Forums >Racing>Will loosing upper body mass make me faster?
Oh you mean the would-be sub-two-hour marathoner?
Even though he's making some bold claims and is arrogant, a 4:40 mile with a 40lb vest is pretty darn impressive. And, his times at other distances are pretty good even if they are slightly downhill.
I am so pulling for Hobie Call, if for no other reason than that his name rhymes with "If My Homie Calls."
"If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus
Feeling the growl again
Looks like I missed the fun part of the thread.
Lifting and running/agililty/obstacle stuff are very different. While I wish I had found time to keep lifting and maintain better upper body and core strength that I used to have, I also ran in college with a guy who went on to be a Navy SEAL. He was 5' 9-10" and no more than 160 -- he didn't even lift much. I hear they have some obstacles and lifting of things in BUD/S.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Honestly 185 pounds it should be pretty easy to break 20 minutes in a 5k
Heck at 170 poinds, Chris Solinsky broke 27 minutes in the 10k
If only I weighed 185 pounds instead of 205 when I was training, I am sure I could have broke or close to 34 in the 10k.
I am fuller bodied than Dopplebock
My answer is, it should. I'm 5'9" 173. I made the decision to essentially stop weight training about 6 months ago to lose weight (plus stop eating so much) to improve my running. I'm down about 15 lbs and running much better. I'm also 49. When I was 43, I set my real 5k pr during a 6 month period when I could not lift due to a shoulder injury. I also set my Marine Corps PFT PR (15:45) almost 30 yrs ago when I wasn't lifting, also due to a shoulder injury. On the other hand, there is a 43 yr old in these parts that routinely runs sub 20 5ks and sometimes sub 19s who weighs 212 (as he told me after he dusted me in a race a few months back) and he's not much taller than I am (he also doesn't drink, so that may be the secret).
And this wasn't asked, but when I went through OCS, the Basic School, IOC, etc,, the guys that won the obstacle course and the Fartlek runs and other events were invariably the good runners that had a modicum of muscle mass.
This is an awkward name.
Sounds like booty call, which is disturbing.
I'm 6'1" and 161 pounds, in other words verging on the tall, skinny side of the spectrum. Faster speeds come easier now than when I was 180-ish and more muscular, and I have better agility. But that conceivably could be the result of better training, instead of just weight loss. My totally subjective observation is that the more muscular runners I see doing well at races tend to be shorter than me, so maybe the shorter you are the more weight you can carry around in the upper body. I don't know if there are any scientific studies showing that.
If that interview went on any longer it is almost guaranteed that there would be some comparison to Galileo or Copernicus.
not bad for mile 25
The one ingredient missing from his plan is the masking tape exercise.
Labrat
he needs to be one with the Ostrich!
5K 20:23 (Vdot 48.7) 9/9/17
10K 44:06 (Vdot 46.3) 3/11/17
HM 1:33:48 (Vdot 48.6) 11/11/17
FM 4:13:43 (Vdot 35.4) 3/4/18
Additional weight does slow you down indeed. One way to keep strength without inducing muscle hypertrophy is using heavy weights you can't lift for more than 6 repetitions. That way you will tech your body to recruit a maximum of muscle fibers. Make sure you warm up properly and keep the rest between sets rather long - e.g. 2 -3 min.
Can somebody match this guy up with SJ in a reality show? I'm thinking the setting should be in a game preserve in Africa. Danger should be involved to heighten the drama. Of course hobie call would need a nice big hill to run down. Perhaps there is a good road down Kilimanjaro? He likes that kind of stuff.
If that doesn't work out we could enter hobie in the Gloucestershire Cheese race. SJ could be his "manager" and there could be lots of trash talking and drama just like in Professional "Wrestling" ... then they would run down the hill after a wheel of cheese.
I guess it depends on your goals and how you go about it. It sounds like you really want to get faster at the obstacle course and are willing to sacrifice some upper body muscle. How exactly would you get your body to drop muscle? You want to do it in a healthy way. I bet you could train in such a way that you don't lose much (if any strength) and get to where you want for your races.
Andy
Thanks for the input so far. Yeah loosing was a typo I was in a hurry. Now i have more time........ Sorry but I rarely see any guys with a lot of muscle mass break 20 min in the 5k at the local ones ive ran.. That is my ultimate goal along with running improving obstacle race times. Speed plays a much bigger role in who wins a obstacle race, as long as a person is strong enough to do pull ups and push ups thats all that is really needed. I will probably be able to do even more of these at 170 lbs. I know all about lengthening the repeats for what distance you run. I did Yasso 800s just last week. I don't stick with just 400 meter repeats. Im not gonna drop below 170, I do not wanna look sickly. But I got plenty of muscle and even at 170 im gonna look muscular, but ill use less energy climbing over walls and running up hills. All the top obstacle racers aka hobie call are elite runners and do not carry around the body builder look that I do. .
Thanks for the input so far.
Yeah loosing was a typo I was in a hurry. Now i have more time........
Sorry but I rarely see any guys with a lot of muscle mass break 20 min in the 5k at the local ones ive ran.. That is my ultimate goal along with running improving obstacle race times. Speed plays a much bigger role in who wins a obstacle race, as long as a person is strong enough to do pull ups and push ups thats all that is really needed. I will probably be able to do even more of these at 170 lbs.
I know all about lengthening the repeats for what distance you run. I did Yasso 800s just last week. I don't stick with just 400 meter repeats.
Im not gonna drop below 170, I do not wanna look sickly. But I got plenty of muscle and even at 170 im gonna look muscular, but ill use less energy climbing over walls and running up hills.
All the top obstacle racers aka hobie call are elite runners and do not carry around the body builder look that I do.
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"Any idiot can run a marathon. It takes a special kind of idiot to run an ultramarathon." - Alan Cabelly
I guess my point is you are too much of a newbie, it takes 8-10 years of consistent training to peak out. Stride Effiency drills, the right speed work and more mileage will give you much more speed than taking off some muscle. If you are taking off muscle, you might as well do the things above also.