Fall Lifting Program for college freshman 800m runner

don't you have a coach in college or are you not running with the team? sign up for weight training class offered in the phys ed dept.

As the second poster suggested, you are in college now and should have a coach to oversee such things. OR, you could grab-ass it and cobble together something based on the varied advice that you will find here.

No believe me most college coaches don't put you on a really good weight lifting program. Someone help him out so I can copy their program too.

I'm going to become the greatest, fastest, strongest, sexiest, smartest, wittiest runner to ever grace this earth.

Watchout

What are your PRs? 400m - 1600m?

Height and weight?

Truth be told, little 800m homeskillet, you might have to wait quite a while for someone knowledgeable here to get back to you. Everyone so far has no clue. Yes, that includes myself. Just Google around in the meantime. Lots of good (and not-so-good) stuff out there.

Hey man, I've got a few good, basic programs for you to look over. They are mainly designed as introductory programs for those going onto olympic lifting. They are simple, but effective for building general strength. Great for helping running as they are compound and full body type stuff. Anyways here they are:

Starting Strength Novice Program:

Workout A

3x5 Squat

3x5 Bench Press

1x5 Deadlift

Workout B

3x5 Squat

3x5 Press

3x5 Power cleans

You train on 3 nonconsecutive days per week.

So week 1 might look like:

Monday - Workout A

Wednesday - Workout B

Friday - Workout A

Week 2:

Monday - Workout B

Wednesday - Workout A

Friday - Workout B

Practical Programming Novice Program:

Monday

Squat 3x5

Bench press/press 3x5

Chin-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps

Wednesday

Squat 3x5

Press/bench press 3x5

Deadlift 1x5

Friday

Squat 3x5

Bench press/press 3x5

Pull-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps

Witchita Falls Novice Program:

Monday

Squat 3x5

Bench press/press 3x5

Pull-ups: 3 sets to failure or add weight if completing more than 15 reps

Wednesday

Squat 3x5

Press/Bench press 3x5

Deadlift 1x5

Friday

Squat 3x5

Bench press/press 3x5

Pendlay rows 3x5

Practical Programming Advanced Novice Program:

Week 1

Day 1

Squat 3x5

Bench press 3x5

Chin-ups: 3 sets, weight added so failure occurs at 5 to 7 reps

Day 2

Front squats 3x5

Press 3x5

Deadlift 1x5 (more sets may be added due to reduced frequency)

Day 3

Squat 3x5

Bench press 3x5

Pull-ups: 3 sets to failure, unweighted

Week 2

Day 1

Squat 3x5

Press 3x5

Chin-ups: 3 sets to failure, unweighted

Day 2

Front squats 3x5

Bench press 3x5

Power clean 5x3

Day 3

Squat 3x5

Press 3x5

Pull-ups: 3 sets, weight added so failure occurs at 5 to 7 reps

Nah that's no good. Next?

not a great plan. Read coe.

I'm 5'9 and 150, prs 51.0 split, 1:58, never ran the 1600 but ran 17:30 in cross last year while not training (played soccer). Can anyone give me some more info on Coe's offseason weight program?

strength work will definitely help you out a lot.

I'll just write out two basic workouts that you could alternate doing. Aim for 3 days a week on non-consecutive days (like that other guy said)

Workout A:

1) 4x5 power clean. You'll need a coach if you aren't a experienced lifter. Don't worry about weight, keep good form and work on explosiveness.

2) 5x15 single-leg squats with around 65-75% body weight (with rear leg elevated on a bench), superset directly after each set with 8 jump-squats with a bar on your shoulders (45 lbs). rest 2 minutes between sets.

3) 5x12 roman-deadlifts

4) 3x12 chest-press

5) 3x12 rows

6) 3 sets of pull-ups to failure

Workout B:

1) 4x5 power clean

2) 5x15 front squats 70-80% bw, superset with 5 depth-jumps after each set.

