Strength Training vs Running

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VickieMW
VickieMW Posts: 285 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I love to run and work out with weights. I have been trying to do both and lose weight. For me it's not working. Is it better to just do one or the other?

I've just come off a injury and really suprized at how fast my muscle memory is bringing me right back to my muscle strength before my injury.

My ususal routine is: Strength Training, Squats, Bench Press, Deadlift, Chin ups, Lying Leg Curl. About 45 minutes 3 times a week.
My running routine is running 6 days a week 21 to 25 miles a week. or 3 to 4 miles a day.
Any suggestions? Vickie
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Replies

  • grouch201
    grouch201 Posts: 404 Member
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    It seems like most of what I've read says that both are important for weight loss. Being as active as you are, I wonder if it isn't a problem more in what you're eating and drinking rather than your workout routine. There's not a lot to go on in your food diary, but it seems that you may be getting to little in the way of food and not drinking enough water. I generally try not to be much more than 400 short of my calorie goal and try to keep my fat as close to on target as possible. I also have a water bottle wherever I go so that I am constantly drinking through out the day. I just found and posted an article on the importance of water, but here's the link if you care to read it: http://leader1fitness.com/articles/water.htm

    Hope this helps.
  • karissastephens
    karissastephens Posts: 324 Member
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    I do this EXACT same thing! But the thing is that too much cardio as well as weight training doesnt work only because the muscle your trying to build..which im guessing is lean muscle correct?.....the muscle your trying to build is getting eatin away by your body because of the cardio. Try doing less cardio. maybe limit it to like 3 days a week :flowerforyou:

    I should practice what I preach but I LOOOOOOVE cardio and feel sluggish if I don't do it..it's complicated :indifferent:
  • lisajuly
    lisajuly Posts: 240 Member
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    Grrr, i just lost my post to you. trying again, and hoping i'm not double posting.

    i see no reason why you can't do both, in moderation. i'd cut back the running to 4x a week, or even every other day. so some weeks, you'd run 3x/week, others 4x a week. And i'd try to make one of those runs a bit longer, like 5-6 miles.

    also, when doing strength training, you need to vary up your exercises every 6-8 weeks or your body gets used to it and progress levels off. maybe do one session a week of upper body exercises, one session of lower body, and one session of both upper and lower body. Also, play around with your reps/sets/weights. Do a 6-8 week period of heavy weights but low reps and then the next session, go not as heavy on the weights, but more reps.

    hope that helps.
    Lisa
  • VickieMW
    VickieMW Posts: 285 Member
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    Okay great, some good idea's. I really wondered about the "too much running" part.

    Thanks to all the good reply's. I appreciate your thoughts and time. V
  • nick1109
    nick1109 Posts: 174 Member
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    Too much running for the purpose of fat loss and overal health in my opinion can only be a bad thing. If your goal is to be a fast marathon runnner then knock yourself out but for the purpose of fat loss weight training is far better.

    Running day in day out will give you knee and hip problems eventually. Steady state cardio will also mean your body turning catabolic by which you will be eating both fat and muscle. Muscle preservation or even gains is whats required for fat loss. Your body will burn far more calories at rest with more muscle on it so makes sense to concerntrate on the strength side of things.

    Doing alot of running also makes it difficult to 'know' exactly what you are burning thus making it hard to calculate your calorie requirements for a deficit and ultimately weight loss.

    I would include a structured,monitored weight training programme and if you feel like you want to do cardio try some HIIT or some tabata type training as these provide the metabolic stimulus you're after for fat loss and retaining muscle.

    That said i can appreciate that some people just enjoy running at a steady state.
  • aprilgicker
    aprilgicker Posts: 395 Member
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    If you don't want to get out of the habit of running. but don't want the lean muscle loss try doing cardio in a lower heart rate range. If you run and your range is 155-160 try aiming for 140 -145 instead, for fat burning. It my be just a fast walk or try a machine that will add some resistance like stairs or elliptical.

