REF-1299 · Doma et al., 2017 · Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism · Paper · PubMed

After my first leg sessions, how long before hard running?

In 12 runners new to lifting, running to exhaustion above threshold was still about 20% down at 24 h and 12% at 48 h even after a third 6RM session (B).

Main caveat: No control group: test learning, season and fitness change across 7 weeks are not separated from protection; the baseline was a single week-2 test.
limited evidenceMeasured on recreational people

Doma and colleagues asked whether a third lifting bout protects running performance more than a second.

Twelve recreational runners who had not done lower-body resistance training for 6 months did the same session three times: Smith-machine squats, single-leg leg press, leg extension and leg curls, 3 sets of 6 at 95% of their 6-repetition maximum (set so that no set went to failure), with 10-14 days between bouts 1 and 2 and 7-10 days between bouts 2 and 3.

Muscle-damage markers were taken before, immediately after, 24 h and 48 h after each bout, and a running test at 24 h and 48 h: 10 min at 90% of the second ventilatory threshold (VT2), then a run to exhaustion at 110% of VT2.

Creatine kinase and glute soreness were blunted from the second bout on (thigh and glute soreness also at 48 h); thigh and hamstring soreness overall, jump height and hip-abduction range of motion improved significantly only by the third bout.

Pooled over the shared baseline and the 24- and 48-h tests (main effect of bout; our arithmetic from Figure 2), time to exhaustion was 133.5 s for bout 1, 133.1 s for bout 2 and 147.4 s for bout 3, and perceived exertion at 90% of VT2 fell from 15.6 to 14.8; oxygen uptake at 90% of VT2 did not differ between bouts (41.5, 41.8, 41.7 mL·kg-1·min-1; P = 0.48).

Perceived exertion was higher than baseline at both 24 and 48 h after bouts 1 and 2, not after bout 3.

The authors write that time to exhaustion was still reduced by about 20% at 24 h and 12% at 48 h after the third bout, and advise avoiding submaximal and maximal running for at least 48 h after the first two heavy sessions in resistance-untrained runners, with caution for maximal sessions even after the third.

Our reading: the best direct evidence that "unaccustomed" is the trigger for a long gap — two sessions were not enough to protect running, and hard running stayed below baseline at 48 h; it did not test easy running (the submaximal stage was 90% of VT2), and it reports oxygen uptake only between bouts (no difference), not against baseline, so it neither shows nor excludes a rise in oxygen cost after the lift.

Protocol

Participants: n = 12 healthy men; age 24 ± 4 y, height 1.81 ± 0.10 m, body mass 79.3 ± 10.9 kg, VO2peak 48.2 ± 6.5 mL·kg-1·min-1, 6RM squat 71.7 ± 12.2 kg; recreational runners (30-60 min, 2-3 times a week, 12 months), no lower-body resistance training in the previous 6 months.
Familiarity: resistance-untrained; one 6RM-test session in week 1 (at least two weeks before bout 1) and two familiarisation running tests in week 2.
Design (7 weeks): week 1, 6RM tests and VO2peak test; week 2, two running tests (the second = baseline); weeks 3-7, three lifting bouts (10-14 days between bouts 1 and 2; 7-10 days between bouts 2 and 3), running tests at 24 h (T24) and 48 h (T48) after each. No control group. Described as part of a larger research project with similar protocols (Doma et al. 2015, two bouts, not in the base); participant overlap is not stated.
Lifting bout: Smith-machine squat, single-leg leg press, leg extension, leg curl; 3 sets × 6 repetitions at 95% of 6RM so that sets were completed without failure; load raised 5% if a first set was rated below 9 of 10 for difficulty; 2 min passive rest; loads replicated in bouts 2 and 3.
Running test: after a standard warm-up, 10 min at 90% of VT2 (VO2, VCO2, VE, ventilatory equivalents averaged over the last 5 min; HR and RPE at minute 9), 2 min passive rest, then running to volitional exhaustion at 110% of VT2 (time to exhaustion, TTE). Test-retest ICC 0.96 for VO2 and 0.89 for TTE.
Markers: CK (capillary, Reflotron; intra-assay CV 7.2%), soreness of thigh, gluteals and hamstrings (1-10 scale), countermovement jump, sit-and-reach and hip-abduction range of motion; before (T0), immediately after (T1), T24, T48.
Analysis: two-way (bout × time) repeated-measures ANOVA with Tukey post hoc; alpha 0.05; mean ± SD.
Funding and interests: no funding statement and no acknowledgements in the accepted manuscript; "The authors have no conflicts of interest associated with the manuscript."

