Will getting bigger chests & arms slow me down

Jakx123 wrote:

Hey LRC,

I'm a high schooler, 5'9-5'10 i'm not sure. I am pretty skinny but I have gotten relatively bigger in the past month. I have been doing a lot of work on my arms and chest. If I have bigger arms and chest will this slow down my 5k? I can't name any 5kers at the top of my head that are "bulky".

Chest, probably not unless you get a HUGE chest. Arms, yes, if you have huge biceps and shoulders, it will be more weight to carry at the longer distances. Huge biceps and shoulders are probably a disadvantage at any distance above 400m.

You can probably increase your bench max without increasing your body weight that much, until a certain point.

Yes, take a look at elite runners they do not look like american bro’s.

Yes, it will probably cost you around 10 seconds in the 5K.

You have to decide whether getting the respect of other men, admiring looks from hot chicks, the ability to handle yourself in a fight etc is worth going from 16:30 to 16:40.

I doubt it. I had a teammate running sub 16 who was on the muscular side. Before every race he would be stared down at the start line, he once even bodied a teammate of ours mid race.

18 inch biceps wrote:

Yes, it will probably cost you around 10 seconds in the 5K.

You have to decide whether getting the respect of other men, admiring looks from hot chicks, the ability to handle yourself in a fight etc is worth going from 16:30 to 16:40.

?‍❤️‍?‍??

These kinds of side interests in cosmetic things probably shows a lack of commitment.

What’s wrong with not wanting to be a stick

wifersatsh wrote:

What’s wrong with not wanting to be a stick

Where did I say there was anything wrong with that? I didn't. I asked if it is connected to lack of commitment to running, I personally don't care what people do. There's nothing wrong with not being serious about running either, or being serious about it enough to not waste a minute on looks.

Everydog wrote:

These kinds of side interests in cosmetic things probably shows a lack of commitment.

Correct, if you want to run fast, run fast.

If you want flounce about, well then just flounce about.

Depends on what your body is like now. No getting stronger and a little bigger will not slow you down. It'll actually make you better. But you should not only work on your beach muscles lol. You have to work on your legs as well. Probably more leg worn than anything in your sport.

Honestly I doubt you'll get much bigger to really matter because I doubt you'll do what it takes to get bigger while running and burning so many calories. But getting stronger helps in all sports.

Maybe you should ask Ryan Hall, he went from beeing a God trained stick to a greek "god" himself...just saying

Jakx123 wrote:

Hey LRC,

I'm a high schooler, 5'9-5'10 i'm not sure. I am pretty skinny but I have gotten relatively bigger in the past month. I have been doing a lot of work on my arms and chest. If I have bigger arms and chest will this slow down my 5k? I can't name any 5kers at the top of my head that are "bulky".

Check out Ryan Hall’s latest 5k times and see what you think...

From the south wrote:

Maybe you should ask Ryan Hall, he went from beeing a God trained stick to a greek "god" himself...just saying

Hah. I didn’t see this til after I posted.

A lot of cross country skiers are fast 5kers and especially can smash hill climbs despite carrying their upper body weight uphill. Alan Webb could run pretty fast too and was probably more built than you.

https://cdn.letsrun.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/webb3001.jpg?d4ad87

Patrick Anderson, 3rd this at FL Nationals was built like a truck. Matt Strangio isn't small, and neither are many other athletes.

If you're running seriously (50+ mi/wk), you won't put on the kind of muscle that would seriously slow you down. The body just won't.