Jacked / Built distance runners of the past

Joseph McVeigh wrote:

Brendan Quinn, who ran XC for Providence in the 1980s and the Steeplechase for Ireland in the 1988 Olympics, was reportedly around 180lbs -- and when he was in an XC race, he looked even bigger.

I do not believe he was that big, ran against him in '78, his frosh year at Providence, pretty lean guy, a little taller than average, but certainly no monster.

Yeah, an article I read about how Chris Evans bulked up to play Captain America went into his workout routine and Evans stressed that he did no cardio whatsover because to do so would mean losing all the muscle weight he was trying to gain.

Pick a sport. You cant be good at both. Thats like asking if there are skinny sumo wrestlers

Les wrote:

Yeah, an article I read about how Chris Evans bulked up to play Captain America went into his workout routine and Evans stressed that he did no cardio whatsover because to do so would mean losing all the muscle weight he was trying to gain.

Absurd. Of course one can do some cardio and not "los(e)...all the muscle weight (one is) gaining."

Body builders do some cardio all the time.

just the facts wrote:

From the posts I think a lot of you understand hamstring issues. I know nothing about Solinsky at all but spent many years with hamstring issues. A neighbor dog ran out and made me jump... hamstring tear. Catch my toe on a stick in a minor fashion on a trail...miss two months. Push into a headwind on my 5th 1000 rep and get what I thought was a cramp....wake the next morning unable to walk. This went on and on. If Solinsky had ongoing hamstring issues it was unlikely tripping on the dog 'caused' the issue but revealed the latest setback. Any minor abnormality can cause issues for those with chronic issues, someone as talented as Solinsky included.

Maybe poster boys for why working on ability to move is as crucial as the ability to run fast in a straight line. So many runners move like old men, no wonder stuff gets ripped? I've been there, not great runner but rigged up all the time from trying.Makes a person pretty vulnerable.

Is anyone paying attention? wrote:

Everyone totally glossed over the picture of Paul McMullen. There were quite a few threads in the early 2000's about how fast he was, despite his bodybuilder appearance. He's probably a good template if you are looking to "get jacked" and still run fast.

Seriously, wtf, far bigger than anyone else in this thread and barely discussed at all.

Tyrone ReXXXing wrote:

Les wrote:

Yeah, an article I read about how Chris Evans bulked up to play Captain America went into his workout routine and Evans stressed that he did no cardio whatsover because to do so would mean losing all the muscle weight he was trying to gain.

Absurd. Of course one can do some cardio and not "los(e)...all the muscle weight (one is) gaining."

Body builders do some cardio all the time.

It is bro science:) Cardio doesn't help so you can argue that it would be better off spending the time elsewhere but if your getting your 150+ gms of protein and not doing a lot of cardio, you will have no problem gaining muscle. Espeically when your juicing. Seriously the amount of muscle these guys claim to gain over short periods of time is at the upper limits of believable. Either they all are super responders or they have help.

dasfdsafdas wrote:

Tyrone ReXXXing wrote:

Absurd. Of course one can do some cardio and not "los(e)...all the muscle weight (one is) gaining."

Body builders do some cardio all the time.

It is bro science:) Cardio doesn't help so you can argue that it would be better off spending the time elsewhere but if your getting your 150+ gms of protein and not doing a lot of cardio, you will have no problem gaining muscle. Espeically when your juicing. Seriously the amount of muscle these guys claim to gain over short periods of time is at the upper limits of believable. Either they all are super responders or they have help.

Yeah, I believe the point Evans was making was that HE could not do cardio and gain muscle weight simultaneously. Bear in mind that while he had some time to gain the weight, he did not have years and years -- he had to gain the weight relatively quickly.

anyone remember james nielson(spelling?), use to race back in the late 90s early 2000s in California. I think ran for san diego or something and then the farm team possibly(?). Dude was fast and jacked...

Everydog wrote:

Maybe poster boys for why working on ability to move is as crucial as the ability to run fast in a straight line. So many runners move like old men, no wonder stuff gets ripped? I've been there, not great runner but rigged up all the time from trying.Makes a person pretty vulnerable.