    Your body burns muscle to get to the iron that is needed for oxygen to be carried through the body when you run. that is why there is a runners physique and a builders physique.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
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    As you are doing strength that much strength training and wanting to lose fat I would be modifying the goals to something like 30% protein, 40% carbs and 30% fats. I see you eat a lot of fruit which no doubt are good for you but generally are mostly carbs. Try to include some healthy fats from things like nuts, avocados etc. From what I see your exercise routine is definitely enough to be losing fat but as always 80% diet 20% exercise :) Currently, looks like too many carbs, not enough fat or protein. I would try and stick to having carbs earlier in the day and post workout. Speaking of that, didn't really see anything there? What do you normally have? Should have some protein and high gi carbs (like dextrose) post workout. (more carbs necessary for long runs as opposed to stength training sessions)
  • carl1738
    carl1738 Posts: 444 Member
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    I would suggest either cuting out your running on days that you strength train, or try to do your running first thing in the morning and do your strength training later on in the day, after a meal or two. Make sure that you're getting enough protein and carbs to help your body recover properly post-workout.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    You will NOT lose "muscle mass" from running 20-25 miles per week. This stuff is getting out of hand.
  • VickieMW
    VickieMW Posts: 285 Member
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    So I am hearing a lot of people saying that I need to run less, maybe three times a week instead of six. I would probley make those runs 4 to 5 miles then and see how that works.

    I also get the 5 meals, with about 1600 calories a day. My protein is 22 grams per meal, 7 fat grams per meal and 44 carbs.
    My normal calorie intake for a day is about 1600 calories. Last week was an expiramint to try LOTS more vegies and fruit. It did not work, got disappointed and blew it after 1:40 minutes strength training on Friday night. Wendys! bad choice.

    Anyone have any thoughts on strength training for 1:30 minutes 3 times a week vs 45 minutes. Would that bulid more muscle if I did alot more free weights & machines??? Pushups etc.? Maybe that with only running three times a week.

    Would love more ideas! Vickie
  • nick1109
    nick1109 Posts: 174 Member
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    You will NOT lose "muscle mass" from running 20-25 miles per week. This stuff is getting out of hand.

    You absolutely WILL lose muscle mass running 25 miles a week If you are restricting your calories whilst doing that sort of milage your body is going to eat into both your muscles and fat.
  • carl1738
    carl1738 Posts: 444 Member
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    I'ld try to keep your strength training sessions to 45-60 minutes maximum. More than that can actually have a negative effect on your muscles. Maybe do your upper body one day and your lower body on your next workout day. That should give your muscles plenty of time to repair themselves and grow in between workouts. Save your ab and core exercises for near the end of your workouts. Always train your larger muscle groups (Quads, Thighs and Glutes, Back, Chest) before your smaller muscle groups (arms, calves, abs). Try to do compound or multi joint exercises like squats, deadlifts, rows, chinups, bench presses or pushups before your single joint or isolation exercises like bicep curls or calf raises.

    If you still want to run on your strength training days, I would do it first thing in the morning. I would just cut back a bit on either the distance or intensity of the runs to make sure that you still have lots of energy for strength training. Hope this helps!
  • carl1738
    carl1738 Posts: 444 Member
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    Just wanted to add that you should make sure that you're eating back most of your exercise calories! Very important!
  • VickieMW
    VickieMW Posts: 285 Member
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    Thanks this sounds like really good information. Vickie
  • Vansy
    Vansy Posts: 419 Member
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    I work with a trainer at the gym and he said that when you're running that much basically your body is used to burning those calories -- it gets more efficient at burning the calories by running, which is why you should switch your routine ever 3-4 weeks. The same goes for weight training, my gym sessions are intense and I'll typically burn about 200 calories in the 25 minutes it takes me to go through my whole weights session. AND it gets mixed up with some crossfit exercises and other intense cardio/strength workouts.

    When you go do weights -- make sure there's no sitting breaks, switch off on machines so you're always moving. And toss in things like dips, pull-ups, hanging leg raises, etc that are good at raising your heart rate.


    I dunno. I'm seeing results now with the program I'm doing. And I've also a runner -- and typically I was running between 20 and 30 miles a week. I've backed off on that for a couple weeks in order to give my joints a break and get my body a little more used to the killer weight sessions I'm doing now.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    My opinion, coming from someone who has done both weight lifting and running recreationally for a long time…

    The 1st thing that jumps out at me is doing all that exercise and only eating 1600 cals/day. IMO that is too little. I think you need to eat more, and make sure you get an adequate amount of protein, because at those exercise levels your body needs it.

