Strength training and running...trying to find balance?

LenGray

Hey everyone! I'm 5'7, female, and 237 lbs. I've been lifting weights consistently for about a month and a half now and really love it. When I reached a 30 lb loss, I decided to start running and I've been having a blast so far.

The problem is that I'm still fairly overweight. I'm trying to work myself up to working out 4 days a week (right now I'm doing 3x/wk) but I'm not sure how to find balance between lifting and running? Every source I'm finding says to focus on one program or the other and I'm worried that I'll end up doing too much, too soon and injure myself, but I really love both of them and can't decide what to do!

I've been considering doing bodyweight exercises since those have elements of aerobic and anaerobic exercise but it doesn't seem like it would be the same. Does anyone have any advice or insight for me??

chocolate_owl

Lots of people manage to do both. My tips:

-Decide which is more important. Is your long-term goal to squat twice your weight, or is it to run a 10K? This will let you pick your programs. If the primary goal is lifting, stick to running 2-3 days a week. If your primary goal is running, choose your lifting program carefully. Powerlifting might be too taxing, so a lower-weight, higher-rep program 2x a week might be ideal. In all situations, follow a program. Don't try to wing it.

-If you have a long run included in your running program, include a rest day between your long run day and your next lifting session.

-Listen to your body. If something is tired, sore, or hurting, think and evaluate carefully before deciding to power through.

-Stretch and foam roll after every workout.

-Ease into it. Some people have worked up to being able to run and lift on the same day. This is probably not you just yet. If you get to a place where you feel you can do it, add it in slowly, e.g. a 10-minute jog as a cool-down after your lifting session, then 15, then 20...

-This will get easier as you lose weight. There will be less stress on your joints. Have patience, and take care of your body.

lorrpb

Are you fling a program lije c25k for running? It will help you ease into it and prevent injury. I'm 5,7 too and I found running much easier after getting bElow 200. It depends on your starting fitness level. Build up as you are able, you can do any mix of the two that makes you happy. It's all good!

cwolfman13

What kind of lifting program are you doing?

I'm not a runner, but I am an avid cyclist. I train in the weight room 2x per week with a full body routine and I cycle on non lifting days. Cycling is my priority...I lift to cross train and support my cycling so 2x per week is sufficient.

deannalfisher

i balance strength training and 6 day/week triathlon training - my strength training is normally 30-45min, functional movements and I either follow-up with a shorter run or swim

fitin50s2

lorrpb wrote: »

Are you fling a program lije c25k for running? It will help you ease into it and prevent injury. I'm 5,7 too and I found running much easier after getting bElow 200. It depends on your starting fitness level. Build up as you are able, you can do any mix of the two that makes you happy. It's all good!

This^^^

Do both! No need to look at it as "this or that". Follow a good strength training program. C25K is generally considered a logical approach for running. Look at the C25K plan and make a weekly schedule to fit the pieces together.

BeeerRunner

chocolate_owl wrote: »

Lots of people manage to do both. My tips:

-Decide which is more important. Is your long-term goal to squat twice your weight, or is it to run a 10K? This will let you pick your programs. If the primary goal is lifting, stick to running 2-3 days a week. If your primary goal is running, choose your lifting program carefully. Powerlifting might be too taxing, so a lower-weight, higher-rep program 2x a week might be ideal. In all situations, follow a program. Don't try to wing it.

-If you have a long run included in your running program, include a rest day between your long run day and your next lifting session.

-Listen to your body. If something is tired, sore, or hurting, think and evaluate carefully before deciding to power through.

-Stretch and foam roll after every workout.

-Ease into it. Some people have worked up to being able to run and lift on the same day. This is probably not you just yet. If you get to a place where you feel you can do it, add it in slowly, e.g. a 10-minute jog as a cool-down after your lifting session, then 15, then 20...

-This will get easier as you lose weight. There will be less stress on your joints. Have patience, and take care of your body.

