Fitting in strength when marathon training

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lucyprunner
lucyprunner Posts: 55
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all,

What are you doing for strength training whilst you are ramping up mileage for an upcoming marathon?

Thanks,
Lucy

Replies

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    Are you currently doing any strength training? You can proceed with that, just may have to shuffle your schedule as your high mileage builds.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    I'm doing pretty much full on strength training. I just have to be mindful about the timing of my leg work. I need to make sure and schedule that when I have a rest day the next day.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Strength training on m y non running days, of course!
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    Lift at lunch, run in the morning or evening. Lift upperbody only, no legs. Legs get enough work running 6 days a week.
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
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    I'm doing pretty much full on strength training. I just have to be mindful about the timing of my leg work. I need to make sure and schedule that when I have a rest day the next day.

    If I did that, I'd have to do legs about every 12 to 18 days. :smile:
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    I'm doing pretty much full on strength training. I just have to be mindful about the timing of my leg work. I need to make sure and schedule that when I have a rest day the next day.

    If I did that, I'd have to do legs about every 12 to 18 days. :smile:

    Of course, with the miles you put in that's no surprise.

    I did legs Sunday night and yesterday morning I could still feel it. They were perfectly fine today though. Felt great. This is also going to vary based on what I have coming up the day after rest. If it's an easy run then fine but if I'm supposed to do some sort of faster intervals then the legs are going to have to wait. I've done that before and it doesn't work out that well.
  • tkillion810
    tkillion810 Posts: 591 Member
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    Are you currently doing any strength training? I try to fit in 2-3 (3 preferably) days of strength training. I run 6 days a week. I still do legs and just try not to piggy back them to my long run day. When I strenght train it's a 2 day workout day. This way I can still have one full day off from workouts. Btw, posterior chain extercises are great addition to workouts for runners.
  • msstatz
    msstatz Posts: 163 Member
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    I was jut thinking about/researching this exact question this morning. I am thinking about starting some type of strength training but I'm not really sure what to do either. I urgently run/cross train early in the morning so I am thinking about adding the strength training in the afternoon/evening. Do any of you have a specific training plan or exercises that you would recommend? I'm completely lost on where to even start. Thanks!
  • msstatz
    msstatz Posts: 163 Member
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    Are you currently doing any strength training? I try to fit in 2-3 (3 preferably) days of strength training. I run 6 days a week. I still do legs and just try not to piggy back them to my long run day. When I strenght train it's a 2 day workout day. This way I can still have one full day off from workouts. Btw, posterior chain extercises are great addition to workouts for runners.

    What exactly do you do for exercises (if you don't mind sharing)?
  • FoxyMcDeadlift
    FoxyMcDeadlift Posts: 771 Member
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    Lift at lunch, run in the morning or evening. Lift upperbody only, no legs. Legs get enough work running 6 days a week.

    Respectfully going to disagree with you here Scott, i think if you're doing your sort of mileage you might want to go light on the legs, but everyone can benefit from improved leg and joint strength, it will help prevent injury and give you more strenght/power. I did strength 4x a week whilst running 5-6 times a week. Just make sure you eat enough!
  • CarsonRuns
    CarsonRuns Posts: 3,039 Member
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    Lift at lunch, run in the morning or evening. Lift upperbody only, no legs. Legs get enough work running 6 days a week.

    Respectfully going to disagree with you here Scott, i think if you're doing your sort of mileage you might want to go light on the legs, but everyone can benefit from improved leg and joint strength, it will help prevent injury and give you more strenght/power. I did strength 4x a week whilst running 5-6 times a week. Just make sure you eat enough!

    My coach, who coached at the D1 level, advises against any leg work with weights, especially for Masters runners. He sees far more potential for injury or inhibiting workouts than he sees benefit.
  • hskriver
    hskriver Posts: 33 Member
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    I just started training for my first marathon, so i'm trying to figure this out for myself as well. I've been doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women over the last month and have been able to fit it in pretty well with my running. I usually lift and run on the same day (lift first, then run) and try to have a full day of rest in between. I can be pretty tired during my runs after a hard lifting session, but I figure that I'm going to feel even more tired around mile 20 in my marathon and treat it as part of my mental toughness training.

    I disagree that you shouldn't do legwork. Before starting New Rules, I barely did any strength training in the legs (I did some, but not at the same level that New Rules has) and I felt like I had some muscle imbalances that led to problems with my knee and lower leg. I have noticed a huge improvement in this. In my case, I think incorporating more legwork was beneficial. Each person needs to figure out what works best for them though.
  • mlb929
    mlb929 Posts: 1,974 Member
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    I did doubles. Ran in Am and strength training on my lunch hour. Or I did strength training in the AM and biked at lunch. I did Yoga on my rest day. I use the Run Less Run Faster Plan, which was 3 days running, 2 days biking, that gave me one day for total body strength, 3 days for upper body, and 2 days for lower body on my biking days.

    My lower body work was all squats, lunges, and plyometrics. Basically I learned in Physical Therapy, that runners "wear out" (my term) our hips causing weaknesses that give runners knee paid. I would be able to continue to run injury free without lower body work. But it's not heavy strength training, it's work that my body isn't otherwise getting.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    I've never done training for a full marathon but I've done a couple of half marathons. I do my strength training on Mondays and Thursdays. Monday is just strength training, and it's the day after my long run. And Thursdays are strength training followed by a three-four mile run.

    On both days I do a combined upper and lower body workout. I lift heavy and max out at no more than 10 reps on a regular basis before I move up to the next weight for that exercise for the upper body. And I tend to lift a little lighter on the lower body and just do 10-14 reps on leg exercises so as not to wear them out for my running.
  • 808haoleboy
    808haoleboy Posts: 23 Member
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    I am training for my first marathon so I'm just going with what my body feels ok with.
    So far, I run M, W, TH, SA and lift HEAVY on TU, FR, SUN. So far, so good. If I am feeling really burnt out, I sacrifice my lifting on Tuesdays which hasn't impacted my lifting much or at all.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    Lift at lunch, run in the morning or evening. Lift upperbody only, no legs. Legs get enough work running 6 days a week.

    Respectfully going to disagree with you here Scott, i think if you're doing your sort of mileage you might want to go light on the legs, but everyone can benefit from improved leg and joint strength, it will help prevent injury and give you more strenght/power. I did strength 4x a week whilst running 5-6 times a week. Just make sure you eat enough!
    I have lifted lower body before and I might again some time in the future but right now I'm wanting to just focus on getting through my current running program. Also, strength wise, my legs are in pretty decent shape from spending 20 years in the Army and a lot of that in the Infantry.

    Where I was beginning to have problems in my legs was in tight muscles and tendons. I have addressed that with a combination of stretching, foam rolling, and Yoga poses that I do several times a week. That seems to be helping a lot. Plus I get to do my headstand in the gym which in addition to strengthening the core, gets me odd looks from the other people. LOL
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    I think that if you have a marathon coming up you have to focus on improving your running, and you cannot do that very easily if you are weight training too. I lift and I do legs, and I am very slow the next day.
    Can't you just let the weight training go for a while?
    Or, there are many, body-weight routines for runners. They are designed to help prevent injury. Maybe fit one of those in.
    My experience tells me, though, that you can only do it about once a week or it impairs your running.
  • mjpTennis
    mjpTennis Posts: 6,165 Member
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    I am practicing what Tufel preaches here. I have a set of running specific weight training activities that I do on my lightest running day and also the morning of my rest day. I use minimal weights and I combine it with a full stretching routine.

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