Running and strength training

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Cocrehamster

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Hello,
I have been following the Strong Lifts 5x5 program for about 5 months now, and am pleased with my progress. I'm looking to run a half marathon in a couple of months, and am looking for some advice on how to go about my strength training while also training for the marathon. My long term goals are much more geared towards getting stronger, but I do want to perform as well as I can on the run. Should I look for a program that is less geared towards heavy weight while training for the run, or just keep doing the strong lifts program as I have been? Any advice is much appreciated.
 
Cocrehamster said:
Hello,
I have been following the Strong Lifts 5x5 program for about 5 months now, and am pleased with my progress. I'm looking to run a half marathon in a couple of months, and am looking for some advice on how to go about my strength training while also training for the marathon. My long term goals are much more geared towards getting stronger, but I do want to perform as well as I can on the run. Should I look for a program that is less geared towards heavy weight while training for the run, or just keep doing the strong lifts program as I have been? Any advice is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

no, just taper back on the overall volume so that the two goals do not interfere with each other too much. That being said, do not get frustrated if your lifts do not increase as much as usual or even drop a bit.
 
I'm in the same boat right now. I've been doing the texas method for about 4 months now, and I don't want to stop. But I have a few charity marathons coming up this summre, and I'd like to perform pretty well.
 
You will not be squating three times a week, maybe one at the most. You might want to squat and deadlift on the same day. You will not pull the same numbers as before but you'll have to ease on the lifting if you plan on doing the marathon. Good Luck
 
If you're serious about the running, I think that one full body strength day a week would probably be sufficient with the goal being to maintain your strength. Anything else will probably be a hindrance to your running training.
 
It depends on how competitive you want to be with your half marathon. Really, a 13.1 mile run isn't TREMENDOUS, and while I've never done it while lifting, I've never found jogging to be a huge impediment to my lifting. Both can coexist pretty easily. Since you seem to be approaching the run as a competition, then you should probably dial back the lifting (which you're not currently competing in) to maybe 2 times a week. It's going to take some experimenting on your part to determine the right balance, but when I was jogging 45 minutes at a stretch three times a week it never bothered my lifting. I know that's SIGNIFICANTLY less than you're probably running now, so you will have to see how your body responds.

Take a week of lifting before the actual run, and call it deloading.
 
I have a couple of questions:

When is your run?

What makes up a 5x5 lift program, does it consist of the same muscles worked in the body as used while running?

If your run is over two months away, you are putting in at least sixty miles a week and it doesn't work muscles important to the mechanics of your running technique then I would suggest changing it. The movement of your arms are almost as important to your run as your legs. Also, if you are a big guy, know that you will be using more energy to carry all of that additional weight, especially if you are a muscle heavy individual - need to oxygenate all of that muscle.

If you are within a month and/or this marathon is a spur of the moment or a once a year thing, I would not suggest changing your routine if your focus is on lifting over running or if you like lifting more than running. Being competitive in a marathon is not something that you can simply do with a few months of training. My camps (for marathons) usually consist of three months of training and a significant decrease in weight lifting from what I normally do when doing shorter road race series or track season for steeplechase and I have over twelve years of running behind me on a everyday basis outside of planned vacations/injuries/getting sick.
 
my half assed training log follows my attempt to do this as well, I've done 2 half marathons but neither while lifting really heavy. In one of the coaches roundtable videos on the ss website they cover a similar topic in that how do you have people in the military build or maintain strength while being forced to run 10 miles a day and whatnot. the basic answer was that you have to eat enough, and you should be able to squat 3 times a week until you start to move appreciable weights. This of course all being relative. Me, since my goal was to concentrate as much as I could on getting strong until the end of the month and slowly build up my running to about 3 miles a day...i added weight every other week and followed starting strength program for the most part. Of course the black mold recently discovered under my bed had been hindering me maximizing my progress, but I can live with where I'm at. in april when i actually switch from strength oriented training to marathon oriented training, I may add 15lbs per month to my squat but i'm only going to be squatting twice a week since i really need to concentrate on my running, my goal is to run the entire 26.2 miles, no matter the pace...but 13 minutes per mile over that course should be doable for my fat ass.
 
Urban said:
It depends on how competitive you want to be with your half marathon. Really, a 13.1 mile run isn't TREMENDOUS, and while I've never done it while lifting, I've never found jogging to be a huge impediment to my lifting. Both can coexist pretty easily. Since you seem to be approaching the run as a competition, then you should probably dial back the lifting (which you're not currently competing in) to maybe 2 times a week. It's going to take some experimenting on your part to determine the right balance, but when I was jogging 45 minutes at a stretch three times a week it never bothered my lifting. I know that's SIGNIFICANTLY less than you're probably running now, so you will have to see how your body responds.

Take a week of lifting before the actual run, and call it deloading.
Click to expand...

Did you run on days you lifted?
 
Havent read the whole thread but what i would do is 1day heavy LB (squat deadlift) en other day light( light squats+oly movement)
 
I do the Run Fast, Run Less program and it only has me running 3 days a week. The other days are crosstraining days which makes the impact on my lifitng minimal.
 
Midnighter said:
Did you run on days you lifted?
Click to expand...

No, usually on my off days. But even on days when I lifted, jogging after lifting was no big deal and never seemed to interfere with anything.
 
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