Lifting (Read 188 times)

I will recommend and personally do 20-40 sec hill surges at hard but not all effort so form can be maintained. I like these best for running strength. In terms of weight training a typical set takes 30-40 seconds where you fail out or near fail out. When done with a 40 second surge, you should feel the same way like you want to be done or need to be done.  I like long hills too especially if part of a goal race. Not a fan of all out 8-10 sec hill sprints unless an elite athlete.

 

I was wondering about hill sprints vs squats as training for uphill running so I did a Google search on hill sprints vs squats.  Surprisingly, a lot of hits touted hill sprints as better than squats as a weight lifting exercise in and of itself (never mind the applicability to running).  Makes me thinks hill sprints have got to be better than squats as uphill training.

Running hills has to be better for your running then squatting; you're running for God's sake. The moment of the squat doesn't even remotely resemble anything done while you're running.

 

There is a book called Anatomy for Runners by Jay Dicharry. The author equates running to doing LOTS of single leg squats.

How are you defining a single leg squat? All the way down as in a 'pistol squat'? Or just thigh parallel?

I've tried the pistol squat and cannot get back up. Need to work on it I suppose.

This was yesterday. Squats, leg presses, standing calves and seated calves.Finished my squats up with 455x6. Then cardio: 1.0 mile walk, 3.0 mile run and a 1.0 mile walk.I hit that run with all that I had left in the tank. I felt like I pushed the hands of time back a little, this morning feels like Father Time came back with a vengeance

I run 5x week.  Do weights 2x weekly, as follows (I do some core work following each workout), which is basically designed to provide strength to support my running:

1. Lower body

Squats: 3x6 (weighted)

Deadlifts: 3x6 (weighted)

Single leg calf raise: 3x10 (weighted)

Lunges: 2x12 (body weight only)

Single leg squat: 3x6 (body weight only)

 

The single leg squat strictly speaking is probably surplus but it is a great exercise for runners.  The weighted exercises are at a level that is challenging but manageable (typically lighter on the first set, and I'll reduce the weight if I've got an upcoming race too).

 

2.Upper body

BB bench press: 4x6 (sometimes vary this to incline)

Wide-grip chins: 4x6-8 (include archer pull-ups or plyo movements to increase difficulty)
Standing military press: 3x6

Tricep push-down (1x drop set)

BB curl (1x drop set)

 

Depending on time I sometimes add in cable flyers and drop the tricep and bicep exercises.

 

I've been doing weights for probably 15 years so I wouldn't suggest this is an ideal program for beginners.  For a 2 day split I would keep the muscle groups the same but change the exercises and perhaps swap out the more technically demanding exercises (deadlifts, military press) for a machine-based exercise or something simpler.  For a beginner it may also be worthwhile sticking to a low weight / high rep approach (eg 12-15) to get technique and conditioning before switching to lower reps and heavier weights.

 

I used to target 10-12 reps at lower weights, but switched to ~6 reps at higher weight after learning about what a lot of top runners/athletes do, and immediately noticed that my recovery was much quicker (particularly for the lower body session) and strength was not adversely impacted.

This is the closest to what I would recommend for someone running more than 3-4 days per week.  Like Marky_Mark suggested, beginners could use lower weight/higher reps at first (maybe 4-8 weeks), and cut out a couple exercises.   If form is ok, I'd start with just squats, deadlifts, and calf raises - then add lunges once you can handle the increased volume.  One way I like to ease into the workouts and avoid too much DOMS (if I haven't lifted in a while) is to perform sets of 8 reps, using a weight I could actually lift for 12 reps.  Then I increase the weight over the next few weeks until I get closer to my true 8 rep max.

Eventually, I believe the goal should be to progress towards an even higher intensity than anyone has suggested here - probably a 3 rep max, especially for masters athletes, as research shows that maximal strength training can improve running economy.  Training for strength under a 5RM will also limit excess muscle bulk in your legs, and the DOMS will be manageable if you stay consistent with your workouts.  In my experience, people generally feel less soreness from higher intensity/lower volume workouts (under 5 reps) than medium intensity/higher volume (10-12 reps) workouts, assuming they have built up to the higher intensity appropriately.

