strength training - legs

mirgss

So I went to the gym tonight to do some strength training on my legs. I figured as a runner, my leg muscles should be pretty good and strong, right? WRONG. 30 lb leg extensions! 30! And that was only for 10 - I had to switch to 20 lbs for the last 10. Seriously...I thought I was building muscle by running because my legs would be sore after...but I guess not?

Sorry for the gripe; I was unpleasantly surprised.

questionablemethods

So I went to the gym tonight to do some strength training on my legs. I figured as a runner, my leg muscles should be pretty good and strong, right? WRONG. 30 lb leg extensions! 30! And that was only for 10 - I had to switch to 20 lbs for the last 10. Seriously...I thought I was building muscle by running because my legs would be sore after...but I guess not?

Sorry for the gripe; I was unpleasantly surprised.

I've actually heard the same story from a lot of runners, actually. In my own experience, the most "skinny fat" I've ever been was when I basically gave up all strength training for a summer in favor of training for a triathlon. By the race, I had dropped quite a few pounds and had more endurance for the three sports, but pictures of me show that I was pretty soft. That fall, when I visited my surgeon for a 2 year post-op check up on my knee, my leg strength was terrible! I've definitely seen the importance of keeping up with the weight training!

(Edit to say I'm certainly not implying that you are "skinny fat"! :happy: )

Azdak

Couple of quick things:

Strength training is very activity-specific. You could have relatively strong leg muscles and still struggle with a leg extension exercise if you never do leg extension exercises.

Doing any exercise for the first time will feel much more difficult than it actually is.

In this case, however, running works hamstrings at the expense of the quads. Most runners knee problems are caused by a muscle imbalance between the hamstrings and the quads.

Steady-state cardio activities are not very good at building muscle and muscle strength. The resistance is just not high enough. An untrained person might notice a modest increase in strength when starting a cardio program, but that is only the adaptation necessary to do the activity. The amount of increase will be relatively small, and will plateau very quickly. Remember that the next time a cardio machine advertisement claims that that particular machine can "improve fitness and build muscle at the same time". It can't.

mirgss

@azdak: That makes sense...thanks Now I don't feel like *quite* as much of a weakling! But boy are my legs sore today!

@kaitlin: I know what you mean about "skinny fat" - that is why I decided to do strength training! I wanted to see some muscle under all that flab! :laugh: