Distance Running Vs Weightlifting

RHachicho
RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Fairly common question here. I have been building up my ability to run and I ran my first 10k today. It seems as though my capacity to run distances is increasing quite well. However I also want to put on muscle in the gym. I want to know what sort of distance per run and distance per week is considered "safe". I.e that it wont start to eat into muscle growth.

My goal, which I haven't reached yet is 3 - 4 runs a week at 10km/run. I want to know if building muscle while still maintaining that is possible. I hit the gym for 3 hour long sessions every week. And I sometimes fit in a couple of half an hour home dumbell sessions as well if i'm bored.

I am currently 225lbs and 20% Bodyfat. This is a new development. 8 and a half months ago I started to work out at 338lbs and an inability to get up off the floor without a few warm up attempts. But I started to watch my diet and exercise like mad. I totally fell in love with pushing the limits of my body. I want to see just how strong and fit I can get. I don't desire to be a bodybuilder or have abs. I don't even mind if I end up still being chubby. Which I still kinda am. I just want to be as strong and as fit as I can possibly be and would like help achieving this balance.

So I don't want replies along the lines of "Sorry bro you will never be ripped if you distance run" or "Just fugging tie up your shoes and run!" I want help achieving the balance where I can achieve strong musculature and excellent fitness in tandem.

Replies

  • fitzman84
    fitzman84 Posts: 40 Member
    As long as you're eating enough it shouldnt be a problem. I would just start lifting and keep trying to add weight to the lifts. Since your a newbie, you can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time for a while. If you feel like your not putting on any muscle, add some calories to your daily allotment.

    Stick to the main big lifts - Bench press, Deadlifts, Military Press, Squats

    Also, make sure your getting enough protein. For a 225lb guy I would recommend 175-200 grams... as long as you dont have any kidney/liver issues.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    From my own personal experience (nothing scientific) I did not notice any slow downs in the gym until I started hitting 18+ miles on my long run days and that was in the upper 30s to lower 40 miles per week. I didn't really lose any strength but my progress stalled but I believe that was because my body was mostly shot half the week from the long runs.

    I don't think you should worry about limiting yourself or runs "eating" your muscles away as long as you are still getting a high protein intake and working in the gym. I see plenty of really jacked up guys running races or in my running group all the time. They are not like Kenyan fast winning first place at national marathons or anything but I know a few that can push 6-7 minute paces for a half marathon or longer.

    tl:dr version: Run, lift, and fuel. I wouldn't even worry about it until you get waaay more serious about distance running.
  • Elsie_Brownraisin
    Elsie_Brownraisin Posts: 786 Member
    edited October 2014
    My husband is a long distance runner and he does weight exercises at home, because a strong core and arms can really help your running. It's not full on beefcaking though.

    I'm sorry I can't give you any concrete advice other than googling 'strength training for runners', it'll bring up a lot, but because I'm not a runner, I can't advise you on which of those articles would be the most helpful.

    But just to say that there are plenty of runners, including the ones at his athletics club, who do upper body strength training, the two aren't mutually exclusive. However, even though they're strong, their arm muscles aren't as impressive as their legs!
  • Carrieendar
    Carrieendar Posts: 493 Member
    I definitely think you can do both. I use a lot more weight training in off season training and mostly lift to maintain the gains I made in the off season during training sessions. I also use weight lifting to lose body fat in preparation for a training season.

    If you get really serious in either though, they do eventually start to hold you back in one or the other. Too much bulk will affect the time it takes you to run long distances, so it's hard to maintain lofty goals in both. You just have to be reasonable :)
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    You can add muscle while running. I'm a fairly big muscle guy 6'3 225lbs who ran 1600 miles in about 9 months last year while still packing on muscle.

    If you want to add muscle you will have to eat at a surplus and A LOT though. I was eating 4000-5000 calories daily. One of the reasons most lifters don't run is because of the cost when trying to bulk.

    If your trying to gain muscle, you need Carbs and a lot of them around 40-50% of your diet should be carbs when bulking. Protein is important, but not as much as when you're cutting or losing fat. So don't worry if you eat 5-10% less, you will pack on mass.

    Remember either running or lifting will suffer to a degree when doing both. So which ever is more important to you give that one priority. Also squat & deads really helped with my running and vise versa for endurance.

    Good luck...
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Just re-enforcing everyone else. I'm cutting, lifting, and doing half-marathon training. I'm up to 25-30 mi/wk at 7 weeks in (5 wks to go) and I haven't lost any noticeable strength yet. I haven't made any gains, either, but I didn't expect to since I'm cutting.

    I think if you manage your diet properly, you can make good gains in both lifting and running for a good while. Eventually, you'll need enough rest/calories/time dedicated to one or the other that you'll have to steal from Peter to pay Paul, but until then I think you're good to go.

