Run Evolved: Strength for Runners
Run stronger, faster, and injury-free with evolve’s online strength program designed specifically for runners
improve your running performance, decrease injury risk, and feel your best with run EVOLVED, our online strength program designed specifically for the needs of runners.
What will the Run Evolved program do for you?
Improve performance: Strength training improves running economy, speed, and muscular endurance. Regular strength training builds muscular endurance and reduces time to exhaustion.
Prevent injuries: It is estimated that at least 50% of runners suffer from an injury every year. Strength training improves bone density, tendon strength, and joint health.
Improve overall health and longevity: Muscle mass reduces by 3-8% per decade after the age of 30. Regular strength training can slow or even reverse these losses improving our overall health and longevity.
Why choose this program?
There are countless programs available for runners, so why did we decide to create another one?
For nearly a decade at EVOLVE, we’ve worked with runners of all levels, from all around the world, and across the injury and performance spectrum. We regularly interact with other professionals in the running world. While there are a lot of programs available, we’ve found that many of them miss the mark in one or more key ways. We’ve dialed in our approach over the years, and have refined a method of strength training for runners that simply works. Here’s some insight behind our process.
Scientific Knowledge and Real-World Expertise: We’re not just making this stuff up, and. We are intimately familiar with the peer-reviewed research on what works for runners and what doesn’t, which areas are essential to focus on, and how to weave these elements together into a coherent program. We’ve also worked for nearly a decade, every day, with runners and other athletes from around the world.
Appropriate Complexity, Volume, and Difficulty: We’ve found that most running programs are either too easy and don’t provide enough load to create change or provide too much volume and load which compromises the rest of your training. Many programs involve complex movements that don’t carry over to running or risk injury. We’re have found the sweet spot, with just enough stimulus to get results, but not so much that it takes compromises your recovery and running.
Created by a Doctor of Physical Therapist and Strength and Conditioning Specialist: Dr. Brian Kinslow and Grant Tracy, CSCS, collectively have over 25 years of experience in strength training, injury rehabilitation, and working with runners. Many programs out there are written by running coaches without a strength background, or strength coaches without a running background, and few have the insight of a Doctor of Physical Therapy.
what to expect
Two key workouts per week, intended to take less than an hour
A wealth of PDF resources to support the program and your running overall including:
Top nutrition tips and guidelines from EVOLVE’s Registered Dietitian.
Guidelines for how to complete strength workouts safely and effectively, and how to progress over time.
Example training schedules to help you integrate strength work into your existing running program.
Advice for how to adjust the program when you need extra recovery, or in taper weeks leading up to a race.
Recommendations on specific changes or substitutions to help common running-related injuries.
Each workout contains five specific elements for runners:
Warm Up: You won’t just go through the motions, but support running from the get-go with targeted activation exercises.
Strength: No fluff, just two key exercises per workout. These are the exercises that we’ll look to progress resistance or weight on as you become comfortable with the technique.
Stability: We’ll work core stability as well as balance, single leg, and dynamic coordination drills.
Agility: Runners generally go in one direction (straight ahead!), but we have found over the years tremendous benefits from practicing agility drills, leading to better ground contact time, improved performance on trails or uneven terrain, reduced foot/ankle injury risk, and overall improved athleticism.
Mobility + Prehab: Targeted stretches or mobility exercises that are beneficial for most runners, as well as an opportunity for you to work on bulletproofing (or “pre-habilitating”) any areas of the body that have been injured in the past or need a bit more attention.
While that might sound like a lot, our goal is to keep the workouts to 45-60 minutes at most.
Required and Recommended equipment
We designed the program to be completed with fairly standard home or commercial gym equipment. In an effort to make the program as accessible as possible, we have a small set of required equipment, and a larger set of recommended equipment. The program will make use of everything from the recommended equipment list. However, if you only have the required equipment, we will suggest alternate exercises using only this equipment.
Click here for an equipment list PDF with details about each items, and links to products that we like.
pricing
$149 for lifetime access to the program and resources.
