Help me understand lifting- 10 hrs of cardio a week

vmclach

Hi all! I've been on MFP for about 3 years now. Initially, I wanted to just lose weight. I found that running burned A LOT of calories. I did a lot of running and lifting and plyo in the beginning..soon became addicted/obsessed with running. At first, I "lifted" very diligently. However, the more I ran, the less I lifted. For the past year, I've REALLY slacked with stregnth training- I basically cut it out all together at this point. However, whenever a running injury strikes upon me, I switch my gears to strictly lifting. I really really do enjoy lifting, but I think the fact that I feel completely clueless about it makes me fall back to running. I know running lingo, the running community, proper etiquette, how to train, what to eat, etc.

basically I go into the weight room and start doing "random lifts". I don't know any lifting lingo. I have no idea how much I should be lifting- I just lift what feels "right". I don't even know if 3x10 is what I should be doing for me sets & reps. I don't know how to rotate your "muscle groups" everyday. I don't understand it. I really want to start understanding it.

Any advice for gaining stregnth & lifting for a running junkie like me?

meshashesha2012

look up strong lifts, starting strength, new rules of lifting for women, or strong curves

those are all solid beginner's programs that will teach you about lifting

Stoshew71

What goals do you have as far as lifting? Are you looking to lift to enhance running (strength train in areas that will improve your running technique) or are you looking for an overall goal not necessarily related to the running?

Stating your goals with help others give you advice. It also will help others if they new what your running volume and schedule looks like. Since the lifting most likely will be overlayed on top of your current running.

How much extra time do you have to devote strictly with the running?

vmclach

I still would like to run as my cardio. I wouldn't want to run less than 30-35 miles a week which is 4 hours of my time.. That's a cut back from my current 60-80

My goal is to gain weight/muscle mass to look better/more muscular/fit. It's pretty much for vanity purposes. I would not really expect that this is something I'd do to "aid" my running. It's more of another fitness adventure.

derekj222

This is how I started and still kinda do today.

Sunday - rest (I know you don't like to, but it you start for lifting, you really do need it)
Monday- 30 min on bike or elliptical, 45 minutes of lifting - (legs, back , shoulders, arms, or chest)
Tuesday-run, 45 minutes of lifting - (legs, back , shoulders, arms, or chest)
Wednesday - run, 45 minutes of lifting - (legs, back , shoulders, arms, or chest)
Thursday run, 45 minutes of lifting - (legs, back , shoulders, arms, or chest)
Friday - 30 min on bike or elliptical, 45 minutes of lifting - (legs, back , shoulders, arms, or chest)
Saturday - long run

or maybe you'd like to lift first, then run...up to you..this is what I did for a while, now I tend to run less...we are opposite...lol

MKEgal

basically I go into the weight room and start doing "random lifts". I don't know any lifting lingo. I have no idea how much I should be lifting- I just lift what feels "right". I don't even know if 3x10 is what I should be doing for me sets & reps. I don't know how to rotate your "muscle groups" everyday. I don't understand it. I really want to start understanding it.

You don't really need to "know the lingo", beyond a couple basic concepts:
repetition - doing the exercise once
set - doing a group of repetitions

How many repetitions, how many sets, and what percentage of your maximum you lift all depends on what result you want.
(See blog post below.)

You could do a whole-body workout every 2-3 days if you'd like, or you can do upper body one day, torso the next, legs the third, then start over. Depends on what works best for your schedule.
Personally, I do upper body, torso, and 2 hip machines (adduction & abduction) every other day. The rest of my legs get a workout on the elliptical.
Do not work the same muscle group 2 days in a row. It needs time to heal, which is when it grows in strength & size.


I did a blog post about exercise:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-06-08-exercise-667080
Which includes some basic info about lifting.

Here on MFP, to get calorie credit for weightlifting go under cardio & search for "Strength training (weight lifting, weight training)". It's not much of a credit, but it's better than nothing (which is what you get if you enter the work under "strength training"), & it's easier than trying to find every exercise.

There are 3 goals or types of weight training.
Most people should start by building muscle.
After a month or so of that, you can add in building endurance.
Going for power is a more advanced technique, which I'll leave to the competitive weightlifters.

Free weights or machines?
Machines reduce the chance that you can do something wrong & injure yourself, don't take as much understanding of what you're doing, and target specific muscles or groups.
Free weights work more muscles in concert and allow for more exercises to be done in a smaller area, even at your home, but require learning how to do them correctly.

No matter which you're doing, you need to know the maximum amount you can lift, called the one-repetition maximum or 1RM.

For building muscle, you want to do 1 or 2 sets of 8-12 repetitions of a weight that's 70-85% of your 1RM.
For building endurance, do 1 or 2 sets of 15-20 repetitions of a weight that's 50-65% of your 1RM.

