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Hello there everyone! Today I want to talk to you about something that comes up pretty often and lacks a lot of definition, clarity, and creates confusion – and that is: what exactly is hybrid training?
If you’ve been following the fitness world lately, you know that hybrid training is all the rage nowadays and it seems like everyone is doing it. But what exactly does it mean? What is it not? How do we define these things? Let’s dive in and get some clarity.
When it comes to hybrid training, what people are talking about most of the time is the combination of two things that seem to be competing – which is largely going to be endurance and strength. These are two opposite ends of the fitness spectrum:
Strength: Neurological power output and strong, thick muscle fibers
Endurance: Smaller, efficient, oxygen-consuming, highly effective muscle fibers
You always see the classic photos of the marathon runner versus the powerlifter with the question “what body do you want?” This comparison lacks a lot of nuance, but old school conventional thinking really pins these as being two completely opposing things.
Most of the original exercise physiology research alluded to this, and historically, people have either been an endurance athlete or a strength athlete. There’s this long-held belief in the fitness industry that “cardio kills your gains” and that running will make you “wither away to nothing.” Conversely, there’s the idea that lifting makes you “bulky and heavy,” and that these two things are impossible to do simultaneously.
Over the last few years, it has emerged that strength and conditioning, the field of conditioning athletics, different types of athletes, and even the rise of CrossFit has brought attention to the idea that you can probably train two opposing things at once and get better in both of them to some degree. In fact, for some sports, it’s essential to do so.
Hybrid training has been this new wave of training that has come up in recent years where people are both training for strength and being muscular while also pursuing endurance-based endeavors alongside that.
If you’ve been following my journey, you know that I ran a ton of ultramarathons during my PhD while also continuing to strength train. Right now, I am in the process of training for another ultramarathon and continuing to strength train – this is hybrid training in action.
In its simplest form, hybrid training is just combining two modes of fitness in the same program. However, it’s important to understand the difference between two key terms:
Concurrent training is the more common term in scientific literature, especially in sports science. It refers to putting two or more modalities of training in the same day, week, or cycle of training. This specifically applies more to athletes – combining conditioning, strength training, and practice to maximize performance without interfering with the overall objective of the main performance goal.
Examples include:
• An Olympic marathoner combining different training modalities but with the main goal of qualifying for the Olympics in the marathon
• An NFL linebacker who wants to be strong and powerful but also needs adequate conditioning to perform on the field
Concurrent training is when your primary sport might be powerlifting, climbing, or running, but you use other forms of fitness to complement that main goal.
True hybrid training, on the other hand, is when you get to the middle of what I call the “hybrid training spectrum.” This is trying to maximize two seemingly opposing forms of fitness at the same exact time.
This means:
• Trying to PR your mile while also PR-ing your deadlift at the same time
• Hitting a heavy back squat single in the same training cycle that you’re training for a marathon
• Doing triathlon prep while also training squat, bench, and deadlift
• Competing in a weightlifting meet while also getting ready to PR your half marathon
You’re not just trying to do one thing well while hanging on to the other – you’re trying to maximize doing both.
I believe in this hybrid training spectrum where people can be on more extreme ends or find themselves in the middle:
One End: More running-focused, endurance, or triathlon goals
Other End: Powerlifting, weightlifting, or bodybuilding focused
Middle Ground: True hybrid training – maximizing both simultaneously
You might shift along this spectrum. For example, you might be hybrid training but care a little bit more about your endurance goals during one season, or care a little bit more about your resistance training goals during another season.
What’s beautiful about hybrid training is that when you spend seasons building up different characteristics, you don’t lose everything when you maintain or pull back a little bit. You can do less to preserve certain traits while pushing others.
For example, I just spent a really long time doing heavy strength training, bulking, and hypertrophy during my PhD, but I kind of neglected cardio. Right now, I’m leaning a little bit more heavily on the cardio side, but I’m still trying to maintain those strength characteristics.
The true hybrid approach is always oscillating between different characteristics to improve and refine them over time.
CrossFit is a great example of hybrid training in action. It’s a sport where you’re trying to improve multiple characteristics of fitness in the same training program. Most good CrossFit programming will oscillate you through different characteristics across the year – you’re not always focusing on just strength, short metcons, or endurance. You have different goals in training cycles that shift within the spectrum.
This is exactly why I incorporate CrossFit principles into my training methodology and offer metcon programming within The Lyss Method. It’s a perfect example of how you can develop multiple fitness characteristics simultaneously.
Here’s the thing I want to make crystal clear: I truly believe that the best form of fitness for metabolic health, longevity, and general health is concurrent training – a mix of strength and conditioning built around exercise guidelines. We should all be hybrid to some degree.
You can define hybrid and what that means to you. You don’t have to take ownership of the word if you don’t want to, but you can also own the word if you want to. What hybrid actually is and what it looks like for you may be different, and that’s perfectly fine.
When we talk about maximizing potential in two things at once, that doesn’t mean you have to be the best in the world – it means you need to be the best that you are and can be.
If your best is running a 2.5-hour half marathon and back squatting 115 pounds because that’s where you’re at, that’s hybrid training, and that’s YOUR hybrid. You don’t have to be the person who is back squatting 400 pounds and running a sub-1:30 half marathon for your hybrid to count and be meaningful.
It can be whatever it means to you, and the goal of hybrid training – like all fitness over time – is to improve on both of those characteristics across time.
If you’re looking for structured programming that puts all of this into practice, The Lyss Method is set up exactly like this with my seasons training approach. You can combine lifting and running (or lifting with whatever your endurance goals are) across different seasons so you can progress and make improvements in your hybrid training while defining what that means to you.
Our programs include:
• Strength-focused phases that maintain cardio fitness
• Endurance-focused phases that preserve strength gains
• True hybrid phases that push both simultaneously
• Metcon and HIIT programming for cardiovascular conditioning
• Progressive periodization that adapts to your goals
The beauty of this approach is that you’re always working on the basic characteristics and building up to have that true hybrid capability over time.
When it comes to hybrid training, the definition is straightforward: it’s simply doing two seemingly opposing things in the same training program and trying to maximize your potential in both.
But it can be whatever you want it to be. It’s not that serious, and I feel like some people get dogmatic about it. Some say “hybrid has to be these things” or “hybrid means these specific things,” but to some degree, all good training programs are going to have a concurrent aspect to them.
Hybrid training is about combining strength and endurance (or any two seemingly opposing fitness modalities) in a way that allows you to improve in both areas over time. Whether you’re on the more extreme ends of the spectrum or right in the middle, the key is defining what hybrid means to YOU and your goals.
The most important takeaway is that maximizing your potential in two things at once doesn’t mean being world-class at both – it means being the best version of yourself across multiple fitness domains and continuing to improve over time.
Ready to start your own hybrid training journey? The Lyss Method provides the structure, periodization, and flexibility you need to successfully combine strength and endurance training while making consistent progress in both areas.
Remember: you get to define your hybrid. Make it meaningful to you, meet yourself where you’re at, and enjoy the journey of becoming a more well-rounded athlete. Here’s to having a great hybrid week!
I’m Exercise Physiologist, sports nutritionist, weight lifter, and ultra runner. I am here to bring science to your training in a no-nonsense way. I have helped thousands of women crush big lifting goals, cross race finish lines, and even do both. I’m here to help you do the same!
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