I agree with you. As a long-time coach now retired I pushed mobility, lifted weights giving equal attention to antagonist muscles, and worked on overall fitness with my athletes. This was for many reasons one of which was to stave off what you are describing.

Look into the cross country skiing world. Some of those guys are very fast 10k (sub 30) runners but they are pro xcskiiers so dont compete. They are typically 20-30 lb more and have higher vo2 max

A runner can be jacked and still be fast as long as it's in the right places. As long as calves are not big and arms aren't restrictive your fine

zzzz wrote:

No Webb mention yet?

https://cdn-s3.si.com/s3fs-public/si/2012/olympics/2012/writers/tim_layden/06/22/alan-webb-dathan-ritzenhein-2012-olympic-track-and-field-trials/al/an/alan-webb.jpg

Webb was one of the few semi jacked runners, though of course he focused on mid-d, not pure distance,

and although his 13:10/27:34 is no slouch, but he was thinner than pictured above.

tldr: NONE of the successful distance runners have ever been jacked. They may look like it in an isolated photo,

or next to other thin runners, but in real life they are necessarily slim. I always thought Bill Rodgers looked fairly normal

in photos until one day i stood right next to him after a race in the late 1980s and

almost burst out laughing he was soon tiny - i swear he could have fit into one of my pantlegs,

like i could have picked him up one handed and thrown him like a javelin. I'm 5'11" 160.

Dean Karnazes looks somewhat jacked too, but in real life he comes across more like the worlds tallest midget,

super lean but not imposing, and wide at the waist.

Kickapoo wrote:

Herb Lindsay was probably well built. But of course you are going to look bigger when you are close to the camera!

His nickname was "the incredible hulk" back in the days.

Les wrote:

Solinkso wrote:

Why is this lie still being spread? He ripped his hamstring when he fell down the stairs in his own home after tripping over his dog

Solinksy had been dealing with the hamstring for a while. It was already injured/weakened. Tripping over his dog was the final straw which ripped the hamstring off the bone. End of career.

Karma's a b!tch.

Protein_etc wrote:

How was it that guys like Pre and Rod Dixon were able to train like distance runners and still look strong? Did they not run high mileage? Were there daily lives significantly more grueling than the pros of today, necessitating a more physical lifestyle?

Do I just gotta eat more BEEF? (Currently running over 100mpw)

Don Clary. Matt Centrowitz (the dad).

Tyrone ReXXXing wrote:

Jack L Lanne 8 wrote:

ANY type of strength training will only yield increased muscle size...... if there is also a corresponding increase in caloric intake.

Not 100% true. One can increase muscle size/amount of muscle even when in a caloric deficit. But one needs to keep protein very high and hit the weight/strength training hard for it to happen. But it definitely can happen.

Dude no way can you lose fat and fat only. Maybe if you had a genetic freak who was 18 and fat purely because of the worst diet imaginable, but even still I'd think not. Building muscle comes with some fat gain, and losing fat comes with some muscle loss. I'm gonna need to see some scientific study to believe your claim.

I'll also add that being Jacked is not the same as being lean or ripped. You'd have to be 180-200 lbs depending on height to be jacked. 6' tall 165 is not jacked. At 5-7% body fat you'd be ripped and looking great for sure, but not jacked. These guys looked huge next to 120-130lb runners.

Also, I know the words can be interchangeable and that's fine. I wouldn't correct someone on this if I were running and the person said I was jacked because I have abs. I would take the complement and know they mean ripped. For the sake of this argument though dudes with an abundance of muscle are jacked, these runners are just lean/ripped. You just can't run fast (distances) with the amount of muscle it takes to be considered jacked. None of these runners are jacked.

That's a very good post, but what OP meant was runners who look strong/are heavy FOR a runner and are still fast. Jacked is the wrong word, you are absolutely right those people carry way too much weight to be an efficient runner or even sprinter, especially on their upper bodies.

Solinsky, Mottram, etc are heavy runners (160+ lbs) and incredibly fast. BMI is not a good way to compare runners, Bekele and Geb had a similar BMI as Solinsky but looked much less muscular, because a 21 BMI for a 5'6" runner is completely different than a 21 BMI for a 6'1" runner (it increases way more % wise in height vs weight).