock counting up; tap it when you are back and the time is recorded with the distance.
Wednesday: intervals
Start with a Cardio block for the warm-up: Run, set by time, 10 minutes easy.
Then the main set as one Cardio block: Run, set by distance, 400 m, with Rounds set to 6 and the rest between set to 90 seconds. You tap the ring at the end of each 400 m, the rest clock runs, and a 3-2-1 countdown plays before the rest runs out so you are ready to go again. The block records how long the running took, with the rest left out.
If 6 × 400 m is too much at first, start with 4 rounds and add one every week or two.
Friday: Lift B and a short easy run
Three Strength blocks again: a deadlift, a barbell shoulder press and pull-ups. Try 3 × 5 on the deadlift, 4 × 5 on the press and 3 × 8 on the pull-ups. Add warm-ups to the deadlift and the press. Finish with the same easy 2000 m Cardio block.
Saturday: long easy run
One Cardio block: Run, set by time. Start at 40 minutes, or whatever you can run easily, and add 5 minutes every week or two. If you would rather run a distance, set it by distance and the app records how long it took.
A note on templates and the free plan
The free plan has no limit on how many workouts you log, and it keeps 2 templates. This week uses four, so on the free plan make one template for the two lifting days and one for the intervals. Combine Lift A and Lift B into one full-body session (squat, bench, deadlift and pull-ups, then the 2000 m run), and run it on both days. For the long easy run, tap Start empty workout on the Train tab, then add a block, pick Run and set it by time; it lands in your history like any other workout. Premium removes the template limit, if you want all four. See pricing for the details.
On training day
Open the Train tab, tap Pick a template, check today’s numbers on the plan screen, and tap Start workout.
Progressing week to week
Lifting. When you start a template again, last time’s sets, reps and weights are already filled in. If you made every rep with good form, add a small amount of weight; if you did not, repeat it.
Running. Change one thing per week: a few more minutes on the long run, or one more interval repeat. Every fourth week or so, hold the running steady and see how your legs feel.
Lifts and runs all land in the same history, so you can look back at a month and see whether the running has grown without the lifting slipping. The app does not use GPS or connect to a watch, so keep your watch on if you want pace and route.
Where to go next
The hybrid training page covers how the app handles lifting and running in one session. The cardio page covers runs, rows and intervals in more detail. If you are training for a Hyrox race, the Hyrox week for lifters adds station work to a week like this one.