    Your weight routine in your original post seems reasonable. Maybe switch up the movements a little more instead of doing the same ones each workout. But I would still keep the workout to 45-60 minutes tops. One of my favorite schedules is chest/back, arms/abs, shoulders & legs. With the arms/abs day being fairly short because they are smaller muscle groups. You could also do chest/biceps, Back/triceps and shoulders/legs. With a smattering of abs sprinkled in.

    I don’t feel that your running load is excessive either. Maybe cut back to 5 days a week, but your weekly mileage isn’t overboard at all.

    I don’t think running & weight lifting are mutually exclusive, but I also think it is tough to do both with high intensity. If you are pounding the weights, back off the running a little, especially on the days you lift. If you are big into running adding some weight training is a great way to complement it. I think the eating part of your work out is the overlooked aspect here.
  • VickieMW
    VickieMW Posts: 285 Member
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    Thanks Rybo! I think you might be right about the calories. I just have to figure out how much to add!

    Thanks for your help! Vickie
  • theGODwithin
    theGODwithin Posts: 7
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    try this:

    first day - run for 15-20 mins. hard enough to get your heart rate going. then right after go do your strength training but in circuits. pick about 5-7 of your favorite routines, weight should be heavy enough for you to do 15-20 reps. do the routines right after another for 15-20 reps each, not stopping, but remember to remain in perfect form. after that rest for 1-3 minutes then bang right back at it for 2 more times. so do 3 sets of that.

    next day - this day do your long runs because your body needs to recover from the previous day. 30 mins or so should be good.

    REPEAT!

    you can change up the 5-7 strength training routines so you dont get bored. as you get stronger, add a little more weight, but gradually so you dont shock yourself.

    this method burns calories pretty well since youre doing pretty much a combination of cardio-strength training and your heart rate climbs up with every routine. and after your workout youre still burning some calories because you slightly tore muscles with that grueling circuit.

    drink lots of water, eat lots of protein, and good luck and have fun!
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I work with a trainer at the gym and he said that when you're running that much basically your body is used to burning those calories -- it gets more efficient at burning the calories by running, which is why you should switch your routine ever 3-4 weeks. The same goes for weight training, my gym sessions are intense and I'll typically burn about 200 calories in the 25 minutes it takes me to go through my whole weights session. AND it gets mixed up with some crossfit exercises and other intense cardio/strength workouts.

    When you go do weights -- make sure there's no sitting breaks, switch off on machines so you're always moving. And toss in things like dips, pull-ups, hanging leg raises, etc that are good at raising your heart rate.


    I dunno. I'm seeing results now with the program I'm doing. And I've also a runner -- and typically I was running between 20 and 30 miles a week. I've backed off on that for a couple weeks in order to give my joints a break and get my body a little more used to the killer weight sessions I'm doing now.

    That's just not true. Unfortunately, trainers have to work a lot of hours to make a living and they don't always have time to really learn physiology--many have a tendency to just mimic the latest fad.

    It is very difficult to improve true mechanical efficiency to the point where you would see significant decrease in calories burned. Even professional athletes rarely increase their efficiency by even as much as 1%.

    There is a difference between varying your training intensity and just changing exercises at random to "confuse the body". The first is a crucial training strategy, the second is just a marketing gimmick.

    There are good reasons why you are seeing the changes you are experiencing and there is nothing wrong with the routine you are following (except that most people are now doing too much high-intensity training)--the improvement just isn't happening for the reasons your trainer says it is, that's all.
  • SweetPandora
    SweetPandora Posts: 660 Member
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    If you a runner it is beneficial to cross train. When I was running (I've been sidelined from an injury and just getting back into it slowly) I ran 4-5 times a week varying my run distance between 5km to 15 km (depending if I was training for a race) and I would weight train working out different muscle groups 3 times a week and I would also do yoga 3 times a week.

    For example Sunday was my long run day and then Monday was a rest day from running Tuesday I would do a 10 km, Thursday an 5 km and Friday an 8km. I would switch up the distances depending on if I was training or not and how my body felt from the last run. Depending on how I was feeling I would throw in a run on the Wednesday or Saturday.

    Everyone has an opinion on what to do and what is best.

    I believe everyone is different and you have to listen to your body and keep a journal to see your results and adjust it from there.

    I am going to look at my calorie intake, as you mentioned I don't think I am eating enough.

    Best of luck.

    Karen

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