What weight lifting should I be doing for the upcoming cross country season?

skinnyhsrunner wrote:

I'm a junior with a pr of 15:40 in the 5k but I've never lifted a day in my life which would explain my 5'9 125 builds. I need to start lifting but I don't know what exercises to do, or where to even start. HELP?!?

Why do you need to start lifting? It sounds like your training is working so far.

Start with body weight exercises- push ups, pull ups inverted rowing for upper body. squats on 1 and 2 legs, 1 legged Romanian dead lifts, lunges, step ups, glute bridges for lower body. When and if you start weights do horizontal pulls and pushes, vertical pulls and pushes, some form of squat and dead lift .

My closing speed is lacking and I need to strengthen muscles.

Ultimately, your goal is to become a better distance runner (not a better gym-goer). Thus, you want to get stronger without getting much bigger/heavier. To do this, you should focus on lifting relatively heavy weights for a low amount of repetitions (5 or less per set). Upon getting stronger; you should lift heavier, not more.

Personally, I am a fan of the french contrast method. The basic premise of this training is that you would pair a set of a weighted excersise (as described above) with an unweighted plyometric excersise which uses the same muscle groups (for example, squats and box jumps).

goodlifts wrote:

Ultimately, your goal is to become a better distance runner (not a better gym-goer). Thus, you want to get stronger without getting much bigger/heavier. To do this, you should focus on lifting relatively heavy weights for a low amount of repetitions (5 or less per set). Upon getting stronger; you should lift heavier, not more.

Personally, I am a fan of the french contrast method. The basic premise of this training is that you would pair a set of a weighted excersise (as described above) with an unweighted plyometric excersise which uses the same muscle groups (for example, squats and box jumps).

The OP is a beginning HS runner not an adult. Keep it very simple.

Push ups

coach wrote:

goodlifts wrote:

Ultimately, your goal is to become a better distance runner (not a better gym-goer). Thus, you want to get stronger without getting much bigger/heavier. To do this, you should focus on lifting relatively heavy weights for a low amount of repetitions (5 or less per set). Upon getting stronger; you should lift heavier, not more.

Personally, I am a fan of the french contrast method. The basic premise of this training is that you would pair a set of a weighted excersise (as described above) with an unweighted plyometric excersise which uses the same muscle groups (for example, squats and box jumps).

The OP is a beginning HS runner not an adult. Keep it very simple.

Good news is, you're young and wanting to do this right. Keeping it simple like coach said is important. You're in a huge period of growth and development, and capitalizing on that will help you years from now. In the age of internet transparency, there is a lot of great info out there, but ultimately, everybody's body responds differently. Starting with mastering a squat, lunge and step up (starting with your bodyweight is important), push up and pull ups are great upper body moves that won't "bulk" you up. Toss sit ups out the window, they're not efficient and the move puts strain on the lower back and can lead to core imbalances. Front and side to side planks are excellent for stability and core engagement. As time passes and you feel confident with your form on body weight moves, begin to add weight, but NEVER sacrifice form for moving a rep, that defeats the purpose. Lastly, if you're at that point to start throwing some weight around, investing into a Kettlebell would be a great supplement to your running. They're versatile and simple enough to use. Be patient, eat well, REST. All the best to ya.

one arm pull ups, dragon flags, pistols

keep it simple

Dude 123 wrote:

one arm pull ups, dragon flags, pistols

keep it simple

Are you trying to rip his shoulders from their sockets?

Dude 123 wrote:

one arm pull ups, dragon flags, pistols

keep it simple

+1

But don' t forget iron cross and planche push ups

Push ups.

Pull ups.

Squats with JUST THE BAR, don't add any weight, and don't even do one until you review proper technique on YouTube and ask anyone in the weight room who might the helpful. Watch the techniques of those squatting a lot of weight. Do what they do, with no weight other than the bar.

FFF wrote:

Push ups.

Pull ups.

Squats with JUST THE BAR, don't add any weight, and don't even do one until you review proper technique on YouTube and ask anyone in the weight room who might the helpful. Watch the techniques of those squatting a lot of weight. Do what they do, with no weight other than the bar.

So 2/3 exercises for upper body? 2/3 exercises done for muscular endurance and not strength?

Ask yourself....why do you want to lift? Increase strength in the running muscles to improve running economy?

Heavy weight lifting and Plyos has been shown to improve running economy....so that’s your end point.

You get there by using light weights, 10-15 reps, 3 sets, not to failure, just learning the movement. Then progress to: warm up, ramp up to a 4-6 rep max....max weight you can handle with good form for 4-6 reps.

What exercises?

Trap bar deadlift and front squat (cross arm grip probably easier for you). Why? They are easy to learn and hard to mess up. Meaning it’s almost impossible to not pull a trap bar the right way (in relation to other deadlift variations) and if you start leaning too far with a front squat the bar will just roll off your arms anyway.

So 1 month learning the movements, then 2-3mo strength, then add Plyos (box jump 2-3 sets of 5, split box jump 2-3 sets of 5).

1-2x days a week. More during off season, less during in season.

As you get better and progress and get more comfortable you can progress to heavier (1-3rm) or more complex (weighted Plyos, squat presses, etc). But that will take a while (months, years).

Alan

Do you even lift bro?

What do you recommend for upper body?

For runners? Minimal. Maybe dips and pullups. Weighted if need be. Not too many reps.

Alan

goodlifts wrote:

Ultimately, your goal is to become a better distance runner (not a better gym-goer). Thus, you want to get stronger without getting much bigger/heavier. To do this, you should focus on lifting relatively heavy weights for a low amount of repetitions (5 or less per set). Upon getting stronger; you should lift heavier, not more.

Personally, I am a fan of the french contrast method. The basic premise of this training is that you would pair a set of a weighted excersise (as described above) with an unweighted plyometric excersise which uses the same muscle groups (for example, squats and box jumps).

What??? NO NO NO, OP should be lifting low weight high rep. His actual muscle strength means virtually nothing, We are not trying to make him a 100m dash specialist here. Low weight high rep works on muscle endurance, which is what a DISTANCE RUNNER needs in his/her muscles. ^^^This strategy will make his sprints faster and long distance actually slower.

Please research type 1 and type 2 (fast and slow twitch) muscle fibers before informing distance runners of how to lift.

skinnyhsrunner wrote:

My closing speed is lacking and I need to strengthen muscles.

Mo Farah has abysmal speed and he is better than all of us at 5k, 10k. Don't worry about your speed and be a 10k specialist in college, getting faster closing speed won't really help you, it will only negatively impact slow twitch fibers. Your 15:45 is phenomenal for high school anyway you shouldn't worry about other little factors just keep running

Runningart2004 wrote:

Hardloper wrote:

What do you recommend for upper body?

For runners? Minimal. Maybe dips and pullups. Weighted if need be. Not too many reps.

Alan

Horizontal pulling (rowing), horizontal pushing (push ups), vertical pulling (pull ups) vertical pushing (jerk presses), inch worms, bear walks, leaped and or Spider-Man crawls.

You're a HS junior get healthy and fit.