stronglifts and a 10k

Mistraal1981

Hi,

As I have mentioned in a previous thread, I am new to stronglifts. I have just finished my second week.

Since July I have also been slowly training for a 10k run that's happening in November. Various sites I have read say its no problem to do cardio on non-lifting days. My problem is, where I was quite comfortable running for about 4.5 miles I can now barely manage 2 miles before I feel like I'm dying! Last Saturday I was able to run for a solid hour, I have just got back from the gym today and was knackered at 30 minutes and had to walk at a brisk pace for the last 30 minutes.

Am I asking my body to do too much? Any advice/tips on how to help me balance both? Should I drop the 10k training? Any advice is very welcome.

neandermagnon

you're probably not giving yourself enough recovery time. you can do both, but maybe don't do stronglifts 3x a week to ensure you have enough rest days to recover properly

ETA: have days when you don't do any exercise for recovery. otherwise you're expecting your body to recover from running and lifting all at the same time

there is a degree to which you can't have both, as in I don't think someone can be an elite runner and an elite lifter, but plenty of people train with both lifting and running. the key is to ensure you're getting adequate rest and adequate food...


on that, just a thought..... are you eating enough calories and protein to fuel all this exercise? if you're not then both recovery and performance will suffer greatly... so check that too

Chief_Rocka

Your body is already answering your first question.

As to how to balance both, you first need to figure what what your goals are and what's most important to you.

Capt_Apollo

you are most likely not recovering enough. you need to have days were you rest your body and mind. i find that both running and lifting can be very very mental.

do you foam roll? i find that foam rolling can aid in recovery. are you eating enough to fuel your workouts?

like Rock said, what are your goals? is it to complete the 10k? is it to win your age group? somewhere in between?

if your 10k is in november, i recommend scaling back on the lifting and increasing the running for about 4 weeks. then taper off the week before the race, doing no more than 2-3 work outs to aid with rest (e.g. monday 5k, tuesday off, wednesday 2 mile run, thu off, friday yoga/swim, sat- off, sunday race

Mistraal1981

Hi guys thank you for your responses.

I am 5'3", 142lbs, 33 years old. I have a desk job Mon to Fri. I have recently upped my calories to 1500, but as you observed, it may not be enough.

As for my goals, I wanted to complete the 10k in under 1hr 15mins and I don't want to walk any of it. I only recently discovered lifting and I really enjoy it and if you held a gun to my head to pick running or lifting, I'd pick lifting. No real lifting goals as yet, I'm still working on focusing on form.

I don't foam roll, but I do about 20 minutes stretching which feels good.

Sunday is my day where I do as little as possible!

Capt_Apollo

seeing as how your lifting is the most recent addition to your routine, i'd say that your body just isn't used to the combination of lifting and running yet.

also, it's likely that you're not eating enough if you are tired. do you eat back exercise calories?

sounds like at the moment you have a clear running goal. i'd focus on running and staying lighter on the weights until the race.

Mistraal1981

That's good news, so its my body taking a little time to adjust, but there isn't really a reason I can't do both! Since I started eating at 1500 cals I now eat back half my exercise calories.

neandermagnon

Is that 1500 cals/day net or total calories?

Personally, and my I'm not far from you in height or weight, I can't survive on just 1500 cals/day. I ate at least 1800 cals/day when cutting when I was only doing stronglifts and no cardio at all with a mostly sedentary job/lifestyle otherwise. If you're training for a 10k you need way more calories than that. When cutting keep the deficit small and focus on getting enough protein. IMO it's more likely the issue is due to undereating than overtraining.

Mistraal1981

I eat 1500 cals if I do no exercise, if I do exercise then I eat half those cals burned extra.

neandermagnon

maybe eat 100% of your exercise calories rather than just half of them.

a net of 1500 cals/day will be a deficit for you - you can eat back all your exercise calories and still be in deficit. Too big a deficit is going to impact your health and performance. You need to have a small deficit only and lose the fat slowly - this goes double if you have performance based goals (e.g. improving your time in running, improving your lifts etc)

Mistraal1981

Wow, OK, man the idea of bumping up my calories to 1800 makes me nervous. Its going to have to be a complete mental shift. I was already a little uncomfortable going up to 1500.

neandermagnon

well, if your car stops running on the motorway because you run out of petrol (gas) then you wouldn't feel uncomfortable putting more petrol in the tank (well maybe you would in the UK given the price of petrol here lol)....... if your running performance is suffering due to not eating enough, think of eating more as being like that.... putting more gas in the tank because your car has to do longer journeys.

neandermagnon

also, just a heads up.. you may find that the scale weight goes up when you first increase your calories, don't freak out about this ***it's not fat*** and it won't make you get any bigger. It's just water/glycogen weight. If you've been undereating then your glycogen stores will be depleted - this is one of the factors that'll be affecting your performance - when they refill, glycogen is stored in the liver and muscles along with water, you will see an increase in scale weight, but you should also see a big increase in your energy levels and your performance in your workouts. Glycogen is your body's short term energy store (fat is the long term energy store).... if you're aiming for fat loss (i.e. still eating at a small deficit) the fat loss will continue in spite of the increase in scale weight, and after a while your weight will start to go down again (as long as you still have that small calorie deficit) - if you don't want to lose weight or you want to stop losing weight, eat more so you're eating at maintenance. Your maintenance calories will be higher than you think if you are doing both stronglifts and training for a 10k,

Mistraal1981

Thank you nean. Its good to know what to expect so I can minimise my freakout. I won't lie though, I can feel my brain resisting the thought if eating more.

goanothermile

I've working through a similar situation - training for a half marathon while adding stronglifts.

