Couch to 5K Running Program (C25K)

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C25K and weight training?

trizzell79
trizzell79 Posts: 153 Member
in Social Groups
I on week 5 and loving it. This is all I am doing for exercise. Are most of you also doing a weight training routine on your days off? I've been thinking about it but don't want to deal with sore muscles from weights while I try to reach my running goal. Advice?

Replies

  • Jaccyber
    Jaccyber Posts: 620 Member
    Here is my schedule: On Mondays I do running in the morning then in the evening get in some strength training... Lunges, Squats, with some upper body. Tuesday do full body with cardio and strenght training. Wednesday rest. Thursday... do running in the morning then in evening mostly upper body training. Friday... mostly lower body training. I started doing the strength training about 1 year ago now then added C25K about 9 weeks ago now (I repeated days in C25K program week 1 thru 3). I just finished Week 7 today and was able to run for 42 minutes. Wanted to see how far I could go. After doing this routine (C25K and strength training toghether) for about 9 weeks now it seems that C25K and strenght training work very well together. I had a great NSV today. In earlier weeks when I tried to run/walk past the 3.5 mile mark the upper part of my right leg would get sore. Now I noticed today that soreness is not there anymore. I am assuming it is b/c of the lower body training.

    I wish you well on your fitness journey.
    Happy running.
  • AndreaPool
    AndreaPool Posts: 45
    I'm doing C25K three days a week and then strength training two days a week...

    So my schedule looks like this:
    Mon - C25K
    Tue - Strength (lower body)
    Wed - C25K
    Thu - Strength (upper body)
    Fri - Rest
    Sat - C25K
    Sun - Sometimes gym (cardio / strength mixed) or rest

    With my weight loss I've noticed that running has sped up the process, even to the point where now I need to be careful not to lose too much. That's one of the reasons why I sometimes take two rest days... Can't keep up with eating back all those exercise calories hahaha...
    I'm really happy with the combination of C25K with strength training though... Like Jaccyber, I believe the lower body training helps me prevent experiencing soreness from running.
    If you're afraid of being sore after strength training, I would recommend just starting with lower weights and higher reps for the first few times to get used to it... (or do your lower body strength training the day before your rest day, so you'll have one more day to recover...)
  • susannahcooks
    susannahcooks Posts: 293 Member
    My trainer and I put together my schedule, and her recommendation was to strength train whole body at least 3 days a week - that for general weight loss and fitness, its best to work each muscle 3 days a week, not split it out and only get it once..)

    M: Run c25k (30-35 mins), strength train full body about 40 minutes
    T: Bootcamp/Trainer session
    W: Run c25k (30-35 mins), strength train full body about 40 minutes (although I admit that sometimes I blow this one off and swim instead)
    Th: Sand volleyball (anywhere from 1 hour to 3 depending on if I can pick up games)
    F: Run c25k (30-35 mins), strength train full body about 40 minutes
    S: Walk/Run outside (trying to build up stamina not on treadmill so I can run in the actual race on Sept 9), about 1 hour
    S: off day (although sometimes yoga and sometimes swimming depending on weather, or how restless I'm feeling..)

    Once volleyball season is over, I'll do bootcamp on Thursdays too.

    I sometimes do have sore muscles, but keeping stretched out, and moving actually helps - so after the first 'lap' or so running, the soreness usually abates.

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