Key Results

Main effect of bout (Table 2; bout means pooled over all time points: T0, T1, T24 and T48 for the markers, the common baseline, T24 and T48 for running, our arithmetic from Table 1 and Figure 2; * different from bout 1, † different from bout 2, P < 0.05):

MeasureBout 1Bout 2Bout 3Main effect of bout
Performance — TTE at 110% of VT2 (s)133.5 ± 35.7133.1 ± 45.7**147.4 ± 45.4*†**P = 0.03
Submaximal 90% VT2 — VO2 (mL·kg-1·min-1)41.5 ± 4.041.8 ± 4.441.7 ± 3.9P = 0.48
Submaximal — RPE15.6 ± 2.215.3 ± 2.214.8 ± 2.0*P = 0.003
Submaximal — VE/VCO231.5 ± 1.931.4 ± 1.930.8 ± 2.1*†P = 0.004
Submaximal — HR (beats·min-1)180.8 ± 10.7181.7 ± 8.0179.3 ± 9.7P = 0.080
Marker — CK (U·L-1)382.6 ± 251.1246.1 ± 133.7*202.1 ± 116.0*P = 0.006
Marker — thigh soreness5.0 ± 1.54.3 ± 1.73.8 ± 1.5*P = 0.009
Marker — countermovement jump (cm)52.0 ± 5.953.2 ± 5.953.8 ± 5.2*P = 0.002

By time point (Table 1, text and conclusion):

MeasureBefore24 h48 h
CK after bout 1 (U·L-1)153.5 ± 62.9570.8 ± 450.6580.6 ± 598.8
CK after bout 3 (U·L-1)134.2 ± 78.6237.1 ± 134.6237.1 ± 171.2
Countermovement jump after bout 1 (cm)56.2 ± 6.850.6 ± 4.952.4 ± 6.3
RPE at 90% VT2 vs baseline—higher after bouts 1 and 2, not bout 3higher after bouts 1 and 2, not bout 3
TTE vs baseline after bout 3 (authors' conclusion)—about −20%about −12%
Baseline TTE and the bout-by-time TTE values are shown only in Figure 2 (not in the text extraction); the 20% and 12% figures are the authors' own.
Individual responses and SDs of change were not reported.

Mechanisms

Measured: after the lift, the submaximal stage felt harder (RPE above baseline at 24 and 48 h after bouts 1 and 2) without a change in oxygen uptake across bouts; jump height and soreness tracked the protection; CK protection came after one bout, functional protection after two.
Authors' interpretation: the third bout's protection of running reflects faster neuromuscular recovery and less soreness; damage-induced loss of range of motion and altered gait may raise the cost of running; distinct markers reflect distinct mechanisms of the repeated bout effect.
Inference: the authors' "sub-maximal running performance" that improved by bout 3 is RPE and VE/VCO2, not economy (oxygen uptake did not differ between bouts); whether oxygen cost rose against baseline is not reported (Figure 2 shows it about 1-2% above baseline, unmarked, our reading).
Inference: the 6RM test session in week 1 was itself a heavy lifting exposure; bout 1 may already have been a partly protected second exposure, and the shorter gap before bout 3 (7-10 vs 10-14 days) may have helped its protection.

