Muscle Mass vs. Aerobic Development

increase their mileage a lot. if they are big strong guys and avoid running so much on pavement their bodies will handle it well and loose some of that muscle. you definitely want to focus them more on aerobic workouts like long runs, medium long runs, tempo runs, and steady states to develop that aerobic capacity. having muscle doesn't mean they can't develop it, it just means they will have more to carry. one thing that will help too is if they stop eating so much protein. because their bodies are naturally more muscular they don't need as much protein and this way their bodies will take protein from the excess muscle (thus reducing muscle) and use that protein for recovery. All of this come from first hand experience. as long as it is done patiently and not excessively their bodies wont be damaged. i went from 15:40 to 14:40 in one year by doing more aerobic based runs and loosing some of that excess muscle mass.

Totally agree with this post.

On the versus side to this argument, a runner like myself with VERY VERY little muscle mass but with good aerobic strength needs to work on the weights and building SOME muscle more than a building mileage. Knowing your strength and weaknesses as a runner is vital.

MMjrKenyan wrote:

i went from 15:40 to 14:40 in one year by doing more aerobic based runs and loosing some of that excess muscle mass.

Did you do any strength training during this time?

Show them pics of cross-country-skiers or rowers. This will make them relize they have been just too lazy until now.

Also you as a coach seem to be a bit too biased towards running prejuduces.

Have you considered trying these kids in events that are more suited to their body type? Maybe 400 or 800.

The best wait to reduce muscle mass is simply running more. Even still you may have a hard to near impossible time decreasing their muscle mass. Some people are just not built to run, but that doesn't mean they can't be very successful runners...

Use their muscle mass, their strength, to their advantage. If you can't reduce their muscle mass then increase the STRENGTH and POWER of their muscle mass. You can increase strength and power without increasing muscle size. Increased strength and power without increasing muscle mass leads to a higher strength to weight ratio which will lead to a faster runner, cyclist, etc.

My own personal example is running 4:27/9:32 as an all-state runner in single class Indiana back in '96; running a 1:09:40 half-marathon, 2:32:45 marathon, and 15:43 road 5k. I'm 5'6', 144lbs with 132lbs of fat free mass, 8% body fat. Even running upwards of 100-120 miles a week, averaging 100 miles a week for 12 weeks before that marathon PR, not eating a lot of protein, and not lifting weights, I simply do not lose muscle mass.

My suggestion to use that muscle mass to their advantage is what has worked for me: Plyometrics and dynamic strength training:

1. Double leg hops, single leg hops, box jumps, etc.

2. Squats, lunges, jump squats, split jumps onto a box, jump squats on/off a box

3. Basic strength training exercises: pushups, pullups OR bench press, dumbbell row, 10 rep squats

4. Speed drills, lateral drills, burpees, etc

5. LIGHT power exercises: cleans with just the bar, dumbell thrusters

6. Hills, hills, hills, hills, hills....

7. Run first, preferably on a hard training day, then strength train.

Alan

Do these athlete WANT to lose their muscle mass? Perhaps they participate in another sport that requires more muscle and have no desire to be an emaciated distance runner. How old are they? Or maybe they are in the wrong event and should be running a shorter distance. Why would you try to make then conform? Be a better coach and work with what you have.

Running Bear wrote:

Have you considered trying these kids in events that are more suited to their body type? Maybe 400 or 800.

One of the kids I have coming in is an 800m runner, but always looks good until 600m and he doesn't have the base to carry it through. I haven't coached this kid yet, but would like to get more of an aerobic base underneath him.

I'm going to throw out another perspective here :

It seems that the more explosive type runners that want to develop endurance have trouble doing so with the "normal" kind of endurance running. It may be that these runners have a higher natural muscular tension or different muscle fibre composition.

My experience is that those type of runners would rather benefit from a mix between three things : really,really easy runs but not too long. Short endurance reps with short recoveries for endurance work (for example 30-40 times 1 minute with 30 sec recovery - instead of "normal" 6 x 5 minutes of running)mixed in with track work, that they seem to handle well.

Just my thoughts,

Marius

amuscularguy wrote:

Do these athlete WANT to lose their muscle mass? Perhaps they participate in another sport that requires more muscle and have no desire to be an emaciated distance runner. How old are they? Or maybe they are in the wrong event and should be running a shorter distance. Why would you try to make then conform? Be a better coach and work with what you have.

These are college aged kids who want to be distance runners. I don't have alot to work with at this point so I am trying to develop what I do have. These athletes want to be better distance runners. One of the athletes simply does not have the speed to move down to the shorter events. Like I said, I am trying to work with what I have.