This is excellent advice! I started and finished P90x and became a runner somewhere along the way. For me, running became my primary activity since that's what I enjoy the most. I now run 5 days a week, do 1 day of non running cardio, and do Body Pump 2x a week, which is a high rep/lower weight program using barbells. (Please note this is a regimen I worked up to...not where I started.) I think a healthy mix of cardio and weight training is better than doing just one or the other. In fact, all the running mags I read say you should do strength traininh to help your running. However, if your goal is to lift heavy, then your running should be less frequent...probably on your non lifting days with 1 rest day per week.

rybo

You can do both, many people do both, it takes a little bit of scheduling and streamlining. You'll want to pare down redundancy and maximize recovery. Check out things by Alex Viada & Hybrid training or also lift heavy run long.

LenGray

Thanks for the advice, especially @chocolate_owl! That clears up a lot of things for me. For now, my limit seems to be 3 workouts a week, so I'll try to figure out a schedule that includes both activities within those parameters

I think that my main goal, for now, is to run a 5k. I'm following the C25k program right now and I'll stick with that until it's done.

As for the lifting, I'm currently following the Beginner Program on www.aworkoutroutine.com which focuses on compound lifts 3x/wk, but I'll try to look into some other strength programs that complement running.

jagodfrey08

Personally, I hit the treadmill to warm up before lifting. That's just me, though.

I might have to check out some of the programs others have mentioned.

chocolate_owl

LenGray wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, especially @chocolate_owl! That clears up a lot of things for me. For now, my limit seems to be 3 workouts a week, so I'll try to figure out a schedule that includes both activities within those parameters

I think that my main goal, for now, is to run a 5k. I'm following the C25k program right now and I'll stick with that until it's done.

As for the lifting, I'm currently following the Beginner Program on www.aworkoutroutine.com which focuses on compound lifts 3x/wk, but I'll try to look into some other strength programs that complement running.

Have you had a hard time progressing on C25K while doing your current lifting program? Are you struggling with recovery? If not, stick with it, it seems like it would be a decent complement. The 3x10 rep range should be fine. (I wouldn't suggest someone do a 5x5 program if their primary goal is running - that can be hard to recover from.) You can always drop it down to two days a week (AB instead of ABA) if you need more recovery.

I'd suggest that if you've been doing conventional deadlifts, switch to Romanian. A lot of runners end up injured because their glutes are weak and don't provide them with needed stability and power. The Romanian DL will engage your hamstrings and glutes more. I'd also recommend adding 3x10-15 glute bridges as accessories on your "A" (non-DL) day.

Tacklewasher

LenGray wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, especially @chocolate_owl! That clears up a lot of things for me. For now, my limit seems to be 3 workouts a week, so I'll try to figure out a schedule that includes both activities within those parameters

I think that my main goal, for now, is to run a 5k. I'm following the C25k program right now and I'll stick with that until it's done.

As for the lifting, I'm currently following the Beginner Program on www.aworkoutroutine.com which focuses on compound lifts 3x/wk, but I'll try to look into some other strength programs that complement running.

Sounds like you are doing similar to what I'm doing, so thanks for the thread. I looked at the same lifting routine, but didn't have the equipment at home (no bench) for it so am doing the beginner hasfit (on youtube) as it just needs weights.

I'm struggling to get 2 in a week while doing the C25K. Not because of any body issues, I'm just finding I don't like lifting as much as I like the treadmill. I want to do a 5K this year but my current plan is that when I hit my first goal weight, to start lifting a lot more. I'm targeting Sept/Oct for that. Figure that will be the end of the running season for me.

cwolfman13

LenGray wrote: »

Thanks for the advice, especially @chocolate_owl! That clears up a lot of things for me. For now, my limit seems to be 3 workouts a week, so I'll try to figure out a schedule that includes both activities within those parameters

I think that my main goal, for now, is to run a 5k. I'm following the C25k program right now and I'll stick with that until it's done.

