LateRunnerPhil wrote:
Doing very heavy squats and deadlifts with few reps and sets will probably have a much bigger (positive) impact on your running than the bodyweight and 15lbs dumbbells stuff. You should be using 50 lbs dumbbells or something at least, a DB bench or shoulder press with 2x15 lbs isn't gonna do anything for a guy who used to bench 205 pounds.
Also 3x20 min really isn't much, Farah, Rupp, Hasay all were in the weight room for hours each week (3x90 min or so, at least). How are you going to know if the 3x20 min bodyweight/15 lbs dumbbells were the thing that made you faster and not just that you kept training for a while or dropped or your weight? Always better to change 1 variable at a time and evaluate after.
It seems that you might think I am a newbie or novice runner looking for ways to “get faster”. This is not really the case. When fully fit, I am a low 2:20s marathon guy (not a “flex” just adding some context). Serious strength training and/or 5k running hold
very little appeal to me as they don’t seem like the optimum ways for me to focus my limited training time. I was just posing a fun question while highlighting the minor changes that I have made to my basic fitness routine. It has been eye opening to see the improvements that have come from these baby tweaks.
I do recognize that I am naturally good at lifting (well... good at benching at least). I had the top bench max in the state in the 132 lb weight class as a sophomore in HS (240 lbs) back in ‘04 lol. Unfortunately my total of 880 lbs only placed me 6th overall as there were some monster squat and deadlift dudes. I have not incorporated real weight training as an adult because I don’t really have the time and it has never seemed “worth it”. It is hard enough to get my mileage in when I am actually training in earnest. You may be changing my thinking though. Would heavy stuff + 85 mpw be more valuable than what the light DBs + 100 mpw? Genuine question. I think that would roughly be the time trade off I would need to make.
Anyways, you seem knowledgeable and I would be interested in picking your brain about the benefits of weight training for ultras (I am running JFK in November with hopes of threatening 6 hrs). If you have a burner email, I would love to discuss this in a miles anonymous and more productive way versus on this silly thread.