Marathon training nd building muscles

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  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
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    AAcalories wrote: »
    richardpkennedy1 wrote: »
    Building muscle is not compatible with marathon training. Not if you are training seriously anyway. You are still a bit on the heavy side for an endurance event like that so you should be losing rather than gaining

    What do you consider an ideal weight for 6 ft marathon? Hopefully this doesn't go too much into a sidebar. I thought ~175 lb seemed fine given my height. I've lost 15 lbs so far so but was thinking of staying near this weight.

    Also that makes some sense (the building muscle part). Although I think recomp is compatible in this situation?

    As a triathlete, I googled for the height/weight of some well known racers to get a feel for the BMI they have. They're all about 6' 160-165. Granted we need more upper body for the swimming, so a runner will probably be lighter. I'm in that range now and working on BF %.
  • RavenLibra
    RavenLibra Posts: 1,737 Member
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    If your goal is to complete a marathon... stick with running... if you want to maintain your current muscle... consider lower weight with higher reps and more sets... distance running promotes development of the slow twitch muscle fibres while strength and bulk promotes fast twitch muscle fibres... each of which will give your body a different look... as a marathon runner... your body will seek to become an efficient consumer of energy... in order to supply the demands it takes to cover the longer distances if you can run 2 miles at a decent pace(sub 8 minutes) then you should be able to ramp up to a 6 mile run at a 10 minute pace... consider adding HIIT( after talking to a dr) on a track to increase performance...
  • SweatsOnSunday
    SweatsOnSunday Posts: 514 Member
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    Former Ironman here. If your goal is to bulk up, yeah, that's going to be hard. But I do think its achievable for you to be fitter, leaner, and stronger. You're going to need some serious discipline. Training and then juggling a good diet for these things can be like having a 2nd job. Keep me posted on how you do.
  • AAcalories
    AAcalories Posts: 12 Member
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    richardpkennedy1 wrote: »
    AAcalories wrote: »
    richardpkennedy1 wrote: »
    Building muscle is not compatible with marathon training. Not if you are training seriously anyway. You are still a bit on the heavy side for an endurance event like that so you should be losing rather than gaining

    What do you consider an ideal weight for 6 ft marathon? Hopefully this doesn't go too much into a sidebar. I thought ~175 lb seemed fine given my height. I've lost 15 lbs so far so but was thinking of staying near this weight.

    Also that makes some sense (the building muscle part). Although I think recomp is compatible in this situation?

    To be at your fastest I would recommend you to get down to 155. What size is your chest?


    On July 7 my chest was 36". I've trained moderately since then. So I'm not sure how much gain you want to assume. I could get down to 155. If I stick to high protein diet during my deficit hopefully that mitigates muscle loss.
  • AAcalories
    AAcalories Posts: 12 Member
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    heybales wrote: »
    I didn't see it mentioned in the comments.

    A likely bigger problem will be at some point the mileage requirements of a good marathon program and your lower body lifting schedule are going to interfere - never mind the problem of eating enough to truly hit maintenance.

    It can be done though, just have to have a well thought out schedule - and most marathon programs I've seen don't exactly have a place to insert lifting. I've always made my own for that reason when needed, and personal life schedule anyway.

    But if you have a shorter run during the week that is at easy pace, then you could do lower body day before or actually right before - as long as the day after was also easy short day.
    Or else you'll just interfere with recovery from the lifting.

    Upper body not as bad, can probably continue that 2 or 3 x weekly, just recommend not the day before the long run day. Don't really need any running funny because of sore upper body.

    Lower body you may get 2 x weekly if schedule permits, but may just count it as maintenance time, don't expect increases. May even have to back down to 1 x weekly.

    I think 175 sounds downright light, as you said, perhaps 5 lbs over race weight, if you didn't care about having much muscle mass upstairs.
    Recomp won't be a good option because of the schedule issue - you'd be hard pressed to have the best lifting workouts you can with a marathon schedule going on.
    Just consider if something happens great - but don't count on much recomp. Except maybe upstairs if truly eating at maintenance.

    Thank you for your thoughtful response. Useful information.
  • AAcalories
    AAcalories Posts: 12 Member
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    richardgavel wrote: »
    AAcalories wrote: »
    richardpkennedy1 wrote: »
    Building muscle is not compatible with marathon training. Not if you are training seriously anyway. You are still a bit on the heavy side for an endurance event like that so you should be losing rather than gaining

    What do you consider an ideal weight for 6 ft marathon? Hopefully this doesn't go too much into a sidebar. I thought ~175 lb seemed fine given my height. I've lost 15 lbs so far so but was thinking of staying near this weight.

    Also that makes some sense (the building muscle part). Although I think recomp is compatible in this situation?

    As a triathlete, I googled for the height/weight of some well known racers to get a feel for the BMI they have. They're all about 6' 160-165. Granted we need more upper body for the swimming, so a runner will probably be lighter. I'm in that range now and working on BF %.

    Good to know! Thank you! All of your responses have been great. I'm down to 178.9 as of today. So lost another ~1 lb.
  • AAcalories
    AAcalories Posts: 12 Member
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    RavenLibra wrote: »
    If your goal is to complete a marathon... stick with running... if you want to maintain your current muscle... consider lower weight with higher reps and more sets... distance running promotes development of the slow twitch muscle fibres while strength and bulk promotes fast twitch muscle fibres... each of which will give your body a different look... as a marathon runner... your body will seek to become an efficient consumer of energy... in order to supply the demands it takes to cover the longer distances if you can run 2 miles at a decent pace(sub 8 minutes) then you should be able to ramp up to a 6 mile run at a 10 minute pace... consider adding HIIT( after talking to a dr) on a track to increase performance...

    Interval and tempo training should help with this. I have a mild case of plantar fasciitis right now (self diagnosed). Working slowly towards building my foot back up. I've been taking it easy (running) and hitting weights and cross training hard.
  • AAcalories
    AAcalories Posts: 12 Member
    edited July 2017
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    SweatsOnSunday wrote: »
    Former Ironman here. If your goal is to bulk up, yeah, that's going to be hard. But I do think its achievable for you to be fitter, leaner, and stronger. You're going to need some serious discipline. Training and then juggling a good diet for these things can be like having a 2nd job. Keep me posted on how you do.

    I don't necessarily want to "bulk up." That's probably unrealistic while training for a marathon. I just want to have more leaner body mass, which I hope comes off as bulking up (visually—but not actually add substantial muscle mass). I hope this kind of makes sense. My body fat before training was probably 18% or so if I had to guess—maybe a little less? Is it realistic to aim for 8-10% body fat? I'm probably all over the place with what I just mentioned. Feel free to guide me with any expertise.

    Also, I'll keep this forum updated. Does it notify when there are posts? I measure all of my input and output as far as energy balance. I am struggling to measure portions with my food scale and sometimes match them up to what's in MFP data base, but I'm think I'm doing okay so far with losing 17 lbs in ~2 months
  • WickAndArtoo
    WickAndArtoo Posts: 773 Member
    edited July 2017
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    Yes it does notify anyone who has posted on it (depending on their notification settings) and any one who stars the thread. I am following because I am also curious about your progress and people's input. Thank you for asking such a great question! Please definitely continue to post your results and/or add me.
  • AAcalories
    AAcalories Posts: 12 Member
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    I will, WickAndArtoo! Thanks for your interest!

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