As for the lifting, I'm currently following the Beginner Program on www.aworkoutroutine.com which focuses on compound lifts 3x/wk, but I'll try to look into some other strength programs that complement running.

If you're not having recovery issues, I wouldn't worry about changing your weight training program. I did 5K training and did Starting Strength at the same time without issue given that there really aren't a whole lot of training miles to put in.

I'm no longer a runner but I didn't have to start looking at different programming until I started putting a lot more miles in on my bike...riding 100+ miles per week and running a "heavy" program doesn't really mix well and at that point I had to kind of decide what I wanted to focus on...so at this point, lifting is more of a cross training/complimentary thing and I do it 2x per week.

Djproulx

chocolate_owl wrote: »

LenGray wrote: »

I'd suggest that if you've been doing conventional deadlifts, switch to Romanian. A lot of runners end up injured because their glutes are weak and don't provide them with needed stability and power. The Romanian DL will engage your hamstrings and glutes more. I'd also recommend adding 3x10-15 glute bridges as accessories on your "A" (non-DL) day.

This is such good advice. RDL's, lunges and bridges are terrific strength exercises that help minimize chance of injuries in runners.

Djproulx wrote: »

chocolate_owl wrote: »

LenGray wrote: »

I'd suggest that if you've been doing conventional deadlifts, switch to Romanian. A lot of runners end up injured because their glutes are weak and don't provide them with needed stability and power. The Romanian DL will engage your hamstrings and glutes more. I'd also recommend adding 3x10-15 glute bridges as accessories on your "A" (non-DL) day.

This is such good advice. RDL's, lunges and bridges are terrific strength exercises that help minimize chance of injuries in runners.

Djproulx

Sorry, double post.

ETA:

I'd suggest that if you've been doing conventional deadlifts, switch to Romanian. A lot of runners end up injured because their glutes are weak and don't provide them with needed stability and power. The Romanian DL will engage your hamstrings and glutes more. I'd also recommend adding 3x10-15 glute bridges as accessories on your "A" (non-DL) day.

This is such good advice. RDL's, lunges and bridges are terrific strength exercises that help minimize chance of injuries in runners

deannalfisher

glute bridges are so much fun - said no one ever

AigreDoux

I did C25k along with Strong (sequel to NROLFW - 3x/week full body compound lifts) about a year ago. Once I finished C25k, I continued on with running 3x/week (3m, 3m, 5-6m long run) and lifting 3x/week until I finished that program.

This year I'm following a more intensive strength program and I am lifting 4x/week and still trying to keep running 3x/week. I have been adding a 2 mile run on to the end of a day when I do mostly upper body work. I'm currently running 12-15 miles/week (2m, 4.5m, 6-8m)

Things to consider:
1) You should decide where to cut things first if you start getting fatigued/overtraining. For me currently, I cut out one of my runs if I don't feel well recovered.
2) I may not have made lifting progress as quickly as I otherwise would have if I didn't run. This may or may not be important to you. I do find that I recover better from lifting when I don't run.
3) I personally haven't found that lifting has negatively affected my running. In fact, I'm faster now than I was 10 years ago (I didn't run in between and was younger/thinner then), and I suspect it is because of because of better retention of muscle mass via lifting.

Good luck though! I am easily bored so I really like the variety of doing different things on different days (outside, inside, lifting, running, etc). I like exercising outdoors and running is the easiest thing I've found. But I also like lifting heavy things. Hope this helps!

pondee629

FWIT, I'm "balancing" weights and running: Three days Strong Lifts 5x5 (Mon, Wed, Fri) and three days running (Tues, Thus and Sat. Sat being long run day) All current runs are not as long as they were as I'm focusing more on strength. Soon I'll get back to 4 days running and Strong Lifts will be two days (A day and B day). Sunday is, of course, a day of rest.