Practical Application

After my first leg sessions, how long before hard running? In 12 runners new to lifting, running to exhaustion above threshold was still about 20% down at 24 h and 12% at 48 h even after a third 6RM session (B).
For a novice lifter, keep VO2max or above-threshold running at least 48 h after each of the first strength sessions (the authors' advice and this study's data, 24 and 48 h only); 72 h is untested here. Not from this paper; the base's own practice: new OR damaging → ≥48 h before quality; new AND damaging before maximal running, or a first downhill block → ≥72 h before hard running (SYNTH-31).
Easy running the next day is the base's call, not this study's; expect it to feel harder. The authors advise avoiding even submaximal running for 48 h until the third bout; their submaximal stage was 90% of VT2, RPE there was above baseline at 24 and 48 h after bouts 1 and 2, and oxygen uptake was compared only between bouts (P = 0.48), not with baseline.Not from this paper; the base's own practice: easy aerobic work below the first threshold can sit the day after a lift (SYNTH-31, REF-161).
Protection takes repetition. Two bouts were not enough for running here, while one was enough in other designs (REF-1297); count a strength session as familiar only after two or three in a few weeks (inference from this study).
Lifting short of failure still cost the next day: sets were held at 95% of 6RM without failure.

Limitations

No control group: test learning, season and fitness change across 7 weeks are not separated from protection; the baseline was a single week-2 test.
n = 12 men, recreational, resistance-untrained; not trained endurance athletes who lift regularly; no women.
Tests at 24 and 48 h only; the authors' "at least 48 hours" is a lower bound, not a tested gap.
Reporting: the abstract's "sub-maximal running performance ... improved (1.9%)" after bout 3 vs bout 2 matches the ventilatory equivalent (VE/VCO2 31.4 to 30.8, our arithmetic), not oxygen uptake, which did not differ between bouts (P = 0.48); the abstract's "reduced by 12%-20% versus baseline" does not say that 20% is the 24-h and 12% the 48-h figure (the conclusion does).The repository cover page prints the DOI as 10.1139/apnm-2017-1214, a typo for 0214; the manuscript's reference for Chen 2007 carries the 2009 paper's PMID and DOI.
Possible overlap with Doma et al. 2015 (same project, similar protocols) is not addressed.
Funding: none stated; no conflicts declared.
How this entry was checked and changed
Why this level

n = 12, no control group, read from the full text (the accepted manuscript in the James Cook University repository, listed by OpenAlex). A performance outcome (running time to exhaustion) in resistance-untrained recreational runners; the rubric places an uncontrolled pre-post study of this size at B

Full text (checked 2026-10-27)
Twelve healthy men (age 24 ± 4 yrs), running 30-60 minutes 2-3 times a week for the past 12 months, had not performed lower body resistance training for the past 6 months (full text)
Three bouts with 10-14 days of recovery between the first and second and 7-10 days between the second and third; running tests at 24 (T24) and 48 (T48) hours after each (full text)
Each bout: squats, single-leg leg press, leg extension and leg curls, 3 sets of 6 repetitions at 95% of 6RM to allow participants to complete each set without failure (full text)
Running test: 10 minutes at 90% of VT2, then to volitional exhaustion at 110% of VT2 (full text)
TTE (seconds) by bout: 133.5 ± 35.7, 133.1 ± 45.7, 147.4 ± 45.4, main effect P = 0.03; VO2 41.5 ± 4.0, 41.8 ± 4.4, 41.7 ± 3.9, P = 0.48 (full text)
CK after bout 1: 570.8 ± 450.6 U·L-1 at 24 h and 580.6 ± 598.8 at 48 h (full text)
RPE during T24 and T48 were significantly greater than Baseline during Bout 1 and Bout 2, not Bout 3 (full text)
TTE was still reduced by approximately 20% and 12% at 24 hours and 48 hours following the third resistance training bout (full text)
The authors have no conflicts of interest associated with the manuscript; there are no acknowledgements (full text)