    Oh, and pain - pay extra attention to it if you're going to double up. You're going to be giving your body a double beating. Don't push through unless you're sure it's just muscle fatigue/soreness. Better to rest an extra day than be on the injured list for weeks.
  • JeffseekingV
    JeffseekingV Posts: 3,165 Member
    Do both. But you are going to emphasize the one that helps your main objective more. ie.. you like running, then run and supplement that with lifting.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Just be smart with scheduling the workouts.
    Since it can take 24-36 hrs to repair from a good lifting workout that will cause improvements, then don't do a hard run during that recovery time if you worked out legs.
    As one's have mentioned, recovery is impaired when in a diet anyway.

    Also, a good strong run day before lifting with same muscles likely to leave your muscles tired. So then you can't lift as heavy, so you don't get as positive results.

    If you "feel" like doing a hard run, do it right after the lifting, that way they both can repair the next day.

    Slow runs for recovery day are great anyway - trains your fat burning system for endurance cardio, which needs training just like the high carb burning end gets with intervals and hard run.
  • TossaBeanBag
    TossaBeanBag Posts: 458 Member
    edited October 2014
    RHachicho wrote: »
    So I don't want replies along the lines of "Sorry bro you will never be ripped if you distance run" or "Just fugging tie up your shoes and run!" I want help achieving the balance where I can achieve strong musculature and excellent fitness in tandem.

    From personal experience, I know running is not going to eat away your muscles. I used to powerlift, went in the Army, and I ran a lot ... more than was required. I did lose weight, and it was mostly fat... and, yes, I did get ripped. I did half-marathons and still managed to maintain a 495 lbs bench press. I loss a lot of bodyfat - enough to show off my abs.

    Just keep your protein levels high and enough carbs to fuel those runs ... gotta have the calories to do it all and adapt. Obviously, if you maintain yourself in a starvation state long enough, however, you may find muscle being catabolized.

    This advise would not be good for aspiring bodybuilders, but rather those Sylvester Stallone types. You won't get massive, but you won't be a fat-skinny jogger, either.

    Do it.

  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
    Thanks for the replies guys. Ought to clarify that I do in fact lift. I do 3 1 hour lifting sessions a week. Currently I am doing Stronglifts 5x5 and some german volume training mixed in. I can't lift super heavy yet though only been at it 8 months. But I can deadlift 50 kilos and squat 40 and bench 35. Pounds is kilos x2.2 btw. Not epic numbers but hardly no strength at all :)

    From what it sounds like I just need to make sure I am properly fueled. So keep track of my weight and make sure it's standing still or slowly gaining. If I'm still losing ... eat more :) That about it?
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    jbach2 wrote: »
    RHachicho wrote: »
    So I don't want replies along the lines of "Sorry bro you will never be ripped if you distance run" or "Just fugging tie up your shoes and run!" I want help achieving the balance where I can achieve strong musculature and excellent fitness in tandem.

    From personal experience, I know running is not going to eat away your muscles. I used to powerlift, went in the Army, and I ran a lot ... more than was required. I did lose weight, and it was mostly fat... and, yes, I did get ripped. I did half-marathons and still managed to maintain a 495 lbs bench press. I loss a lot of bodyfat - enough to show off my abs.

    Just keep your protein levels high and enough carbs to fuel those runs ... gotta have the calories to do it all and adapt. Obviously, if you maintain yourself in a starvation state long enough, however, you may find muscle being catabolized.

    This advise would not be good for aspiring bodybuilders, but rather those Sylvester Stallone types. You won't get massive, but you won't be a fat-skinny jogger, either.

    Do it.
    this sounds about right.

    it's definitely do-able within reason
    You won't be top end of either scale- but you don't have to suck at one to be good at the other if you don't want.
  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
    I am also working on this same thing. As most have said make sure you are eating enough of carbs and protein but also some fat as well. For running I use the 50 carb, 25 protein, and 25 fat (runner's diet) seems to always give me the energy to run. Also days you can't run walking for distance is still good to help your body get used to it, without the stress of running. Good Luck

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  • acampbe2umd
    acampbe2umd Posts: 145 Member
    A lot of good information already provided, the only thing that I would add is about running smarter. I also lift and run (keep my races to half marathons typically or less). Based on my schedule, I lift a split 4 day schedule and I run mostly 3 days a week, but 2 of those runs are in the 3-4 mile range in a tempo run format, thus running smarter, and then a long run on a non lifting day.
  • Lofteren
    Lofteren Posts: 960 Member
    JeffseekingV wrote: »
    Do both. But you are going to emphasize the one that helps your main objective more. ie.. you like running, then run and supplement that with lifting.

    ^This. It is impossible to be really good at both endurance and strength but you can be really good at one and kinda sorta okay at the other. You just have to pick which one you want to prioritize.

  • brandiuntz
    brandiuntz Posts: 2,717 Member
    You can do both. Nothing new to add, just my own story. I lift 3 days a week and run 3 days. One day is rest. When I'm training for a half, my strength progression slows, but it's slow anyway (I'm in a calorie deficit). :p My focus is on running, so if I'm feeling too tired, I just maintain my lifting, not try to progress for a week or so.

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