How much faster can you get from weightlifting

Your 55 for 400 meters is fast enough to run around 2:00 in the 800 if you have really good endurance, so I'd say you just don't run enough as others have said. Weight lifting helps your top speed. If you wanted to turn into a 400 meter runner then I'd say go all in on lifting along with your running. But if your focus is 800 I think you're already fast enough to run a decent 800 but you need to run more, you're probably not running very good tempo runs either. Get used to running more and longer sustained tempo efforts. I assume your short interval workouts are plenty fast.

Do you know your body fat percentage? Long slow distance running only, most likely a male runner will be stuck in (10 to 15)% body fat range. I don't want to sound mean but you are physically weak for a male. I doubt you are built like a light heavy weight boxer. If you want to get your body fat into (5 to 7 1/2)% range, total body weight training. I don't know how much weight training is correlated to 5000m & 10000m performance but Mo Farah began looking like a feather weight professional boxer when he began winning Olympic & W.C. medals. When M. Farah was in his early twenties, he looked like the typical let'srun skinny fat guy, in (10 to 15)% body fat range. In M. Farah's late twenties, he began total body weight training. I cannot even believe we are debating this for 100m to 800m athletes. Most on here race 5000m to ultras, so ... . If you want to listen to skinny fat guys brag about being able to race sub-1:50 800m without lifting, that's your choice. I thought almost all college coaches have their 400m & 800m gals & guys lifting.

Why sell yourself short? 55 with perfect endurance is only 1:50. You need 1:41-1:45 to be competitive. Get that 55 down to 46-47 and you have a chance.

Back squats and deadlifts are pretty much all you need.

Low reps and lift "heavy" weight (3x3x5). Squats to parallel, no need to go lower. Eventually, learn to do a power clean and do something along the lines of 3-5 sets doing 2-3 reps. Lift 2 times/week and after your workouts.

Contrary to what you might expect, this will be enough work. You will develop strong, powerful legs and core/back that will give you speed and make you more injury resistant. And you will be in and out of the gym in no more than an hour.

Yes. Resistance bands beat free weights and Olympic style lifts hands down. As your muscles contract isotonically they are able to handle more force/resistance. A free weight keeps same force through entire range of motion and therefore doesn't challenge/stress the muscle when it's at its shortest contractile length. And it may be too heavy in the early portion of range of motion which can lead to repetitive injuries over time. A resistance band provides the 'extra' force/resistance as muscle shortens/contracts through its range of motion, thereby making it stronger over its entire length. This is sometimes referred to as 'functional strength.' But specific exercises that actually improve biomechanical efficiency/power generation, thereby improving running efficiency/economy, etc, are much better for you, even as a 400/800 type athlete. Plyometrics, bounds, single leg squats, hops, burpees, hurdle drills, etc. Strength training is good at making the bones dense, which helps in injury prevention, but these other exercises will help in the economy/power side of the equation. I also suggest yoga that is specific to running/runners. Yoga focuses on eccentric/isometric muscle contraction, which is a great way to recruit more muscle fibers to contract within a muscle group. (Personal note: I used yoga and plyometric exercises in the 8 years I did martial arts. I saw more improvements with that than in all the years of 'free weight' or 'cross fit' type training, plus I was injured less!) Best of luck in your training and be smart. Add a little at a time over months. Most young athletes rush the process. Don't. Give yourself time.

I remember seeing a video of the original Bowerman TC guys like Teg and Solinsky in Europe doing a "weight routine" that consisted of some core and then using their shoes as "weights" for some upper body stuff. They made the point that they did real lifting as a part of their program back home, and they liked the power and efficiency benefits they got from it, but they emphasized that the main reason they lifted was it enabled them to RUN MORE.

As a few other posters have pointed out, the OP's 400 time indicates he should be capable of running significantly faster in the 800 that he has thus far. Lifting will probably result in some performance gains, but I think for the OP (and a lot of other people), the main long term benefit of resistance training for distance runners is that gaining strength should enable you to RUN MORE, and running more will be the bigger driver of long term improvement.

I agree that in this individuals case that running higher mileage will likely have a bigger impact on his 800 times than strength training but it doesn't have to be an either or unless you are in the middle of exams. Weight work doesn't need to take a lot of time you can get real benefits from 3x a week for 45 minutes per session. As others have said it is very helpful for injury prevention.

Personally I lift 3-4 days a week for an hour and it is easy for me to do during the work day as I have a home gym. A lot of people have gyms at their office or school. I run 55 miles per week and that takes me 8 to 10 hours including warm-up and cooldown. If one is efficient they can get a good mix of mileage and augment with strength training for 2 hours a day or less or they can do longer runs on weekend and only have a 90 minute commute per weekday.

