Stronglifts 5x5

Sprinters need to lift, but even they need to do some higher rep workouts to get ready for those 5 x 5s you are talking about.

Distance runners should stay to 10 repetitions or more. If you bulk up easy cut back on the lifting. You do not have to be very strong in the upper body to run a fast mile! I would not do 5 x 5s for the lower body either, but if you do not have hills, lifting can help.

Actually no lifting is better for most distance runners. Instead do short hill repeats and hilly runs.

This is an Arthur Lydiard maxim and Craig Virgin never needed to lift weights either as he got enough exercise on the farm and running hills!

5x5 would be overkill for a runner that is training. The volume and intensity is too high to recover from unless your running was cut down to "maintenance" levels.

As a distance runner, you should stick to lower volume, moderate to high-intensity weights (without grinding or seeing form breakdown).

Example would be: working gradually (ramping) up to a top set of 3-5 for squats with a few reps in the tank. Same for overhead pressing, pulling, etc.

If you have NO experience lifting, then higher rep DB work is good to get your connective tissue ready. DB Incline Press, Goblet Squats, DB Rows, Chin-ups, etc.

Contrary to popular belief, distance runners benefit from higher intensity, lower rep work. As long as you DON'T GRIND with weight that is TOO heavy, and as long as form is good.

Working to top sets of 7, 5, and 3 through the week is a good stimulus. Hit a hip hinge movement, an upper press, an upper pull, and whatever vanity work you choose. Calf raises are always smart.

5 x 5 could be just fine, though 3 x 5 might be a tad better. Keep the weight moderately difficult, and always keep some reps in the bank. That is, don't go to failure.

Don't do reps of 10 or more. That is garbage. 8-12 reps is the main rep range for hypertrophy, the last thing you want. Getting over 10 also leads more towards endurance. That is what you do every day you run. Make your strength work your strength work. 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps.

If you do notice you are struggling to recover from your lifting sessions or your running sessions, cut back to 2 weight sessions a week.

Also, it might be good to know what your events are and how strong you are right now.

The Stronglifts program is not conducive to running. The whole purpose of 5x5 is to go to near failure with heavy weight to increase max strength. Following the program you move up in weight until you cannot complete a full 5x5, you will get there quicker than you think. Do that with squat 3x/wk plus deadlift 2x/wk as the program suggests and your legs will be trash.

So no, the purpose of Stringlifts 5x5 is not in line with your goals. If you modify it to 1x/wk and not to failure you are no longer doing that program. One time per week Squat/DL is plenty for most runners in my opinion.

If you are new to lifting i would suggest starting off with one legged deadlift and bulgarian split squat to build up your basic strength and stability before moving on to heavy squats and DL. .

Hopefully you're getting enough muscular endurance training from running, and don't need to stimulate your body that way by lifting. Low rep high weight lifting is a stimulus that you cannot get from running. Hill running, sprinting, etc. are all good and should be part of a well-rounded training regimen, but I personally feel strongest when lifting heavy, and I also feel like my hill running and sprinting improve noticeably after I've been in the groove of lifting heavy.

Currently I only road race since I'm not a collegiate runner, so it ranges from 5k to the half. Right now I can squat 150 3 x 6 and deadlift 100 3 x 5. I might be slightly off here since it has been a couple weeks, but I used to lift in high school and got up to 270 squat, 135 bench, and 225 deadlift. So I'm vastly weaker than I was then, and back then I was an 800/1600 runner

After a couple months of getting after the 5x5 stronglifts I gained like 25lbs, also should be noted that I cut my mileage from 70 to 25mi/wk, however I still think this type of setup is going to make you gain weight quickly with all the squats and deadlifts involved.

Jed Clampett wrote:

Sprinters need to lift, but even they need to do some higher rep workouts to get ready for those 5 x 5s you are talking about.

Distance runners should stay to 10 repetitions or more. If you bulk up easy cut back on the lifting. You do not have to be very strong in the upper body to run a fast mile! I would not do 5 x 5s for the lower body either, but if you do not have hills, lifting can help.

Actually no lifting is better for most distance runners. Instead do short hill repeats and hilly runs.

This is an Arthur Lydiard maxim and Craig Virgin never needed to lift weights either as he got enough exercise on the farm and running hills!

Did I wake up in 2006 again? Do we really have to go over this?

I thought that this sounded a little dated. But, maybe some people don't know. Like, my uncle ran in the 70s and had a 880 PR of 1:54 and mile PR of 4:45 and he still thinks low weight, high reps are the way to go. Same with trying to get me to train by heart rate

1 2 3 green wrote:

The whole purpose of 5x5 is to go to near failure with heavy weight to increase max strength. .

Looking at the program, I don't think that's accurate at all. The purpose of increasing weight is progressive overload, not to "go near failure." For a large majority of the weightlifting sessions, you should not be reaching failure.

I did the Stronglifts 5x5 program at first I thought it was weak and lame. 9 months later my legs were massive my chest was huge. I was a lot bigger and stronger. I was not getting faster in distance running. My distance running starting going down slowly because I was gaining weight and feeling exhausted on speed workouts. I was happy with my 5'11" 185lb frame at 7% bodyweight but was missing my running more. I felt more sane and less tired running 75 miles a week rather than lifting more and more weight with every lifting workout. Not to mention eating all the food in the house lol. Plus, I was going to have to buy new clothes too...I still lift but I lift with higher reps and lesser weight. So......the 5x5 program works great but I wouldn't recommend it for a distance runner. I'd suggest a higher rep type of workout for distance running IMO.

Single-legged squats FTW.

I am also working with super-slow/high-intensity lifting. Great for forma and low injury risk and gives you time-efficient, tie-under-tension gains.

Anyone had success with box jumps?

In high school I definitely got faster doing pylos. My kick in particular. But **** me were they hard since we had to do them every so often for cross and track. It was like a minute or two, all out, for each of the three heights we had; which felt like an eternity. And then we went out for our daily run. Suffice it to say, but my legs were dead from the outset. Never been fitter in my life though