Lifting and trail running?

ABartell1315

First off some current stats. 5'8". 32/F. 143 lbs.

Started off a few months ago doing bodyweight exercises a few times a week. Moved on to following the 5x5 strong lifts for about a month now(3x/week). I feel like I have been seeing great progress.

My question is I want to train for a trail 5k that is in 2 months. I am by no means a runner, never have been. But the few times I do I can manage an 11 minute mile for a few miles. Am I going to hurt my lifting progress by training for a 5k 3x/week? Because if I had to choose between the 2 I would stick with lifting. Any recommendations? I would love to hear from people that do both because alot of people that focus on lifting seem to be anti-cardio. My goal is an overall better body appearance and more endurance.

DancingMoosie

I think you should be ok. When the weather is nice, I will lift twice per week, run two short runs, one long, in between my lifting. One other day is a mix of dumbbells and cardio.

rybo

No, you won't hurt your lifting at all. That's an over hyped fallacy that you can't do both. Keep your runs nice and easy. You'll be fine

ABartell1315

rybo wrote: »

No, you won't hurt your lifting at all. That's an over hyped fallacy that you can't do both. Keep your runs nice and easy. You'll be fine

That's what I figured.

FatMoojor

You can easily train for a 5k and continue lifting. It's only when you start training for long distances that you can't do the two.
Training for a marathon and trying to do 5x5 wouldn't work.

StealthHealth

I've run 5x5 and similar and distance running concurrently - it is difficult. But, at the 5k level you should, as long as you're sensible, be fine.

My advice:

• Eat to maintenance - lift/run/cut at the same time is more likely to cause problems
• Rest is very, very important
• Getting the nutrition spot on is advisable and, although nutrient timing is not something that is necessary for weight loss and therefore often dismissed on these forums, I do think that it is worth you experimenting with pushing your carbs to close to your work outs (lift and run) to hopefully maximize performance in each.

ABartell1315

StealthHealth wrote: »

I've run 5x5 and similar and distance running concurrently - it is difficult. But, at the 5k level you should, as long as you're sensible, be fine.

My advice:

• Eat to maintenance - lift/run/cut at the same time is more likely to cause problems
• Rest is very, very important
• Getting the nutrition spot on is advisable and, although nutrient timing is not something that is necessary for weight loss and therefore often dismissed on these forums, I do think that it is worth you experimenting with pushing your carbs to close to your work outs (lift and run) to hopefully maximize performance in each.

I've been eating maintenance ever since I started lifting. Been steady between 141-145 pounds for 2 months now. I feel that is a healthy weight For me, but would like to be a bit more toned at this weight.

Thanks for your advice!

feisty_bucket

Yeah, StealthHealth is bringing great advice as usual

A 5K is kind of a sweet spot in that it's a useful level of running ability, without being strenuous enough to compromise your lifting. IMO. If you were to push into longer runs though, it might become an issue.

scorpio516

If you aren't trying to win, no problems. The volume you will be pushing won't take away from lifting time. Just eat enough! You'll burn about 90 KCal per mile run, if you don't eat them back, you won't see any gains from lifting.

ABartell1315

scorpio516 wrote: »

If you aren't trying to win, no problems. The volume you will be pushing won't take away from lifting time. Just eat enough! You'll burn about 90 KCal per mile run, if you don't eat them back, you won't see any gains from lifting.

Nah, not trying to win. Mainly just want to prove to myself that i can do it running the whole time.

FatMoojor

StealthHealth wrote: »

I've run 5x5 and similar and distance running concurrently - it is difficult. But, at the 5k level you should, as long as you're sensible, be fine.

My advice:

• Eat to maintenance - lift/run/cut at the same time is more likely to cause problems
• Rest is very, very important
• Getting the nutrition spot on is advisable and, although nutrient timing is not something that is necessary for weight loss and therefore often dismissed on these forums, I do think that it is worth you experimenting with pushing your carbs to close to your work outs (lift and run) to hopefully maximize performance in each.

What distances have you been able to successfully train for while following 5x5? I was training for a 50 miler and in the end there was just no way I could recover enough from my long runs before the next lifting session.

Ended up with a number of injuries which meant I had to actually pull out of a planned race. I find that to recover properly from both the lifts and the running just doesn't give you enough physical time to do both.

StealthHealth

@FatMoojor I would typically keep myself at 1/2 mara ready state - By that I mean I could run that distance on demand but I'd want to/need to put in a bit more specific preparation if I was to enter a race and wanted a decent time (I always wanted a decent time - That is in my nature). So, my weekly mileage would be about 26 miles over 3 or 4 runs. (I've run mara distances prior to this but my weights were not 5x5 and were strictly cross training to the running rather than an equal partner).

5x5 was 4 times a week, so you can see that there was a "double day" per week where I would lift 1st thing and then run in at lunchtime.

I was OK with that program except for the time that I tried to do all that on a calorific deficit - then everything went south. I got ill, then picked up a lower back injury, and later a knee injury all of which put me out of action for months! Lesson learnt.

I still run now but much, much less than I used to and for much, much shorter distances and I still lift (as my primary and priority exercise) but I don't follow the 5x5 program at the moment one of the many variants of Wendler's 5,3,1.

StealthHealth

@FatMoojor I can see that at the distances yo must have been running for a 50m run that recovery would be an issue. I can't comprehend running > mara distance! Kudos!

nats2508

You should be fine, especially as its a 5k. If you were looking to longer distances, you would have to find a happy medium. I lift and run up to half marathons and its taken a while to get the balance right but you can do both. Also, most runners now incorporate strength training to aid their running but again, you have to find the right formula for you. Good luck!