The program is 16 weeks long, and you have the ability to start, stop, and restart at anytime.
How do I sign up?
Create an account.
Enter payment details and checkout.
Check your email for a link to download our app, or click here for the Apple Store or Google Play Store
Start training!
Who is this program ideal for? Do I need a lot of gym experience to do it?
This program is ideal for active adults who want to use strength, endurance, and injury prevention training to feel and perform better.
This program is “all levels,” meaning that all exercises can be modified to fit various levels of experience and fitness. However, we do recommend that you are comfortable with some bodyweight movements, such as a squat, lunge, and plank.
This program is also best for people who are visual and audio learners, as exercise instructions are given via videos. If you feel that you learn best through feedback from others, you might seek out a coach or trainer in your local area. You could do a couple of sessions with that individual to learn the basics, and then be off and running with this program.
Who is this program not ideal for?
While this program is designed in large part by a Doctor of Physical Therapy, it is not intended to treat or correct injuries. If you are actively in pain that limits your movement, consider seeking care to resolve that prior to this program.
This program is also not ideal for individual with specific gym-related goals. If you want to PR your bench press or squat, compete in a CrossFit competition, or enter a bodybuilding contest, our program probably won’t get you there. Our program is designed to help active people use strength and endurance training to thrive outside the gym.
Finally this program is perhaps not the best fit for individuals who have little to no movement experience at all. We will be releasing an introductory program at some point in the future to help bridge this gap. In the meantime, you might seek out a local coach to start your journey.
Why are there only three full body workouts per week?
Peer-reviewed research shows that 2 - 4 strength training workouts per week are sufficient to see progress. Three workouts per week provides more benefit than two. A fourth workout may offer some additional benefits, but the increase is fairly marginal. Three workouts per week is a sweet spot that maximizes results and time in the gym.
This program is also not intended to create gym rats. We don’t want you to just become better at gym-based activities. We want you to see and feel the results in your real life. We want to help you to be more active and engaged in your life. And that means that you should spend time doing what you love outside the gym! Again, three workouts is a sweet spot that will give you results without dominating your week.
Finally, we want you to be successful. With exercise, this often means consistently over time. We would rather have a 3x/week program that you actually follow than a 4-5x/week program that feels overwhelming. We also don’t want you to get injured trying to workout hard 5 times a week. Let’s take the long view: 3 well-designed, intentional sessions per week, paired with other activities outside the gym.
In addition to the workouts, we have a mobility session to improve recovery and flexibility. We also have recommendations for additional cardiovascular exercise.
What if I miss a workout?
Simply start back up with the next available workout. If you miss a workout, or even a week of workouts, don’t sweat it. Don’t worry about going back to make up past workouts. We’ve designed our program to balance both consistency and variety, training a wide range of capabilities each workout and each week. When we take the long view of months to years, a missed day or week isn’t that big of a deal. We want a long arc of consistent training over time.
What support is included?
If you are having technical issues with the app, please contact us and we can try to troubleshoot, or send the issue to our developers.
Aside from that, as an online program, no additional coaching is included. All of the exercises have detailed videos and instructions. If you would like more support, contact us and we can set up a virtual coaching session for an additional fee.
How do I cancel?
If you need to cancel your membership, fill out the form below or email evolvestrong@evolveflg.com. We require at least 5 days notice before your billing date, and do not offer refunds.
Clinical Services
Nutrition: Dive deep into your relationship with food, learn how to eat intuitively, and use food to live your best life with a Registered Dietitian.
Physical Therapy: Determine the root cause of your injury and develop a comprehensive plan of care to resolve it for good with a Doctor of Physical Therapy
Acupuncture: Evidence-based, research supported acupuncture and trigger point therapy to improve pain, promote healing, and help get you back to doing what you love.
Learn More About EVOLVE Flagstaff
We’re here to help you feel great and do what you love, for life. Follow us on Instagram @evolveflg, and check out our Youtube Channel for exercise demos and webinars. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.