Commitment not commute

I am assuming you meant that "this is a joke" refers to what you wrote below it.

Weightlifting is a pretty broad term. I think there are many good reasons for a distance to be on a proper and specific strength training program. Ab work makes a lot of sense. Lifting to correct a muscle weakness imbalance makes sense. Some evidence suggests that plyometrics or explosive lifts (like cleans) may aid in improving running economy.

If you are going to start lifting, get with someone knowledgeable (look for NSCA CSCS) or USA Weightlifting certified coach to teach you proper technique and to design a program for your running (along with overall health).

I know a guy who stopped to do lifting and plyometric exercises, but started to run a lot more(up to 70mpw).

In result, he got a lot slower at 1000m. And only minimal gains in 5k to hm.

Every runner MUST do strength and speed stuff if they want to be as fast as possible and stay healthy.

OP, don't listen to these people. Trust me and RunningArt, lol.

Bands can be useful aids in training. You can slap bands around your bar while you squat to achieve exactly what archimedeslever is saying here, more stress at the top of the lift. But to be honest, that's something a beginner shouldn't worry about.

Learn to squat, learn to deadlift, then start learning to clean. If you have no idea where to start, find a coach, or get really good at learning from YouTube. Start very light for at least a few weeks to make sure your form is down before you get heavy.

"Functional strength" is a weird phrase that has become incredibly bastardized over the past decade and archimedeslever's definition above is, well, totally made up. I have, like, THE BOOK on "functional training", or at least it used to be. It's by Jimmy Radcliffe, head of Oregon's strength department, or at least he used to be. Most of it is classic stuff: squat, clean, jerk, throw, jump, ...

If you get too into the "functional training" rabbit hole you'll start finding charlatans trying to sell you snake oil. There's nothing wrong with mixing it up and doing creative exercises, but once someone starts saying "barbell bad!" you know you're in the looney house.

Plyos are good though. You can make plyometric gains in the weightroom (cleans, weighted jumps, box jumps, ...) or you can make them on the track/field (all kinds of skips, hops, bounds, short sprints, ...).

he is not doing and ironman. triathletes have no respect for shorter distance! weight training like heavy squat or dead will help on events where you run off the blocks

this is dumb thinking. i ran 54.7 and 2:07 as a frosh. 4:52 1600m

endurance and strength is helpful for an 800m. Otherwise it's just natural talent, not some equivalent guarantee.

I did tons of lifting in high school. squats, cleans, bench press (like 200 lbs as a skinny 165lb 6'-1 dude.)

my teammate and and I ran 1:55-high in high school. we also split 49-mid in 4x400m. I ran like 4:30 1600m, he ran 4:42. terrible endurance.

we ran about 20 miles a week in track max.. all miles on track. no run longer than 3 miles. no tempos. no fartleks. all intervals were 150m to 400m. that's it. we trained as 400m runners. We both ran about 23-flat in the 4x200m relay our senior year

in college we both ran 1:51. 48-high 400m splits. one of us ran 4:06 mile. one ran 4:12. we could handle about 55-60 mpw. I ran 14:52 in the 5,000m one year

there were 47.x 400m runners on my college team who couldn't break 2:20 in the 800m because they were more sprinters than endurance dudes. it's more complex than you say "should". there are 4-minute milers who can't break 54

Instead of joining cross country this year, I played football. I improved my lifts a lot and I gained 12 pounds. This indoor track season, I matched my end of season 400 PR the first meet then hit it again while fasting. As for my 800 ability I don’t know what lifting did for that.

A legit weight training program can help quite a bit. Your legs will not feel as sore after races and workouts and work done in spikes, among other things.

My concern with the barbell bulgarian split squat (the photo above), is the balance required to perform the exercise. You can hold dumbbells instead, but then most people will be limited by the amount of weight they can hold not the amount of weight they can lunge.

I like lunges as simply movement based exercises used to warm up and get ready for something heavy or explosive, then split jumps or split squats as a more explosive movement, then the stationary exercies like front squats and trap bar deadlifts as the more strength oriented focus. If you have a knowledgeable coach helping you in the gym then it's different.

Most if not all trainees will use their back leg too much to drive their body up anyway, thuse defeating the whole purpose of a split squat, lunge, or single leg movement.

Alan

Nice humble brag, but I have no idea what your point is.

Matt London is a tremendous weightlifter and has run some incredible 10 yard dash times!