Integrating Running and Strength Training

If your main focus is running, you only need 3 lifts per week. Core every day is fine, but don’t take as much time doing it. Pick 4-5 core exercises and do 3 sets of them.

Final question, what is the purpose of the 5 mile threshold run? It may be contributing to your fatigue.

If you become more serious with running all that lifting is going to be too much.

Likewise, if you become more serious with lifting all that running is going to be too much.

You will reach a point where the running will interfere with your lifting gains OR the lifting will make you too sore to run effectively.

So what's your goal?

Alan

muddyxc wrote:

If your main focus is running, you only need 3 lifts per week. Core every day is fine, but don’t take as much time doing it. Pick 4-5 core exercises and do 3 sets of them.

Final question, what is the purpose of the 5 mile tempo run? It may be contributing to your fatigue.

I meant tempo

OP, I did weights once or twice a week once I was running seriously.

The problem is the legs can't do much of a workout after weights, so we would jog slowly about 3 miles to loosen them up for the next day.

Also, running is not weight-lifting, so the weights are a supplement to improve running, and not vice versa.

I did lift a lot when a freshman, but I wasn't 'running much. I started running in the spring, and ran with the CC team starting after my freshman year.

If you are lifting and doing core work every other day, that would still be a lot, but no reason not to do so right now.

As to repeat miles (4 x mile)...I would never do such a workout, especially in HS.

That's for people out of college and who are slowly developing some interval skills to incrementally improve their 5k or 10k times.

Run 200s, or 300s, or ladders (600m, 400m, 200m, 400m).

Running Rewired by Jay Dicharry. He walks you through what to do and when to do it.

You’re doing too much weigh training. Once, maybe twice in the early season, is all you need as a runner. Lift heavy and let your legs recover fully. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness peaks about 48 hours after a lift and/or interval session. I lift the evening after an interval workout/quality session. Bodyweight training is fine 3x per week

It needs to be said even though you probably will not like it or listen either but maybe you will.

At 13 you can work on core and body weight exercises. Do them in conjunction with your harder running days after your running workout.

Don’t introduce weights until you are at least 15 or are past your growth spurt. You don’t need it and it will not help your running at this point.

Thanks for all of the replies. As for the weights, I stay light and do high reps so I don’t put on too much mass and so that what I do put on is lean. I don’t go underneath 15 reps of an exercise with weights. Do you really think that using weights will be a problem? Also, the point of the 5 mile threshold is just to get me used to running longer at a faster pace. I could see that contributing to fatigue but I think that I’m at a good ratio of easy to hard workouts. It seems like your guys’s main point is to change weight training to 3 days a week. Also, I will take a look at that book. I appreciate all of the advice

Aldruns wrote:

Thanks for all of the replies. As for the weights, I stay light and do high reps so I don’t put on too much mass and so that what I do put on is lean. I don’t go underneath 15 reps of an exercise with weights. Do you really think that using weights will be a problem? Also, the point of the 5 mile threshold is just to get me used to running longer at a faster pace. I could see that contributing to fatigue but I think that I’m at a good ratio of easy to hard workouts. It seems like your guys’s main point is to change weight training to 3 days a week. Also, I will take a look at that book. I appreciate all of the advice

The question isnt necessarily will using weights be a problem but rather are they needed or can body weight exercises suffice.

Lifting heavy with low reps (3-6) won't make you big, just increase your strength. You can wait till high school to do this type of training though. Right now, what you are doing is working strength endurance, using light weight for sets of 15+, this is fine 2-3x per week.

You can effectively "micro load" bodyweight movements with light dumbbells, I would say that would be better than air squats or non-loaded lunges. Why restrict yourself? Do goblet squats and reverse lunges/Bulgarian split squats with light weights. Also, calf raises, hip thrusts, and single-leg RDL's are good ones. Push ups will works core as well. If pull ups aren't an option, pause repping bent-over rows may be a good alternative.