Either way, start low on both weight & reps and work up.
You should just be able to do the last 2-3 reps.
When it gets easy to do the maximum # of reps, add 5 pounds and go back to the minimum # of reps.

(From the American College of Sports Medicine's book "Resources for the Personal Trainer, 4th edition".)

Remember to work both sides of a joint (or the body) - if you're doing bicep curls, also do tricep extensions or dips. If you're doing quadricep extensions, also do hamstring curls. If you're doing abdominal curls, also do lower back extensions.

DaWayne360

I was exactly the same way as far as I’m a runner who fit in random lifts. Then I started using the JEFIT app to help me organize some routines. I have an upper body-day routine where I pick 2 exercises for each area, as in shoulders, triceps, biceps, chest and back, then a leg-day routine using the same idea. The app has hundreds of exercises to pick from, just pick your favorites or research something like “best weight workouts for triceps” and add it to the routine. Some people can just walk in and randomly lift but you sound like me and need some organized routine. Now I have 3 days running/cardio and 3 days weights and love it.

Edit: added link- http://www.jefit.com/

NorthCountryDreamer

First of all, you already look fit. I think the best reason for runners to lift weights is injury prevention and better running. I prefer single leg movements and kettlebell work. Kettlebells work multiple areas. Single leg squat, single leg roman deadlift, goblet squat press, sumo squats, lunges, pistol squat, kettle bells swings, kettle bell snatches, renegade rows, pushups, chin ups and lots core stuff are all you need.

dbmata

So the concept of lifting is really simple. Take a weight, move it through space in a manner that activates your muscles.

There are specific lifts that will help achieve certain benefits or goals, there are others which look cool, but are for isolation. It's all depending on goals.

Now lingo:
Weight - something of a measured weight that can be picked up and moved
Rep/Repetition - A single count of a lift's movement.
Set - a group of repetitions
Barbell - the big bar you see on power racks and benches for bench press
Dumbbell - the guys you see only doing arms days, and the bell shaped weights that have a hand grip in the middle.
Lifts - a specific workout type, generally compound, that will move a weight through a plane of movement resulting in muscular activation and stress, this will potentially aid in adaptation to increased weight bearing ability.

So, take a look at some plans, there are a bunch that are talked about online. Watch a few Youtube videos, and I would also strongly suggest talking to a trainer to work on form so you can be efficient and safe.

Stoshew71

I still would like to run as my cardio. I wouldn't want to run less than 30-35 miles a week which is 4 hours of my time.. That's a cut back from my current 60-80

My goal is to gain weight/muscle mass to look better/more muscular/fit. It's pretty much for vanity purposes. I would not really expect that this is something I'd do to "aid" my running. It's more of another fitness adventure.

You look like you have some great starters as far as exercises go. What is missing however is the nutrition side of the house.
As far as running goes, you know all about the importance of carbs and you probably have it down for running your carb/protein/fat ratio. But strength training is different; especially if your goal is to "gain weight/muscle mass ".

1 g of whole proteins (whole proteins are proteins that contain all the essential amino acids) per 1 lb of lean muscle mass is the minimum for weight lifters trying to gain muscle mass. Some plans will make you eat 1.5 g - 2 g per lb of lean muscle mass. You will also need a certain amount of essential fatty acids and the remainder of carbs. I don't know the ratio offhand but I am sure others on mfp can help out, if not you can google it. But in general, the ratio for running is different than weight lifting/stregnth training. Also, unless you are doing some kind of complicated "body recomposition", you will have to eat at a slight calorie surplus in order to increase muscle mass. There is "clean bulking" and "dirty bulking".

Clean bulking vs dirty bulking has to do with how much and types of carbs and fats you consume to make you go into a carb surplus. Different people have slightly different definitions on what this means. But the challange will be is to eat enough to compensate the calories burnt from all the running you are doing. So the more you run, you more you will have to eat in order to go into a calorie surplus.

Also, bulking (whether dirty or clean) you will be gaining a certain amount of fat as well as muscle. Which means you will also need follow a bulking period (or cycle) with a cutting period/cycle (where you eat at a slight calorie deficit in order to shed that fat you gained but maintain the muscle). During the cut period or cycle, you maintain the level of proteins you eat but cut back on the fat and carbs you eat.

EDITED some spelling errors.

ekat120

Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning book has a strength routine for runners. Don't know if/how it would affect appearance (as opposed to running/injury prevention) though.

Mr_Knight

Something like Strong Lifts or Starting Strength is about all you're going to need, based on your desired outcomes.

Super simple, super cheap, easy to track.

Good luck!

MinimalistShoeAddict

I like SL 5x5.

However depending on your running mileage I would consider modifying it to only lift twice a week instead of three times.