3) 3x15 hamstring curls with physioball, superset by throwing med-ball backwards over your head (x5) (start with ball at your feet in squat position, explode up while extending hips, fully extend arms over your head and throw the ball backwards when your body is at full extention)

4) upper body circuit. Do 6-8 quick reps of each exercise using 15-40 lbs depending on how strong you are, then rest for as long as it took you to perform all the exercises and repeat. You should be completely cashed after 3 or 4 sets. upright row, lateral arm raises, bent-over row, frontal arm raises, curl and overhead press, pushups and squat-press.

enjoy!

Are you guys serious? You're suggesting that an athlete with no experience weight training and no coach to supervise or critique should start with squats, deadlifts and olympic lifts? That's very risky and unneccesary.

I would suggest that you start with a total body conditioning program. Something comprehensive that covers all the major muscle groups and primary movers:

UPPER: Bench Press, Lat-pull, Shoulder Press, Rows, Pull-Ups, Dips

LOWER: Leg Press, Leg Curl, Leg Extension, Calf Raise, Abductor, Adductor

Start with 1-2 sets of 10-15 reps with a weight that is challenging for the last 1-2 reps.

As a beginner, make sure to keep good postural alignment (keeping head, shoulders, hips in a straight line) as performing exercise with correct form is both most effective and safe. Don't try to be a hero. Just like a novice runner should not start with 50 miles/wk, a novice in the weight rooms should start conservatively and let there muscles and connective tissue adjust to the new stress.

Some of the aforementioned ideas and exercises are very effective and helpful, but it's more than you need as a beginner. Once you've established a solid strength training base you can move on to more advance exercise.

The best idea is still to try to find a coach or trainer in your schools athletic department to provide you will sound and consistent instruction and direction.

Correct me if I am wrong.....but isn't it now cross country season? Shouldn't this 'college' runner have been doing all of this lifting prior to the season and now be in a maintenance mode? At this point going into a heavy lifting program could be detrimental to his running. The time for lifting is off season....especially if this person has never lifted before.....

Maybe cross is his off-season.

There is no reason not to lift during the season, whether it's XC or Track, as long as it is appropriate to the experience of the athlete and timing of the season. Circuit training should be a realitively low training stress to start.

More advanced lifting will obiviously have a greater stress, but could be incorporated during training if done appropriately, even for track. The problem in this situation is that there is currently no oversight by a coach.

I've got a very good lifting program that begins with 2 weeks of a preparation phase to get your body used to lifting without the risk of injury. If you're interested, email me at soccrGK09@yahoo.com. It's quite long, because it contains about 7 phases 2-3 weeks each. I used this during high school, and I was an 800m runner also. It worked very well.

bump

Some general guidelines of runners strength training periodization:

1. General strength

-Circuit training

-Many exercises (~10-12), ~3 circuits

-Rest ~30-60sec between sets, 2-3min between circuits

-Alternate muscle groups

-Load 20-40% of maximum when using weights, 15-30 repetitions per set

-Body weight only for beginners and juniors

-4-6 weeks with weights background, 8-12 weeks or longer for beginners

-Can be done after speed drills, sprints, bounding...

2. Maximum strength (when matured)

-Less exercises

-6-12 weeks

-Load ~70-85% of maximum

-4-6 repetitions per set, ~3 sets, ~3min rest

3. Power/muscular endurance

Convert the maximum strength to power (800m) or muscular endurance (longer distance) or can mix both (milers). Power and muscular endurance are related to the maximum strength

Power:

-4-8 weeks

-Few exercises

-Load 30-50% of maximum

-Up to ~10 repetitions done at maximum speed, ~3-4 sets

-3-5min rest

-Maintain maximum strength and core work

Muscular endurance:

-4-8 weeks

-Few exercises done in circuits

-Load ~20-40% of maximum on weights, 15-30 reps per set, 3-5 circuits

-Rest ~30-45sec between sets, 2-3 min between circuits

-Can mix with Power work

-Maintain maximum strength and core work

In season maintenance work

I support this.

Also, learn basic core lifts (squat, Deadlift) and upper body lifting techniques that keep your shoulders safe. Learn at a light weight without going to muscle failure.

Also learn the basic purpose behind plyos. Doing 10-20 reps of a box jump is not proper use of plyos....that's basically cardio.

Alan

Nevermind. Just gonna run on pure hate, no lifting.