The Hobby Jogger Podcast · Hosted by: WeeViews & Branch Sauce

E44 | How Strength Training Boosts Endurance Performance with Michael Meeker

·59 min·3 clips

Meeker frames training as 'longevity training' aimed at staying independent at 75.

1. The Hobby Jogger Podcast episode centers on strength training for endurance performance, with Casey linking his Canyons result and recovery to the work he did in the gym. 2. Casey hosts the conversation with co-host Rob Myers, and Michael Meeker appears as the owner of Big Tree Fitness in Akron, where he coaches strength and conditioning. 3. The episode asks what strength work does for runners and cyclists, and Meeker frames the answer around posture, recovery, and long-term durability. 4. Meeker says he spent 25 years working for a landscape company before burnout pushed him toward training and coaching more people. 5. He describes starting with trail running and fitness, then earning a personal training certificate through ISSA in 2015. 6. Meeker says his first garage gym in 2015 was a small, free training space with just a handful of people. 7. He explains that Big Tree Fitness became official in 2016, first in a small neighborhood space in the valley. 8. Meeker says the gym later went through COVID disruption, a move to a bigger spot, another move, and a flood that forced another rebuild. 9. Rob Myers recalls the original gym as tiny, with about 900 square feet total and roughly 600 square feet of working space. 10. Meeker says 24 rugby members once packed the floor for a green-sally workout, which shaped the gym's community identity. 11. Meeker describes larger gyms like LA Fitness and Sports as sterile, while Big Tree Fitness is built around board workouts and camaraderie. 12. He says Spartan races pulled him deeper into endurance work, starting with obstacle-course races and later the beast distance of 28 obstacles. 13. During COVID, he says he sent workout packages and daily videos to clients to keep the gym going. 14. Meeker says that response became 21 straight days of 5Ks, then a 365-day workout streak, then the David Goggins 4x4x48. 15. He also says he completed a Spartan ultra of 32.6 miles and 66 obstacles, then later a 100-mile towpath ride. 16. His 2025 winter challenge on February 28 included 44 miles, 18 moving hours, 4,000 feet of elevation, and a wind chill of 9 degrees above zero. 17. Meeker calls his current approach longevity training, and he says he wants people to stay healthy enough to avoid needing help at 75. 18. He says his programming mixes bench press, squat, deadlift, overhead press, CrossFit elements, and strongman-style work into repeated strength-and-endurance rounds. 19. The tone stays practical and conversational, with Casey asking applied questions and Rob supplying running-context examples and jokes. 20. Runners, trail athletes, and cyclists who want strength advice will get the most from it, while listeners wanting only race stories may skip it.

As heard by us

A grounded discussion of strength work for runners, with recovery and sensible progression at the center.

Strength work gets treated here as part of the running process, not a side quest. The hosts begin with a recent Canyons trip and an unusually fast recovery, then keep circling back to a plain idea: training only helps if it meets people where they are.

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Why you'd press play

If you want a runner-friendly take on strength training, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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