Help! Mixing strength with running.
narmin92
Posts: 32 Member
Hi. I am a runner and on a weight loss journey too. I have lost quite a lot of weight and technically started from nothing and built my way up to 5miles of running so far. I run 3 times a week and walk the similar distance 3 times a week and rest one day. But with weight coming down and running having gotten better, I want to incorporate some strength training into my routine. I don't go to the gym, so I would work out at home. I was thinking keep the running for 3 days / week but instead of walking do HIIT training, and do an active recovery with yoga or something on rest days.
So my first question: does that sound like a good plan?
And my second question: I have checked out a few videos of FitnessBlender and I like them quite a lot. For those who aren't familiar with them, they consist of full body or a focus muscle group HIIT workouts that tend to burn good calories while working with weights too. Would it be suitable to do such exercises on my non-running days? And does yoga sound like a good recovery day plan?
And my last question: should I do total body or focus on one muscle group each day?
So my first question: does that sound like a good plan?
And my second question: I have checked out a few videos of FitnessBlender and I like them quite a lot. For those who aren't familiar with them, they consist of full body or a focus muscle group HIIT workouts that tend to burn good calories while working with weights too. Would it be suitable to do such exercises on my non-running days? And does yoga sound like a good recovery day plan?
And my last question: should I do total body or focus on one muscle group each day?
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Replies
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If you're interested in strength training, HIIT isn't going to give you what you're looking for.0
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Hiit is not strength training. Strength training is when you lift weight and lift heavy, period. I don't even like circuit training because of the additional purpose of trying to create calorie burn. The sole focus of strength training should be to lift and break down muscle for rebuild (or get more activation of existing muscle).2
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Hi. I am a runner and on a weight loss journey too. I have lost quite a lot of weight and technically started from nothing and built my way up to 5miles of running so far. I run 3 times a week and walk the similar distance 3 times a week and rest one day. But with weight coming down and running having gotten better, I want to incorporate some strength training into my routine. I don't go to the gym, so I would work out at home. I was thinking keep the running for 3 days / week but instead of walking do HIIT training, and do an active recovery with yoga or something on rest days.
So my first question: does that sound like a good plan?
And my second question: I have checked out a few videos of FitnessBlender and I like them quite a lot. For those who aren't familiar with them, they consist of full body or a focus muscle group HIIT workouts that tend to burn good calories while working with weights too. Would it be suitable to do such exercises on my non-running days? And does yoga sound like a good recovery day plan?
And my last question: should I do total body or focus on one muscle group each day?
they have more than just full body or focusing on a muscle group.they have many other types of workouts as well. go to their website and do a search.They have lots of lifting ones too. They also have programs you can pay for(pretty cheap) that you get to keep and use whenever you want.2 -
CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »Hi. I am a runner and on a weight loss journey too. I have lost quite a lot of weight and technically started from nothing and built my way up to 5miles of running so far. I run 3 times a week and walk the similar distance 3 times a week and rest one day. But with weight coming down and running having gotten better, I want to incorporate some strength training into my routine. I don't go to the gym, so I would work out at home. I was thinking keep the running for 3 days / week but instead of walking do HIIT training, and do an active recovery with yoga or something on rest days.
So my first question: does that sound like a good plan?
And my second question: I have checked out a few videos of FitnessBlender and I like them quite a lot. For those who aren't familiar with them, they consist of full body or a focus muscle group HIIT workouts that tend to burn good calories while working with weights too. Would it be suitable to do such exercises on my non-running days? And does yoga sound like a good recovery day plan?
And my last question: should I do total body or focus on one muscle group each day?
they have more than just full body or focusing on a muscle group.they have many other types of workouts as well. go to their website and do a search.They have lots of lifting ones too. They also have programs you can pay for(pretty cheap) that you get to keep and use whenever you want.
I knew about other things, I didn't know about the paid programs, that is really good to know, I will check out thanks for the tip! I mentioned just the workouts that I did because only those were the ones I was considering.0 -
richardgavel wrote: »Hiit is not strength training. Strength training is when you lift weight and lift heavy, period. I don't even like circuit training because of the additional purpose of trying to create calorie burn. The sole focus of strength training should be to lift and break down muscle for rebuild (or get more activation of existing muscle).
I am not looking to bulk up but rather to have a little more toned body. I have never really done anything other than cardio so I don't know how it should be. I'm on a healthy weight range but very soft and flabby body with pretty much no muscle definition. Even for my purposes, should it be pure lifting without the calorie burning exercises?0 -
patslitzker wrote: »If you're interested in strength training, HIIT isn't going to give you what you're looking for.