I've concluded that I can do it all, I just can't do it all at the same time!

One thing about stronglifts is that it keeps bumping up the weight until you max out. Not such a big deal in the beginning, but as you approach the max weight, it starts taking a toll. I really feel those squats the next day. My legs feel very fatigued on the run.

I've started holding the weight and not moving up every workout. I also make sure not to lift before my long run. I always take that day off. I've also cut down the lifting days to 2-3 times per week. I've accepted that my primary goal is the half for the next few weeks. Once I have completed that, I will work SL harder.

Since you have been training for the 10k goal, I suggest making that your priority for the next few weeks.

Taper off the training seriously the last week. Don't lift at all. Keep the runs short. Think of the runs more like warm ups. Rest more than usual. That will set you up for the best 10k you can do. Good luck!

Mistraal1981

Thank you go another mile. Its good to know it is possible to do both. Can I ask how much you were eating to fuel both? Were u losing weight/maintaining/gaining?

neandermagnon

for the answer to how much you should be eating - you need to use a calorie calculator. You also need to change your whole attitude towards calories........ stop seeing eating more as a bad thing, and start seeing eating as fuelling your body and your workouts. I can't give you exact numbers for how much you should be eating - no-one can - but you can get a good starting point if you use one of the calculators and be honest and accurate about your activity levels, and adjust it based on real world results (e.g. eat more if your workouts are suffering, eat less if you see a sustained, slow weight gain (i.e. small gains sustained over a period of weeks, which would be indicative of fat gain (fat is gained slowly!!) - as opposed to quite sudden gains (water weight and glycogen weight gains happen quickly)) - you also need to realise that you're in control... you will not gain fat suddenly... it happens very slowly, so if you did get your calories wrong and you started gaining fat... you're in total control, you'll be able to drop your calories and lose it again if that happens. (just make sure you don't freak out and do that over water/glycogen gains)...... when you realise that you're in control you should be able to lose this anxiety over eating more, and instead feel in control and be able to adjust your calories up or down based on your goals........ lots of people do this with cutting/bulking cycles.

I know lots of women who've moved from fat loss to maintenance and bulking cycles who have been shocked at how much they actually need to eat to start gaining real weight (as opposed to water/glycogen)... generally the numbers are much higher than they thought, and they may think they're gaining intitially on a lower number of calories, but it turns out to just be glycogen/water gains which stop after a short time. Basically, women frequently underestimate how many calories they need to maintain their weight, and end up undereating as a result. Then performance and health suffers. So you shouldn't feel afraid to eat more...... you're in control (fat gain won't happen suddenly!) and you have a lot more leeway than you think.

in terms of balancing both kinds of exercise, I'd recommend not doing stronglifts 3x a week (as running is your priority)... maybe twice a week would be better (or even once every 4 days or something... so long as you're doing it regularly), so you have enough days to recover from that and your running. But I do think the major issue here is not eating enough, so it won't be that tricky for you to do both. But both lifting and running are intense exercises, and require adequate calories and protein, and also adequate intake of protein and calories will speed up recovery time.

goanothermile

Thank you go another mile. Its good to know it is possible to do both. Can I ask how much you were eating to fuel both? Were u losing weight/maintaining/gaining?

I have been trying to lose about 0.5 lbs per week. I log my food and eat back the almost all exercise calories. However, I do eat more (exceed my net goal) calories the day before my long run, which is at 10-13 mile right now.

I had been struggling on long runs, even in the 7-9 mile range. Until I went out on Friday night for pizza one week and went well over my calorie goal. The next morning I blazed through my run. I felt strong and fast (for me) the whole way.

This has slowed my weight loss progress for the last few weeks. I'm also experiencing a LOT more fluctuations in my daily weight. This AM I am up 4 pounds from post run yesterday. I'm sure that is glycogen and water being restored.

Mistraal1981

Thank you neander, I think you are probably right that not eating enough is my issue. I will up my calories and see how I go from there. I know it sounds odd, but listening to my body is a new thing for me and I see trial and error in my future. . Like I said though, shifting out of that mind set of "not too many calories" will be a big thing for me. This is the first time in my diet history where I have ever added exercise so I need to get used to the balance. In my head only athletes can eat extra calories to fuel their workouts. I don't see myself as an athlete.

SKME2013

I am 49, female and I am training for a HM, cross training and lifting weights, but I am eating very close to maintenance calories, which means nearly all of my exercise calories back.

It is very hard to run a 10k race on a deficit. I ran two races so far and proper nutrition is vital for a good race. I finished mine in 1 hour and 2 minutes.

Running burns tons of calories!

Stef.

goanothermile

It is very hard to run a 10k race on a deficit. I ran two races so far and proper nutrition is vital for a good race. I finished mine in 1 hour and 2 minutes.

Congrats on a good time!

You're right about nutrition being one of the keys to race success. Even if you are well trained, failure to properly fuel (and hydrate) will negatively impact your race performance. The longer the race, the more important this factor becomes.

My suggestion is to focus on eating well 2-3 days prior to the race and keep it light the day before the race. That will mean going above the usual net calories to top off the tank. Eat nutritious food and allow yourself some extra leeway. Don't go crazy. I'm thinking an extra 10-20% of net calories for a couple of days. That doesn't take a lot since you're also tapering and won't be doing other heavy exercise.

I'm not a fan of the pre-race carb load dinner. In my experience, this is likely to cause a belly ache on race morning. If you've managed your diet well for a few days then that isn't necessary.

stephbeland8

Great comment! Thanks!!!!