Two lower body workouts per week would be better to increase strength in the offseason or periods of lower running volume, then drop to once per week in season (to maintain strength) when running volume increases.

Upper body strength training is obviously less important to running performance, so mostly anything can work here, especially for beginners.  I like the workout mentioned above, and would probably add a few sets of cable rows or dumbbell rows.  If you're focused more on "looking good," maybe increase the reps to 10-12.  Isolation exercises get a bad rap these days, but I find exercises like biceps curls to be beneficial in avoiding elbow pain (purely anecdotal evidence).

Joint soreness or joint pain is never a good thing.  If you're feeling soreness around the joints with lower reps, it most likely means 1) you didn't progress to the heavier weights properly, 2) you didn't warm up to the heavy sets properly, 3) something is wrong with your form, 4) something is wrong with your joints (injury, arthritis, tendonitis, just being old, etc).

This is why gradually increasing the intensity is important for everyone.  You wouldn't want a beginner hopping right into 5RM sets since it takes longer for the connective tissue to adapt.   I'm sure there are a few younger, more genetically gifted individuals who might not have much of a problem with this, but average folks (especially over 30) will have to easy into it.

Truthfully though, all this probably doesn't matter to most runners experimenting with weight training because so few will stick with it for more than six months.  They will all see improvements in strength and muscle growth with any weight training program they choose, as long as they're consistent and don't get hurt.

 

This is the closest to what I would recommend for someone running more than 3-4 days per week.  Like Marky_Mark suggested, beginners could use lower weight/higher reps at first (maybe 4-8 weeks), and cut out a couple exercises.   If form is ok, I'd start with just squats, deadlifts, and calf raises - then add lunges once you can handle the increased volume.  One way I like to ease into the workouts and avoid too much DOMS (if I haven't lifted in a while) is to perform sets of 8 reps, using a weight I could actually lift for 12 reps.  Then I increase the weight over the next few weeks until I get closer to my true 8 rep max.

 

Eventually, I believe the goal should be to progress towards an even higher intensity than anyone has suggested here - probably a 3 rep max, especially for masters athletes, as research shows that maximal strength training can improve running economy.  Training for strength under a 5RM will also limit excess muscle bulk in your legs, and the DOMS will be manageable if you stay consistent with your workouts.  In my experience, people generally feel less soreness from higher intensity/lower volume workouts (under 5 reps) than medium intensity/higher volume (10-12 reps) workouts, assuming they have built up to the higher intensity appropriately.

 

Two lower body workouts per week would be better to increase strength in the offseason or periods of lower running volume, then drop to once per week in season (to maintain strength) when running volume increases.

 

Upper body strength training is obviously less important to running performance, so mostly anything can work here, especially for beginners.  I like the workout mentioned above, and would probably add a few sets of cable rows or dumbbell rows.  If you're focused more on "looking good," maybe increase the reps to 10-12.  Isolation exercises get a bad rap these days, but I find exercises like biceps curls to be beneficial in avoiding elbow pain (purely anecdotal evidence).

Thanks ftlech, some useful thoughts there, might look at progressing to a 5RM.

A lot of runners neglect upper body work - to be honest there's negligible athletic value for a runner in having huge arms, but a strong core and back aids running form and posture, and the chest is complementary to that.

Agree with snake84 regarding cardio v. weightlifting.  I know runners who don't go anywhere near weights and vice versa.  For most people the two are actually quite complementary from a health perspective though, but the balance will vary from person to person.

There seems to be such a disconnect between people that do cardio and weightlifting. 

Not sure I agree. Seems like on the RW forums many, maybe even most, new folks would introduce themselves as "I'm not a typical runner because I also lift weights". It's quite common. I'm part of a Lift Heavy Run Long facebook group and so many people think it's rare to do both, but there are so many thousands who do both.

I do both and they have nothing to do with each other except they do conflict at times. For example, I'm down to doing lower body one day a week because otherwise it messes with my weekend long runs.