Endurance runner turning to weights

mccartneyt

Hi there I’ve been a long distance for many years. For a while I have been unhappy with my body. I’m skinny all over except my tummy which is flabby. I’m starting with a PT to build muscle and lose my tummy. I’m trying to get my head around eating much more to build muscle without running - anyone else felt worried about fat gain from eating more?

SabAteNine

(at least a bit of) fat gain will be inevitable, if you will eat in a caloric surplus. You can minimize that by maintaining a smaller extra, e.g. 2-300 cals over maintenance. There is only so much muscle growth potential, so eating much more will not translate into putting much more lean mass on. Good luck!

TavistockToad

You're not going to run at all?

RoxieDawn

Its all about consuming the right amount of calories. Finding your maintenance calories that has you eating slightly above for bulking with minimal fat gain will be key, you will gain some fat along side muscle as its a necessary part of the process. This for me was a key element to over come, but once you do the rest is easy.

I'm adding that don't have to give up running if you don't want to, you can do a combination of both. I personally need to run as its something I enjoy so I add it to my lifting/recovery plan so I can enjoy both.

sijomial

Why exactly do you think you have to eat "much more"?
That might be the root cause of your fat gain concern (or it might not....).

If you are stopping endurance cardio your calorie allowance may well go down not up. (Dropping a high calorie burn and long duration exercise for a low calorie burn and short duration exercise.)

Are you giving up running completely? If so, why?

I'm wondering if you have some misconceptions about what you need to do to achieve your goal, maybe expand more on the why and not the what. (Why stop running? Why eat much more?)
What is your PT telling you to do?

Keto_Vampire

Well, switching over to weight lifting is going to take some time to see noticeable changes. Ironically, I've had bouts of my life where cardio was my major focus vs weights (due to time management, school/traveling limitations, etc.). Contrary to popular bro-science beliefs, I did not shrivel up into an Ethiopian bodied endurance athlete; I did lose some muscle (peripherally most, arms, legs) after about 6+ months of only lifting 1-2X/week (vs. 5-7X/week previously). More disappointing was the illusion of a slightly bigger midsection despite being the same size

Diet is like 90% of bodybuilding (shape goals, fatloss); no amount of cardio can out-do damage of a poor diet (in effort to lean out the midsection). Better strategy is to create the illusion of a smaller midsection by bringing up the upper back, shoulders, etc. (you'll feel better/more confident in the way your physique looks overall - better flow).

rsj7799

If you are going to stop running for whatever reason while you do this lifting program, be sure to monitor your calorie intake and burn very carefully. Weightlifting burns a lot less calories than running does.

jenilla1

I run AND strength train. Why can't you do both? I find that strength training has only improved my running performance. I'm faster and more powerful and I am less prone to injuries now.

TavistockToad

jenilla1 wrote: »

I run AND strength train. Why can't you do both? I find that strength training has only improved my running performance. I'm faster and more powerful and I am less prone to injuries now.

Same for me. And I look a lot better than when I was just running.