Forums >Cross Training>if you lift heavy weights, do you cut back on frequency or weight when starting marathon cycle?
Fight The Future
Just curious if anyone has a good scheme for ramping up mileage while cutting back on the weights...
From the Internet.
I only cut back the week of a goal race and I schedule leg-heavy workouts to fall later in the day on run workout days (so I do my run workout AM, lift PM, have the next day as just an easy run). I'm running 5/3/1, which is an intermediate/advanced monthly progression program, and I've found it to be very compatible with running because there's so much recovery built into the program.
What do you mean by heavy weights? Not trying to be a wise guy, but if you mean 1.5+ your body weight for basic upper body stuff and 1.8-2.0 + for basic lower body stuff, e.g., squats or dead lifts, then that's a non-starter for marathon training, at least in my opinion, based on my experiences. Of course, my crappy marathon results can be attributed to numerous factors, but during each training period, I've generally consistently gone to the gym on a regular basis and, while I cut back on the heavy leg work, I generally haven't cut back on upper body and the results are in my log. So next time, for which I'll probably start training seriously in July, I'll cut the weight back drastically. IMO, for best marathon results, run as much as possible and get as light as you can.
Jay, Well, heavy is different for everybody, as you say. Here is list of tables, if you want to see how you rank. Since I'm male, almost 60, 165 pounds body weight, and squat about 185 - 195 typically, I'm almost in the Advanced column. But if I was under 40, that would barely crack the Novice column. I agree running lots helps, but I found after about 7 years of only running, I was getting too feeble and so added weights. Will see how it impacts races.
Lauren, your plan looks very sensible, thanks!
Don't get me wrong. Weight training is great for many reasons related to overall health, which is one of the reasons I do it. It's also extremely helpful for running (at least that's what I've read and been told). And I do leg work now primarily to work muscles that may be underserved by just running. My response was related to heavy weight. I'm over 50 myself and my experience has been that continuing a lifting routine involving more weight and fewer reps during marathon training has not helped my marathon efforts. I plan on not doing that this upcoming training cycle while still lifting 1-3 times a week and we'll see if that works better. But as always ymmv.
Will be very interested to hear how it goes! thanks for the response