1. A lot of bodybuilders and powerlifters are in better aerobic shape than a lot of runners. A lot of bodybuilders do huge amounts of volume-try doing sets of heavy squats or lunges supersetted with other exercises in between with short rest and tell me lifting isn't an aerobic stimulus. A lot of powerlifters are in terrible shape, but others do things like prowler pushing and sled dragging and are ripped and in shape.
2. There's nothing sacred about running. I used to be a typical elitist prick runner, who looked down on every other type of training. But to be honest, most other forms of training are actually better in terms of injury rate, improving the overall functionality of the body and certainly in terms of aesthetics.
3. Most runners don't emphasize nutrition enough. It's 80% of the battle for bodybuilders, and some runners say that it doesn't matter at all for them because they run 10 miles a day?
4. Most runners eat way too little, and are underweight. They are probably undereating across the board by about 500 calories/day.
5. Conversely, most runners eat too many carbs and there are probably a whole lot of decent runners that are insulin resistant and possibly prediabetic. If you don't know what insulin is, read a freakin book! Just because you run a lot does not mean your diet should be 80% carbs. It MIGHT work for the genetic elite of kenyas marathoners...is that you?
6. If you gain 5kg of lean upper body mass, people will stare at you more, women will be interested in you and flirt with you more, men will respect your opinion more. If you gain 10kg of lean upper body mass (took me 3 months), your life will change irrevocably.
7. Drugs-they are WAY more prevalent in both bodybuilding and powerlifting than I thought. But, those two sports are also much, much more open about them.
Reading about their effects on the body in blogs and other firsthand accounts of their effects, and how many are not testable...I think most top runners if not all are on them. I mean...half of the HIGH SCHOOL football players in Texas are on d-bol for god's sake. Certainly in athetics the following are really common:
-some type of blood boosting agent
-masking agents/dieretics
-HGH (half the Jamacain sprint team has braces, it's not testable, and provides HUGE performance and recovery benefits. but...expensive)
-designer steroids
-stimulents/weight loss drugs
-testosterone
Drugs make a HUGE difference in performance and the more I read about them from firsthand accounts, the more I am shocked at how naive I was before. Centro with acne all over his back and braces...not even subtle about it.
8. The training is difficult in a different way than running. A lot of long distance runners ONLY can think in terms of mileage-but doing a set of 6x30m sprints, or a single max effort deadlift, or a few triples on the bench press are draining in an entirely different sort of way. Most runners never learn how to "turn on" 100% and thus even if they do some "strides" at the end of an easy run, don't get the same sort of fatigue. CNS fatigue is very real, however, and tiring in a way different way than "high mileage fatigue".
9. Deadlifting a heavy barbell is the single coolest thing ever. Standing there at lockout with a few hundred pounds in your hands is freakin awesome.
10. Most runners could benefit from time in the gym-weak/inactive glutes, weak hamstrings, poor hip stability, weak spinal erectors, no explosiveness and anteriorly tilted hips.
11. It is absolutely possible to maintain your running fitness ONLY running 2x per week. 3x per week can even increase it if you are doing the right workouts.
12. Easy runs do little for recovery and nothing for fitness.
13. What seperates the elite runners from the good runners is NOT aerobic fitness, it is biomechanics ONLY. Ask yourself, which will have a greater impact on your mechanics, that extra 5 miler at 7:30 pace, or squatting deep and heavy?
14. Get more protein. Runningart2004 was right. 1g/lb bodyweight MINIMUM.
15. EVERY running injury is preventable with better biomechanics, better training and
16. "The quality of what you do is much more important than the quantity" Peter Coe.
Man, how true that is. Really, anything slower than 7min/mile is a waste of time.
17. Most crossfitters run better than runners would crossfit. I bet they can run a marathon faster than you can clean and jerk 225lb...
18. Women will ignore a sixpack if you are skinny. Seriously. And most prefer chest and shoulders+four pack over thin and a six pack.
19. In the rest of the sports world, sprints and hill sprints and HIIT such as 300-400m repeats with short recovery...are their cardio, not their actual workouts.
20. Most runners probably have worse cortisol/testosterone ratios than my grandmother.
21. Most athletes work harder and put in way more time than runners. I'm sorry, but it's true. A top runner might be doing 2hrs of running a day, max, with maybe 1hr of supplemental work. Swimmers, crossfitters, gymnasts, bodybuilders etc might be spending upwards of 6-8hrs a day training.
22. That being said, it's possible to be in good shape only exercising 1 hour per WEEK if the exercise is intense enough.
23. Bodybuilding is probably the toughest sport mentally. They literally pump their bodies full of drugs, then eat 5000-10000 calories/day for weeks on end to gain as much muscle as (in)humanely possible, then diet for months so hard that they get down to 2-3% bodyfat. It literally hurts for them to walk on stage because the soles of their feet have been used to fuel their basic living functions.
24. Getting ripped and having "abs" is 100% diet. You won't get fat unless you continue eating the same terrible diet as before.
25. Provided you don't become a fat sack of dung, you can always go back to running at maximize your performance with 1-2 months of focus on that.
26. Taking a long break from running every year or two can make a career last much longer.
27. Middle distance running is probably 5% blood capillary development, 10% flexibility, 30% mechanics/power, 25% threshold, 30% VO2 max development.
Maximizing vo2 takes a matter of WEEKS, threshold takes 1-2 months tops.
Capillarization takes years, but isn't really that important. And once it is developed...you cannot develop it PAST it's maximal point.
Mechanics, power and flexibility are best improved by not running...or at least running LESS.
Running high mileage year round is moronic, not sustainable and counterproductive for long term health and performance.
28. I eat more calories at 80kg+gym than 70kg+10 miles running a day. And I look and feel way better.
29. Doors are easier to open.