Summer Lifting

If you are a distance runner, it should be high reps low weight.

I'm more of a 1500/800 runner that also runs XC. But no it's not suppose to be reversed. Higher weight less reps is the way to go. Just need a solid summer or better yet yearly lifting program. I use to lift a lot in high school, now don't lift any especially lower body and can tell I don't have the power and speed to push me through those 1500's and 800's like I did in high school.

It's all about the kettlebells.

highly interested in this as well. same boat.

reverse wrote:

If you are a distance runner, it should be high reps low weight.

Wrong on every count. Unless you want to gain mass that I would recommend sticking with a more athletic approach of higher weight, lower reps.

if your interested in high weight low rep look up strong man's 5x5 it's the best running friendly weight lifting program most bang for your bike

Here's a very solid all-around lifting routine to get you started. You may want to add a few lifts specific to your weaknesses.

weeks 1-2 10-12 reps 3 sets

weeks 3-4 8-10 reps, 3 sets

weeks 5-6 6-10 reps, 4 set

weeks 7+ 5-6 reps, 5 sets

restm45-60 seconds between sets. The time between sets is what seperates functional strength from massy football player strength--they take 2-3 minutes.

NNothing comes for free--you'll need to get mass to get stronger. but 1-2 pounds of mass in the right place is well worth it, and that's all you should expect to retain long-term from a signle summer of lifting.

Control the weight slowly through the positive and negative (except on cleans). Focus on learning proper form. Use free weights whenever possible--prioritize dumbbells over barbells. That'll help work stabilizer muscles, develop coordination, and make sure that you are working in natural motions.

4 days a week, 40-60 minutes should be plenty.

Warm up with a jump rope/core routine. Do your main run after your lift.

Monday/Thursday: pull

pullups

cleans

lat pulldown

seated rows

one-armed rows

curls

forearm curls

Tuesday/Friday: push

Squat varieties to choose from: front, rear, one-legged

Deadlift OR step-ups

forward lunges

side lunges

leg extensions

leg curls

calves

Bench OR incline bench

triceps

Sample core/jump rope routine:

500 standard skips

30 situps

30 obliques

30 crunches

30 fish flops

15 donkey kicks either side

30 leg raises

500 skips--1 leg at a time

repeat core

10x: 1 skip left leg, 2 skips right, then reverse

10x 2 skips left leg, then 3 skips right, then reverse

core

pyramid from 1-10 on skips: that means 1 skip left leg, 1 right, 2 left, 2 right...all the way up to 10/10 and back down to 1/1.

As a distance runner you're going to need some aerobic benefit from your lift. I'd recommend going to a local crossfit gym and asking them for any suggestions.

That strongman type idea actually is a really good bang for your buck. If you only have a short period of time in the wieght room, do core lifts--that's great advice.

But the pull dimension is important to for functional strength. Strong lats/hamstrings don't make you look like a bodybuilder, but they're useful.

And if you have time you could add some military press to the push day I wrote above, or shoulder-raises. Not sure how important those motions are for running though.

Thanks for all the advice. When would be the best time to start lifting? I took all of last week off and this upcoming week I'm mostly cross training before I get back into running. Should I start this week or wait until after my X-training week? Don't wanna get into anything too early with an entire summer of mileage coming up.

4-6 reps --> strength without bulk

8-10 reps --> for getting big

12-20 reps --> doesn't do anything*

Gottagetbigga wrote:

4-6 reps --> strength without bulk

8-10 reps --> for getting big

12-20 reps --> doesn't do anything*

*Except this is not true

P.Whelan wrote:

12-20 reps --> doesn't do anything*

*Except this is not true[/quote]

Ok, what does it do? Aerobic stimulus? From swinging your arms with tiny weights 20 times. You get this when you are running, only then you get like 10,000 reps during a 6 miler. But not much difference.

12-20 reps obviously would do something, just not build the type of strength that someone would be looking for. Thats what I did a lot of in high school. More reps and less weight.

As I did get stronger I also got a lot bigger. Definitely would have been more beneficial to incorporate heavier weights to gain more strength instead of size, considering I'm already big for a runner at 6'2 185 lbs.

I also kept the leg weights light on reps. I never did any squats or olympic style lifts including heavier weights. That's why I'm ready to start throwing those type lifts in my weight lifting routine this summer, as I feel they will benefit me greatly, especially someone at my size.

Base Weights wrote:

12-20 reps obviously would do something, just not build the type of strength that someone would be looking for.

Lol, so you're saying it builds strength that no one is looking for?

Also, worth pointing out that this is the regime that most ladies are doing - they call it "toning". However, it does NOT work.

Awesome info in here, thanks for taking the time to type this up. Just to confirm: you are saying that from week 7 onwards do 5/6 reps for 5 sets off ~1min recovery for all exercises?

What kind of weight should be used here? Enough to go to failure by the end of the 5th set for all exercises or what?

I was under the impression that when lifting with a low rep range the goal was to improve neuromuscular strength (muscle recruitment) and that to do this your CNS needs to recover between sets (5 mins +) What am I missing?

Yes, the strength that you get from also increasing your body mass. regardless your going to build strength from lifting weights that way, trust me I would know considering lifting that way improved my max to 225. But it also increased my my size, something I didn't need as a runner, especially being as big as I am already.

I'm in the same boat. From doing some research I thought you were suppose to do about a 3min rest between sets, and then a 5 min rest between exercises?

Lifting weights does not convert to faster racing. You get faster by running faster. At worst, lifting weights increases your chance of injury. At best, you add unnecessary muscle mass which will slow you down.