The Hidden Power of Habit Stacking for Runners

In the 1950s, Arthur Lydiard revolutionised running when he introduced periodisation, the concept of organising training into distinct blocks, each with a different focus.

Today, this system is the backbone of nearly every training plan — but what if its value goes beyond just running?

Running is about more than running

If you ran 100 miles a week, but lived an otherwise typical lifestyle, you’d probably be an under-performing runner.

Anyone who has trained hard for a race knows that “running” is more than just running. You need to:

• Consider what you eat

• Sleep more

• Stretch, cross-train and build strength

And these are just a few examples. There are a slew of other metrics to consider.

Thus, what makes a good runner is more than just high mileage or running fast. A good runner is thinking about their training holistically.

When building a training plan, we should think about more than just the sessions. Whether hydration and nutrition, strength and flexibility work, or sleep and reduced stress, auxiliary activities and considerations such as these are just as important as the actual running.

In short, we need to establish good habits across our daily lives that enhance our performance on race day.

Habit Stacking

The self-help industry is, frankly, choked full of questionable content.

But, in my view, a diamond in the dirt is habit formation.

Books such as Atomic Habits and The Power of Habit explore numerous ways in which we can “hack” our psychology to build better, longer-lasting habits, and break bad ones.

One approach is habit stacking.

The concept is simple: you attach a new, beneficial habit onto something you’re already doing without fail — like brushing your teeth or brewing your morning coffee.

You take a new habit and chronologically “stack it” on top of the existing habit:

• Want to do more squats? Do 10 every time the kettle is boiling.

• Want to floss more? Start doing it after you brush your teeth.

  You get the idea.

Running and Habit Stacking

In fact, we already use this principle in running, whether we realise it or not.

The “stack” of a typical run should look like this:

• Warm-up exercises

• Run

• Static stretches

For example, imagine I picked up an injury and wanted to start foam rolling. Well, I could stack that onto my running routine by doing it at the end of my static stretches.

That’s easy to do, since I’m stretching anyway, right?

If I wanted to meditate more, I might introduce that at the top of the stack, before my warm-up.

And so on.

Stack onto blocks, not habits

That’s the concept of habit stacking in a very micro sense: you stack together small habits.

But what if we zoomed out? We can apply this stacking principle in a more “macro” sense, too.

As I mentioned at the top of the article, most of us follow the principles of periodisation when we train: our training plans are composed of blocks.

For example, a typical training plan might look like this:

Since we already have our training organised into neat little blocks, why not stack our habits onto these blocks instead of actions?

It can take around 2 months for a habit to stick. And taking on too many habits at once is problematic. Instead, you should focus on mastering one thing at a time.

This is where the inherent structure of running training provides the perfect blueprint for establishing new habits.

We take one habit — improving diet, strength training, etc — and align it with a training block.

To summarise, here’s why it works:

• Prevents overwhelm: you set a single goal per block, which is very managable

• Mirrors your training: no new mental model, you’re following the system you’ve already established

• Built-in reflection points: at the end of each block when our volume is reduced, we can reassess our habits: Did they work? How can they be improved? etc.

For example, let’s say I want to improve my diet quality. My training plan could look something like this:

Set your own goals

Nutrition is only one aspect of training. Other habits you could stack on your blocks could include:

• Recovery: 8 hours sleep per night, tracking HRV daily, etc.

• Mobility: 20 minute post-run stretches 3 x weekly, yoga once a week, etc.

• Mental: daily meditation, daily journaling, baths, etc.

Regardless of goals, with this approach, we build one new habit with each block. You’re not introducing a new framework or other mental model: you’re just building on a system you’re already following.

Our intentions are focused, and we’ve stacked those goals onto something we’re already doing.

If your training plan is already periodised, then why not leverage that?