I'm interested in a more toned body, but not a bulky one. Would it still be no good?0 -
When you say HIIT for strength training I think of vigorous calisthenics or bodyweight exercises (aka circuit training) I disagree with those who say it doesn't build strength. I started strength training doing bodyweight exercises and I did build muscle as well as improving my balance. Now I can do pushups and even chinups. Those take strength!
I think your plan of running 3x a week and doing the circuit training instead of walking is a good idea. You could also do 1 day of tradition strength in place of 1 day of circuit training. The yoga is a good idea too.
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Pick up a SUSPENSION TRAINER. Low cost, doesn't take up room and you can do a bunch of strength/resistance training with it just about anywhere.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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For you, full body workouts are better than working isolated muscle groups each day. Fitness Blender calorie burns are wildly overstated, based on the videos I have seen.0
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Strength training and lifting weights=/=bulking. You only bulk if you lift progressively in a surplus. You cannot bulk and lose weight at the same time. Lifting in a deficit means you will hopefully lose more fat and retain more muscle than you would with deficit and/or cardio alone.1
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Hi. I am a runner and on a weight loss journey too. I have lost quite a lot of weight and technically started from nothing and built my way up to 5miles of running so far. I run 3 times a week and walk the similar distance 3 times a week and rest one day. But with weight coming down and running having gotten better, I want to incorporate some strength training into my routine. I don't go to the gym, so I would work out at home. I was thinking keep the running for 3 days / week but instead of walking do HIIT training, and do an active recovery with yoga or something on rest days.
So my first question: does that sound like a good plan?
And my second question: I have checked out a few videos of FitnessBlender and I like them quite a lot. For those who aren't familiar with them, they consist of full body or a focus muscle group HIIT workouts that tend to burn good calories while working with weights too. Would it be suitable to do such exercises on my non-running days? And does yoga sound like a good recovery day plan?
And my last question: should I do total body or focus on one muscle group each day?
If you're really interested in strength training, forget the notion of burning loads of calories. That won't happen, you'll get your decent burns on running days
There's a link going round for lifting programmes... if you can find that then I would suggest you choose a full body programme 3x a week and yoga/walk on the 7th day.
Depending which takes priority, running or strength training, you could drop a day of one and have 2 rest days if necessary.2 -
DancingMoosie wrote: »Strength training and lifting weights=/=bulking. You only bulk if you lift progressively in a surplus. You cannot bulk and lose weight at the same time. Lifting in a deficit means you will hopefully lose more fat and retain more muscle than you would with deficit and/or cardio alone.
Not to mention the fact that bulking occurs very, very slowly and doesn't happen accidentally, even more so in women than men. Putting on appreciable amounts of muscle mass (as in "getting bulky") takes years of focused nutrition and hard, consistent, targeted training. Nobody is going to just suddenly wake up one morning looking like a bodybuilder. It certainly is possible to build muscle in a deficit (especially as an overfat beginner), but the gains will be both minimal and limited.
It's also worth mentioning that getting strong =/= getting big. You can make very significant strength gains through neuromuscular adaptation long before any appreciable hypertrophy occurs.2 -
Since you're a runner HIIT sounds like a good way for you to move into lifting weights. It will have that high cardiovascular feel you are used to, plus working your muscles under a load will help your strength in your running as well. Maybe some other runners can verify this.
You really can't go wrong with starting a lifting program. I know many runners who train with weights and crush local events. They are not bulky either it going to difficult getting bulky running 15 miles a week.
Best of luck to you!0 -
I have lost quite a lot of weight and technically started from nothing and built my way up to 5miles of running so far. I run 3 times a week and walk the similar distance 3 times a week and rest one day. But with weight coming down and running having gotten better, I want to incorporate some strength training into my routine. I don't go to the gym, so I would work out at home.
It sounds like you'll benefit from some form of strength training, although I'd support the suggestions upthread that circuit training like FitnessBlender probably isn't optimal for your needs. The other observation I'd make is that HIIT is just a training protocol, and it's been hijacked by the marketeers who append it to everything as a sales technique. The comments about HIIT being a good thing are meaningless, as that takes no account of what you're doing to get there.
Some form of strength training is beneficial to your running, helping to balance out the strength development from the running and reinforcing , as well as improving the core stability that contributes to easier long distances.
Some form of suspension trainer, and an associated programme, would help, as would a straightforward bodyweight programme. Personally I quite like You Are Your Own Gym, which is worth a look. Alternatives would be Convict Conditioning, or using Nerdfitness.com.
I'm a marathoner, so put in a fair degree of mileage, and use largely bodyweight work to help upper body strength and core stability.
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Something else to consider along these lines:
http://www.furman.edu/sites/first/Documents/16_oct2324.pdf0
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