Importance of Pull-Ups for distance runners

NY runner wrote:

Coe was miler = Mid distance.

Lift for MD, not neccesary for D.

Last time I looked running is running - the same basic mechanics for the 1500 as for the 5000/10000.

If you are talking about maximizing the running training first - then we should all be doing 200 miles per week....yes?

i've found i'm capable of running more mileage without injury if i do some strength training. not a lot; i think i can put on too much muscle easily. just some push-ups, pull-ups, crunches whenever it fits in, usually twice a week or so. not regimented at all though. i get enough regimentation running, i save the strength for when i want to and really feel like it.... i do think it helps "balance me out", and i must keep my form more together or something, cause i really don't think i get hurt as often....

Had he done more weightlifting, Pre would have been able to pump his arms faster in the home stretch of the 5,000 in Munich.

Living in the Past wrote:

Had he done more weightlifting, Pre would have been able to pump his arms faster in the home stretch of the 5,000 in Munich.

Well, end of debate.

FWIW - we aren't Kenyans and do not have Kenyan genetics. Ask Craig "Buster" Mottram.

Brent wrote:

FWIW, I've read many stories about Europeans visiting training camps in Kenya, and one common theme is that the Kenyans have very little upper body strength. And I mean *very* little. Many of the Kenyans could not do a single pull-up and would struggle to complete even 10 push-ups.

Living in the Past wrote:

Had he done more weightlifting, Pre would have been able to pump his arms faster in the home stretch of the 5,000 in Munich.

This is hilarious! I just blew milk out of my nose. And I haven't had milk in a week!

Ever see the beef-brained high school football coach that tries to coach cross country and screams at his team of interval-trained weight room kings, "Use your arms!" as they're staggering, wheezing and clutching their sides in the middle of a 5k race? I can barely contain my urge to start yelling, "Yeah! Go to your arms! That'll work! Run with your aaarrrms!"

PTF wrote:

Pull-ups definitely helped my running..... to a point. It did not cause me to gain weight. Did 3 sets close to max 2-3 x week when I did them regularly. In particular, I noticed I was a little more powerful uphill. Also, I believe it cured my piriformis syndrome.....although I'd never be able to prove it.

I'm really interested in hearing what the correlation is -- if only because I've been doing (assisted) pullups for a year or so and my piriformis has also more or less gone away during that time. I would never have thought these were related. Thoughts?

definitely... that is why viren won, his huge arms

Living in the Past wrote:

Had he done more weightlifting, Pre would have been able to pump his arms faster in the home stretch of the 5,000 in Munich.

If your mileage is high enough, weight training will not add any unwanted bulk. For reasons not completely understood to the scientific community, the body of a high mileage runner naturally builds lean muscle instead of bulk everywhere on the body (likely because of an evolutionary adaptation to help hunter-trackers stay lean, or because the nutrients needed to build bulky muscle are depleted during the run).

Core and weight training are absolutely essential to running improvement. Although core is usually thought of as simply the abdominals, core strength for the runner is really the ability of your quads, hamstrings, gluteus, hips, abs, and lower back to work together to provide stability, efficiency, an power to the stride. Clearly essential to running performance.

The benefits of weight training are slightly harder to wrap your head around. First, upper body:

Upper body weight training should be high rep and low weight. There are a variety of reasons for building up muscular endurance and strength in the upper body. By doing so, the arms become slightly more efficient and less energy is required for that part of the stride. Also, weight training improves the body's ability to use insulin, thereby improving your metabolism. Any extra strength (as long as it's not bulk) is good for someone that is trying to do an activity as efficiently as possible (like running a 800, just take a look at David Rudisha). Lastly, he combination of a strong core and a powerful upper body allows the runner to transfer energy from the arms to the legs within each stride (try running with your arms behind your back- you have much less power and stability)

Now the lower body:

In addition to all the benefits of upper body weight training, power body adds one more element- a powerful stride. Lower body lifting should consist of high weight, low rep. The goal is not to gain endurance (you get that from running volume) but to gain power. As runners we develop mostly slow twitch muscle fibers. The goal with lifting is to develop some slightly faster twitch fibers to give each stride more power. Not only will this help an 800 runner, it will also help a marathoner. After all, half of the running motion is a jump, and we runners often neglect that part of our stride (if you don't believe me watch a video of Mo Farah. You can see all of these elements working together- the core strength, the upper body, and the elasticity and power of his stride).

Did you dig up a 7 year old thread to tell us all this nonsense?

do pullups for the chicks. Girls love muscle.