balancing running and lifting?

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BeautyFromPain
BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Long story short, my goal at the moment is to lose body fat whilst maintaining muscle mass.
I also want to become a better runner and be able to lift heavier weights.

I used to do weights 4 days a week (2 upper body/2 lower body) plus I teach dancing twice a week but now I have a new found passion for running I have no idea where to fit this in.

Help anyone?
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Replies

  • shabaity
    shabaity Posts: 792 Member
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    i use 3 days a week for running and 2 on strength with my busy nights at work being my rest days
  • Cwilbanks12105
    Cwilbanks12105 Posts: 99 Member
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    For me, I do weights three days a week (full body) and run in between.
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    For me, I do weights three days a week (full body) and run in between.

    How do you do legs then run the next day though?
    Wouldn't think that is too good.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    I do it. I have a 3 day rotation- run, lift, rest. I have details about it in my profile if you're interested!
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    For me, I do weights three days a week (full body) and run in between.

    How do you do legs then run the next day though?
    Wouldn't think that is too good.
    I can't run the day after I lift. It's miserable!
  • Sarah_Wins
    Sarah_Wins Posts: 936 Member
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    For me, I do weights three days a week (full body) and run in between.

    How do you do legs then run the next day though?
    Wouldn't think that is too good.

    I do pretty much the same schedule and as long as I'm keeping my protein up, there's minimal muscle soreness. I tried cutting out the protein shakes for a month because I thought they were stalling me, and had tight, sore hamstrings and calves all the time, which affected everything. Thankfully, my massage therapist is also a trainer and told me what I was doing wrong as he was torturing my poor legs.
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
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    I run M/W/F, lift T/Th/Sa and take Sunday off. I love both. I do everything in the morning so there is a 24 hour rest between legs and running and to me it feels good to run when my legs are a little sore.
  • tchrmom04
    tchrmom04 Posts: 84 Member
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    I am doing the same. I run on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday. I lift (NROL4W) on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. My rest day is tuesday because I have class on Tuesday night.

    I haven't had a problem with this rotation due to minimal muscle soreness. I never thought about it - but I bet it is the protein. I aim for minimum 100 grams a day of protein. I'm usually only sore the first day of a new weight stage.

    Sherry
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    You have to realize you have to strike a balance. You can either be great at lifting, or great at running. Can't really do both at the same time. You can be good shape not saying you can't, you will be well balanced doing both. I am just saying to be thinking you're going to be some muscular marathon runner.

    I lift heavy 3x a week, it only last about 30-40mins, then i do cardio for about 20minutes. In your case, you can slowly increase the time of cardio.

    Disagree. I agree in the sense that elite marathon athletes (like, the ones that run professionally and win marathons) aren't going to be great weightlifters. And competitive weight lifters aren't going to be great runners (like, olympic athletes) but most of us aren't at those levels. I distance run and consider myself good at it, and I lift and have a pretty steady progression and good results. I'm not winning any races, but I maintain a base fitness level where I can run for 2 hrs without exhaustion, and still PR my lifts with reasonable regularity. The attitude you're taking here discourages people to pursue both interests if they have them.

    The keys are 1)diet and 2)rest. Maybe you won't win marathons or lifting competitions, but you CAN do both successfully with the right diet and proper rest.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    I pretty much go every other day now. Once per week I do light cardio and and resistance bands. But I always make sure that I have at least one, sometimes two or three, days between strength training to give my muscles plenty of time to heal. I'm also not afraid to listen to my body and take a rest day, and just eat less on my rest days.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    You have to realize you have to strike a balance. You can either be great at lifting, or great at running. Can't really do both at the same time. You can be good shape not saying you can't, you will be well balanced doing both. I am just saying don't be thinking you're going to be some muscular marathon runner. Or a really lean and lanky power lifter.

    I lift heavy 3x a week, it only last about 30-40mins, then i do cardio for about 20minutes. In your case, you can slowly increase the time of cardio.

    I disagree with this as well. I have massively improved my progress on strength training, and at the same time, I've made it to week five of Couch to 5k. You can do both, you just have to be sure and take rest days and know how to listen to your body.
  • Akious
    Akious Posts: 71
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    For me..

    Mon / Wed / Fri = Weight Lifting (1-2hrs Full body)
    Tues / Thurs / Sat = Running
    Sun = Rest

    It takes some getting used to but, its what works for me and i love it!
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    For me, I do weights three days a week (full body) and run in between.

    How do you do legs then run the next day though?
    Wouldn't think that is too good.

    It's really not that bad.

    I'm doing C25K which is 3 days a week.. and which means that my runs must come after my lifting days, since I'm like other poster doing full body 3 days and then running 3 days.

