Too much mass for a runner? When to stope weightlifting.

I strongly suspect your coach wasn’t making a suggestion, rather an instruction.

As a freshman, I’m pretty sure there won’t be a whole lot of tolerance for questioning, much less ignoring instructions. Keep in mind that you’re accepting scholarship money - that carries with it some obligation to abide by the coaching rules

Achieving racing weight won't be enough to be the best in your region. You need . . . . something more. It's something that can't be measured so to speak.

https://media.giphy.com/media/84CRvhy2DJlwA/giphy.gif

Well, if running never materializes, you'll have no problems getting some ladies DMs coming your way with the time spent in the weight room. All joking aside though, based on your feedback, you have a great sense of athletic training. I'd just caution excess volume and reps. Reps in the 3-6 range will likely be your best friend, you'll get very strong, but without the "bulk." Running requires a lot of time, and the goal of the weight room for now, is to maximize running efficiency. I know you're young and pretty much superman at 19, but over training and nasty side effects can still happen. Keep close tabs on diet, sleep and stress management. A piece of advice I like sharing with college athletes, booze while tempting and a huge part of the culture, will wreck your gains and continually put more stress on the body. Athletes already demand a lot from our minds and body, and booze is no bueno. Keep up the great work!

Lifting 4 days a week is excessive for a distance runner. 2 is plenty. Heck, many great distance runners have never bothered with lifting at all. Listen to your coach.

I can agree with maybe LESS lifting but to cut it out altogether just wouldn't benefit me. Throughout my high school career, up until my last year, I didn't lift at all and I was weak as a kitten for it. And then the summer before the Senior year, I began lifting, and sure enough, come track season with about 8-9 month of working out under my belt, I improved by leaps and bounds. To give you perspective, in the great state of California I was decent (keyword 'decent') in my section junior year, and very competitive at the STATE level during my senior year. Gainings strength changed everything for me, and not just for the short distances.

J McFly wrote:

Also jumping in on this thread and would also appreciate a good diet/strength training plan to lose some of my, “done with running” gym weight. I posted on LR not too long ago through a different name (JFlo runs) about coming back to running/racing, but found my old account so I’ll be using this one.

Anyway, OP, have you thought about doing a bod-pod? It’s much more accurate than the skin pulling calipers and hopefully can give you some insight on how much lean body mass you have. A buddy also mentioned to me that I might be eating too much protein so maybe that could be an issue for you as well. I’m 5’10, 180 lbs btw.

The plan is simple : eat healthy and a bit less than what you should considering you level of activity, ~300kcal deficit/day that is.

I was with you until the California being great thing...

BigDawg33 wrote:

I can agree with maybe LESS lifting but to cut it out altogether just wouldn't benefit me. Throughout my high school career, up until my last year, I didn't lift at all and I was weak as a kitten for it. And then the summer before the Senior year, I began lifting, and sure enough, come track season with about 8-9 month of working out under my belt, I improved by leaps and bounds. To give you perspective, in the great state of California I was decent (keyword 'decent') in my section junior year, and very competitive at the STATE level during my senior year. Gainings strength changed everything for me, and not just for the short distances.

Well, why the hell did you post here, anyway? Your mind is made up; you know better than the coach. You don’t really seem to want advice from anyone here. Did you just want to be validated? It’s not going to happen, because you are focusing too much on lifting.

I knew guys like you in college, who thought they could do their own thing training-wise. It inevitably leads to bad relationships with coaches and teammates, and usually poor results, too.

Elevate Testosterone wrote:

Sounds like you have elevated testosterone and probably toxic masculinity. I'd start watching MSNBC and consuming more soy and IPA's.

lol

Buddy... I'm pretty sure I stated earlier in this post that I'm following what he is telling me to do, with no retaliation. I've respected any coach I've ever had and listened to them, but just to be clear just because they have the title of "coach" does not mean that they're the all-knowing running guru and should never be questioned. I've gotten a lot of great feedback and have been linked to some great articles that I've shared with my other teammates. That's why I posted here.

train for power, not mass, and quit thinking of yourself as massive and powerful.

You really aren't that strong yet. If you respond well to weights you can easily get much stronger, perhaps even losing a little weight.

I don't think I'm "massive and powerful"... Well, maybe I do compare to other runners, but to the rest of the population, no way Jose. As I said, I'm 6'3" 174, and that just isn't big at all in the world of absolute units. But I would like some clarification on your statement about me not being that strong yet, and responding well to weights. Really not trying to be snide here, I'm honestly interested in what you have to say

Sand Dunes wrote:

BigDawg33 wrote:

I mean I wouldn't be surprised, I'm a distance runner, not a bodybuilder. Anything 10% and under I'd be happy with.

Wrong mindset, anything under 10% is dangerous and is to be avoided for extended periods of time.

Link to a peer reviewed study?

What kind of times do you run? (200, 400, 800, 1500, 3k, 5k, 8k, 10k) Just to give an idea of how much worse you compete in the longer events.

What I meant is that compared to runners you know, 350 might seem like a big deadlift, but it is quite possible that if you don't limit yourself you might soon get to say 450 and reap benefits of further increases in power to weight ratio.

I saw a guy pull 545 yesterday weighing around 185.

Don't blow up your shoulders and arms, but functional strength is good.

Also in addition to slow heavy lifting, hit other parts of the force-velocity curve by adding some more dynamic lifts (pulls to your sternum etc).

1-2x week max. You’re doing too much volume. Stop swinging those dumbbells on your curls. You ain’t doing 40-45lb bicep curls. More like deltoid curls. Stop doing half reps on your shoulder press while you’re at it.

I would suggest: deadlift or trap bar deadlift, front squat or back squat, one each upper body push/upper body pull, single leg movement or explosive movement.

Alan

Never ran an official 200, but in my 4x200 workout with 30 seconds rest in Highschool I was running high 23s. I ran 50.4 in an open 400 standings start. 800 in 1:54.3, 1600 in 4:24, in the 3200 junior year I barely broke 10 but I was running alone and do believe I can run faster than that (it was my only 3200 of high school haha). 5k I ran 16:15 in high school, in my one 8k this season where I ran unattached I ran 26:42, and I ran a 6-mile road race in 33:08

I think I get what you're saying. Fewer reps with more weight while focusing on form. This question is directed to everyone, what are other collegiate distance programs doing in terms of weight training?

BigDawg33 wrote:

Never ran an official 200, but in my 4x200 workout with 30 seconds rest in Highschool I was running high 23s. I ran 50.4 in an open 400 standings start. 800 in 1:54.3, 1600 in 4:24, in the 3200 junior year I barely broke 10 but I was running alone and do believe I can run faster than that (it was my only 3200 of high school haha). 5k I ran 16:15 in high school, in my one 8k this season where I ran unattached I ran 26:42, and I ran a 6-mile road race in 33:08

Your 5k, 8k and 6 mile times suck relative to your times in the shorter distances. Losing some weight could help.