Cardio VS Gaining Lean Mass

HMVOL7409

Alright so today was my 3rd bod pod and I've conquered all of my goals so far. I'm down to 17% BF at a weight I'm happy with and have been eating at maintence for 2 weeks now. My only other goal left to be met is a 1/2 marathon I'm training for in October. Which brings me to my dilemma. I would LOVE to put on a little bit more lean muscle mass over the next 3-6 mths but continue to maintain my current BF%. I currently run 3 days a week which are up to 45-50 mins, HIIT twice a week for 20 mins and 2 upper body and lower body workouts with sets of 3 at a max of 6-8 reps with the heaviest weight that brings me to failure. I do take 1 day off completely. Can I continue doing this routine with an increase in my calories of 150-250 daily and get towards my goal? Or is the cardio going to interfere with that? Cutting out running is not an option; I have had my heart set in completing this marathon since March. I have thought about cutting out my HIIT programs. What could be the best solution for me at this point?

EvanKeel

I'll be curious to see what other more learned folks say, but conventional wisdom seems to be that yeah, that sounds like a lot of cardio for your goal.

tigersword

Generally, you're not going to put on lean mass if you're training for a half marathon. Endurance running and weight lifting are kind of opposites, and trying to do both at the same time will kind of leave you spinning your wheels. Best to focus on marathon training for now, and worry about adding some lean mass after you run it.

RonSwanson66

Generally, you're not going to put on lean mass if you're training for a half marathon. Endurance running and weight lifting are kind of opposites, and trying to do both at the same time will kind of leave you spinning your wheels. Best to focus on marathon training for now, and worry about adding some lean mass after you run it.

Cosign

Rayman79

Generally, you're not going to put on lean mass if you're training for a half marathon. Endurance running and weight lifting are kind of opposites, and trying to do both at the same time will kind of leave you spinning your wheels. Best to focus on marathon training for now, and worry about adding some lean mass after you run it.

Agreed, motion passed.

Don't try to conquer the world all at once, focus on the distance training, complete the marathon, then switch it up and hit the gym for a while. Focusing on this goal is clearly important to you, and switching to more weight training to put on some mass will be a welcome change once you are done I'm sure.

rando348

Try cutting out the HIIT and lift more. Maybe a body part split like chest/triceps/shoulders one day. Back/biceps another day. You can do legs on its own day but with all your running I would leave out legs. Lift in a rep range of 6-12 to failure. Try that for a month and you might be surprised with some lean body mass gains.

But like someone else said marathon running and gaining lean body mass are opposites but that doesn't you can make some baby steps forward. Good luck

RonSwanson66

Try cutting out the HIIT and lift more. Maybe a body part split like chest/triceps/shoulders one day. Back/biceps another day. You can do legs on its own day but with all your running I would leave out legs. Lift in a rep range of 6-12 to failure. Try that for a month and you might be surprised with some lean body mass gains.

Don't do any of this.

scottb81

I agree with everyone that said you can do one or the other well or you can do both at the same time halfa**ed. Pick your priority.

HMVOL7409

Thanks for the responses. FWIW I don't do anything half assed. There was no need for that.

scottb81

Thanks for the responses. FWIW I don't do anything half assed. There was no need for that.

No offense was intended. Just a poor choice of words.