Who has quit running and started lifting weights? Results?

Moby Dick wrote:

I'm a 17:50's 5k guy. I realized, who the heck cares? I don't love "running", I simply love fitness. This week I quit running and did my first full week of weight lifting at the gym. I got to eat more, and it felt good to hit the weights. I just don't know how to balance the cardio. I'm committing to 2 months of this and then deciding what to do: return to running, or continue to bulk up. Anyone quit running (almost completely) and were able to go from skinny runner to a more fit muscular look but not quite Ryan Hall look?

Not sure what you mean....Ryan Hall is still skinny.

At 30 I decided I just couldn't keep putting in the 2x training and it was just getting harder and harder to maintain. I was never a typical runner and never had a typical runners build....5'6" 140-43lbs. So I stopped running as much and started lifting. Got up to 165lb, then cut and did a bodybuilding show and placed 5th in my class....won a sword.

Flash forward 8 yrs I'm 39, I lift and run 10-20mi a week. 5'6", 175lb, 5:00 mile, Bench 225x5, Squat 285x5, Deadlift 345x5. I run enough to enjoy it, I run every other day-ish.

Alan

What is your diet like?

Alactic wrote:

QOTD:

Moby Dick wrote:

I'm kind of tired of looking like a distance runner when I'm only capable of running 17:50's.

.

Fastest running weight + 15 lbs muscle = sweet spot. You don't look like an Auschwitz survivor and can still do almost everything efficiently.

Our ancestors not only had to run down game, they had to slay it once they arrived. The typical Cro Magnon man was 6'0" and 165 lbs..

Mid D runners are perfect

HonestlyTho wrote:

I quit for a year and came back to running as lifting didn't have the same fun/social atmosphere, in fact it was super gay.

Are you sure you weren't just going to a gay gym...?

4:20 miler wrote:

What is your diet like?

Plant based, Whole Foods. I've added in an extra meal each day the last week and am trying to hit about a 60/20/20 macro breakdown. I'm tracking calories and will adjust as needed. I'm not sure what my X is yet. I know in order to gain weight and muscle I need to eat about X + 200, but I'll have to figure out X

After college I totally quit running and went into competitive bodybuilding. In a few years, I went from 150 (5-7) to 195. Had a 375 lb bench, 450 squat & a couple of 3rd places in statewide bodybuilding competitions. Shortly thereafter, I developed cardiovascular disease (wasn't doing any cardio).

Quit bodybuilding & powerlifting and went back to running. Lost weight and got back down to 165. CV disease all but gone & much healthier.

Will never to do it again...

Bob the "former" Bod wrote:

After college I totally quit running and went into competitive bodybuilding. In a few years, I went from 150 (5-7) to 195. Had a 375 lb bench, 450 squat & a couple of 3rd places in statewide bodybuilding competitions. Shortly thereafter, I developed cardiovascular disease (wasn't doing any cardio).

Quit bodybuilding & powerlifting and went back to running. Lost weight and got back down to 165. CV disease all but gone & much healthier.

Will never to do it again...

That's fair and I appreciate the honesty and the story. My plan is not to go competitive, matter of fact nothing even close. I simply want to do it for long enough to pack on some muscle, get confident in a weight lifting program, then come back to running BUT not come back to running 60-70 mile weeks. My "dream goal" is to get a much better looking body in the next year, return to running while trying to maintain SOME/MOST of that muscle.

The whole point is it's near impossible to actually build up your body while maintaining running 50+ mile weeks, right? That's universally agreed upon. (sure, there might be an exception who did it perfectly, but it's 1 out of 100 that can actually get it done). So I'd like to dial running back to 5-8 miles per week (from 50-70), build up my body over a year period or so, then come back to a more balanced "gym/run" bro routine. I'd be just as happy running a 18:50 or 19:50 than I am running a 17:50.

I was a 17 flat 5K/2 flat 800m guy in high school and pretty scrappy. I lifted off and on from 7th grade throughout highschool but even at graduation, I was about 5'7"/120lbs. In college, I went down the path you are describing. I ran off and on, but didn't try to join the XC or track team, did kick boxing, joined ski team, and did a sht ton of lifting to 'get big'. By Junior year in college, I was same height, about 155 pounds, maxed out on the bench at 250 lbs, got hurt, and never really lifted significantly since. But I got flabby, out of shape, and even though I started running regularly at 30, never really got below 150-155 pounds since. While I don't like to keep regrets, I sometimes wonder how I would have progressed as a runner if I kept at it throughout college and in my 20s. Ah well, life is full of decisions!

For those who like lifting more but want more cardio, understand you can do cardio with weights. I frequently do 30 minute cardio workouts purely based off weightlifting. It doesn't always have to be high weight or high intensity.