    I haven't had any issues and am progressing in strength goals/running goals quite well.
  • 9jenn9
    9jenn9 Posts: 309 Member
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    I do cardio 5x a week. Two of those days are running. Two days a week, I do cardio followed by weights. My rest days are always the day after I do a cardio/weight workout. I'm gumby the day after weights and really need the rest. My schedule looks like this:
    M: kickbox
    T: spin/weghts
    W: rest
    Th:run
    Fri: kickbox
    Sat: run/weights
    Sun : rest.
    I do cardio for the calorie burn, cardiovascular health and most importantly for mental health. The weights are key to keeping/building muscle which keeps me looking younger. Who doesn't want that?
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    Yoote]
    lifter ou have to realize you have to strike a balance. You can either be great at lifting, or great at running. Can't really do both at the same time. You can be good shape not saying you can't, you will be well balanced doing both. I am just saying don't be thinking you're going to be some muscular marathon runner. Or a really lean and lanky power lifter.

    I lift heavy 3x a week, it only last about 30-40mins, then i do cardio for about 20minutes. In your case, you can slowly increase the time of cardio.
    [/quote]

    I'm going to disagree with this a little bit. Not in theory, but in practical application. Every one has a different level of fitness that they consider good or great, and for most people, being a good runner and good lifter is entirely possible. Will they be able to max out at both, heck no, I don't care how many scooby studies say they can. But can they achieve a high level of fitness at both, absolutely. Remember that what you and I consider "strong" is probably more than most people want to try to lift. If the OP has a goal of being the strongest lifter in the gym, don't run. Not a single step. But if they want to be a lifter that runs or a runner that lifts, totally achievable.

    For the OP, back in another life when I lifted and ran, I only had 4 days total per week to get it all in. I lifted then ran on the same day 3x a week, and did running only 1 day (if I felt like it). Worked great. All my lifts went down (a lot), but I was able to lose the winter weight right on schedule.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    I do strength training as a regular part of my training for half marathon running (I have my second in a couple of weeks).

    I lift on Mondays and Thursdays. Doing a "circuit" of 12 different lifts, half upper body, half lower. I lift the heaviest weight I can to breaking and just recently upped my weight on about two-thirds of the lifts and have already watched my reps go up across the board on the new weights (and the old). I do three sets of all 12 each time. And while I'm not necessarily building muscle since I'm still in a calorie deficit, I eat about 30-35% protein on lift days and am clearly seeing strength improvement.

    I have my long runs on Sundays (14 miles tomorrow!), mid-length run on Tuesdays (usually just under half my Sunday distance), alternate speed and hill training on Wednesdays, a three mile run after my strength workout on Thursdays, then a cross-train cardio day on Saturdays (any cardio but running, usually the ARC/adaptive motion trainer).

    Following that schedule I saw my average running pace drop from close to 11 minutes per mile to the 9:32 per mile that I ran my first half in. And while the strength hasn't improved as highly (partially due to a shoulder injury that sidelined my strength training for a little while), it has steadily improved.

    So I'd say that, as someone said before, you aren't going to be the race winner or break lifting records, you can definitely improve both aspects at the same time.
  • RyanWilson1993
    RyanWilson1993 Posts: 409 Member
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    Lot of people do 3 lifting days and 2 cardio days
  • ladyark
    ladyark Posts: 1,101 Member
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    I dont really run anymore like i would like to ( my shins protest from years ago damage) but i do my weights twice a week full body ( 2 sets) and Once a week just one set. I also do at least 30-45 mins of cardio ( 3-4 miles eliptical or 3-4 miles on the treadmill at 3.5 mph doing jog/walk intervals) on those same days. Then i do Zumba 2-3 times a week and i take Thursdays off since i work a double that day.

    I find that if i do the weights in the AM i am ok with the zumba in the pm but, if i dont do zumba i do the cardio right after the weights. Am i sore....almost always but not in pain just sore.

    You just have to find what times will work best for you and listen to your body. I should take an extra rest day ideally but, i cant decide which activity i would choose to cut.
  • dottheallison
    dottheallison Posts: 42
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    I stand all day at work (50 hrs/wk) so when I lift I do not do my legs. I walk 6 days a week (I'm working on running a little more at a time every other day) and on the days I don't run, I do my lifting/strength training. Just arms (triceps, blech) and abs. Light weights, few reps - I build muscle pretty quickly and I'm only trying to tone. I'm trying to lose bulk, not gain it.
    If I ever feel like I need anything else on my lower body I stretch, or do lunges or squats, but walking/running on its own seems to be taking care of everything from the waist down for me. :) My sister even commented on how muscular/lean my legs are getting yesterday, which I didn't think was noticeable yet. (yay!)
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    I stand all day at work (50 hrs/wk) so when I lift I do not do my legs. I walk 6 days a week (I'm working on running a little more at a time every other day) and on the days I don't run, I do my lifting/strength training. Just arms (triceps, blech) and abs. Light weights, few reps - I build muscle pretty quickly and I'm only trying to tone. I'm trying to lose bulk, not gain it.
    If I ever feel like I need anything else on my lower body I stretch, or do lunges or squats, but walking/running on its own seems to be taking care of everything from the waist down for me. :) My sister even commented on how muscular/lean my legs are getting yesterday, which I didn't think was noticeable yet. (yay!)

    So you don't do your back/chest/shoulders/legs?

    Sigh
    Women can NOT bulk, trust me.

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