Runners Should Lift and Lifters Should Run

A month ago, at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting and World Congress in Denver, a controversial paper was announced as one of the best papers of last year. It seems to settle the “run or lift” debate: Titled “Aerobic or Muscle-Strengthening Physical Activity: Which Is Better for Health?” the paper in Current Sports Medicine Reports had a straightforward conclusion—“Combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity provides superior and more complete health benefits than either activity alone.”

Alex Hutchinson, journalist and author, wrote a book 12 years ago, titled Which Comes First, Cardio Or Weights? This week, he followed up in the Globe and Mail, declaring it’s time to stop picking sides in this debate: you should do both.

Each activity has its own suite of benefits, as Hutchinson notes. Cardio is superior in “improving heart health, circulation, and cholesterol,” while chucking iron is more impactful on “basal metabolism and blood sugar control.” Put plainly, he says, “The only wrong answer in this debate is picking sides in the first place.”

For those still sitting firmly on either side of the fence, consider this: when you’re a combination lifter-runner, you can blame your lift PRs on your running, and your running ti