I have been a runner almost my entire life. I used to try and run with the middle school cross country team when I was in elementary school. I kept that up through high school and college but I was never a fast guy. Mostly because I am extremely injury prone and could never build mileage up to what you need to really have good times. I fall apart anywhere past 50-60 miles per week. I started doing races for fun or that were challenging in other ways like ultra marathons. I am in my mid 30's and my oldest brother is in his early 40's now. We both still run but he has significantly more natural talent than I do. I can bust my butt for 6 months to do a race and he will still beat me with half the training. I stopped training for races last year. It just wasn't fun anymore for me. I still run but just when I feel like it which ends up being about 15 maybe 20 miles per week. The rest of the days I used to run I weight train instead. My body does not respond well to weight training in the way most people want (big chest, huge arms). I look more like a white Bruce Lee, you can tell there is muscle but it isn't bulky. I don't really care though, I enjoy the extra strength. Lifting things is easier, I am way more helpful when friends need help moving. Stuff like that. I am about 10 pounds heavier than when I was running but on a 5'7" frame that is a bit.

My advice is if you quit running find something physical you like to replace running with, especially if you like the social aspect. Rock climbing is great, I started doing a pick up basketball game (everybody is terrible so me sucking doesn't matter).

I went from 165 to 185 in a few months after lifting and doing zero cardio - I'm 6'3" btw. My friends went from 175 to 220 in a year after college and look huge. They were 800m runners. We all feel much stronger and overall better about our bodies which is nice. I never realized how shitty I felt about my body as a runner. Like I liked my body as far as running - but in the real world being bigger is better and you feel way more confident. I can actually lift my girlfriend up and not feel like a child. I feel bad seeing all the skinny runners out there now still running. And seeing Ryan Hall do it helped, but he's skill skinny af. Like I remember wanted to lift and feel like a human, but staying skinny and disgusting is the thing to do in running. Also having more testosterone is a +. Tbh I could never go back. It's nice knowing girls actually think I'm somewhat strong.

Also I want to note that you need to eat a ton if you want to gain weight. Lifting is only half of it.

BasicallyWhereIam wrote:

My advice is if you quit running find something physical you like to replace running with, especially if you like the social aspect. Rock climbing is great, I started doing a pick up basketball game (everybody is terrible so me sucking doesn't matter).

This ^^^^ I wouldn't have even considered doing a basketball game in the past couple years because "what if I got hurt and couldn't hit my weekly mileage."

Bob the "former" Bod wrote:

After college I totally quit running and went into competitive bodybuilding. In a few years, I went from 150 (5-7) to 195. Had a 375 lb bench, 450 squat & a couple of 3rd places in statewide bodybuilding competitions. Shortly thereafter, I developed cardiovascular disease (wasn't doing any cardio).

Quit bodybuilding & powerlifting and went back to running. Lost weight and got back down to 165. CV disease all but gone & much healthier.

Will never to do it again...

Correlation does not equal causation.

CV disease is not caused by lifting weights. It was probably the diet and stress of competing. Cutting weight, bulking, repeat.

Alan

I have tried to get more into weight lifting, but find the workouts boring. The results are nice to see, but lacking the feeling of being outside and getting the HR up for sustained periods of time isn't the same. I find my mood is significantly better after cardio sessions of 60 minutes or so. I also end up missing the competitiveness from running, as to compete in lifting requires greater time and discipline, unless you want to be completely embarrassed.

Here's what I've ended up liking, since I can't seem to stay healthy running higher mileage...Run about 25 MPW, including some workouts (especially uphill). Bike or swim 2 times per week. Lift 2-3 times per week. Run in races, knowing I won't PR but can still go and push and am not terribly slow but my standards.

A 17:50 is nothing to sneeze at. Sometimes you have to back off the miles until it feels right again. Lifting can be a good way to mix things up as I way of rediscovering the motivation to dig back into the miles. Plus, it really does appeal to some of the same instincts, but is new and different if you take it seriously and create a regiment. For a few winters I would hit the weights and back off the miles, still doing enough miles to string myself a long and feel like I *could* re-up the mileage and get back into it (like a smoker having a single cigarette every now and then; it just provides a gateway back). I'm 6'0 and 150 lbs. When I lift seriously and am diligent about nutrition, I've put on 5 to 8 lbs and just felt better (although I probably overestimate the difference in my appearance). Try it out for a while, then see if you can return 'fresh' to running.

There's no lack of motivation for miles. But there's also no motivation for miles. I am highly motivated, but I don't have a love for running, I just have a love for doing something with my body. It could be biking, swimming (if I was better at it) or climbing (if I had the time and a close rock gym) I'm motivated to get muscle now.

I heard Phil Heath was actually a pretty decent runner before he got into lifting.

http://thesportster3.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/maxresdefault-17.jpg?auto=format&cs=tinysrgb&q=20&w=864&h=575&fit=crop

Personally, I think it's a bit too much, but most runners could "tone up" a bit.

Bodybiulder wrote:

I heard Phil Heath was actually a pretty decent runner before he got into lifting.

http://thesportster3.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/maxresdefault-17.jpg?auto=format&cs=tinysrgb&q=20&w=864&h=575&fit=crop

Personally, I think it's a bit too much, but most runners could "tone up" a bit.

Not a single mention of all of the steroids/igf etc. that one can take. Come on kids, get serious.

you are not working out properly, you can put on muscle how you want, but there is a science to eating and working out. running and a good body don't go hand in hand.

runners especially can get the right shape, if they do it properly, but runners don't know how to train or eat for good looks.

there is no need for steroids, for up to 30 pounds of muscle gain,

and women of all kinds respond to a 6 pack and a nice chest, which is no compensation for the idiot.

good luck.