So for awhile now i have been running 5 times a week for many months, i have learned that working out the upper body and arms as a supplement for running is essiential and will even help me run faster and longer, so i ask, is doing mostly just pushups, with maybe some pullups, enough to work out my upper body, im not trying to be a weight lifter or anything like that, my goals are just to work out my upper body enough to help my running. also if i only do pushups, will that work out my body unevenly , like for instance make my biceps huge but keep my triceps small? * I also swim occasionally so that should help work out my upper body
...huh? Could you please elaborate where you got this information? The upper body is of importance when sprinting, as it is vital to proper stride mechanics, but I don't see how doing pushups and pullups will help that. I think it's more of a technique thing.
no your body shouldn't become uneven especially if you do pull ups the right way like how they make you do them in school. running is good but for real cardio get use to punching a lot and do a lot of squats because even if you run a lot that doesn't mean you won't gas in a fight because the fight and running are two totally different exercises.
almost all cross country teams around the world (at least the semi succesful ones) work out thier upper bodies in a gym
I found this One component that could easily be overlooked is the upper body strength needed to fight for good positioning in a race. "The increased upper body strength can help delay fatigue in the arms and postural muscles during the race." (Dolezal, 1996) I have heard runners explain to me that during the race their arms begin to drop and this affected their running. This tendency can be fought with increased upper body strength endurance. so i guess pushups and pullups should cover it.
pushups work chest, triceps and your front shoulder muscles, not biceps, but yes, you should mix in upper body work to help propel yourself faster, just dont pack on tons of muscle or else thatll hurt your cardio since you will be feeding your monster guns with more oxygen. stick with high reps and bodyweight exercises
high reps and bodyweight exercises , which is what a pushup does, so will that be enough for my "upper body work"?
Yes, if you're just focused on running and just want your upper body toned a little more, keep doing it. Push ups uses your triceps, not biceps. If you do pull ups and push ups like you were saying, then there's no reason why you'd be uneven.
try this when running intervals at the end of the distance sprinted drop and do 10-20 pushups as your active rest and then get back to sprinting
I don't think so. I am pretty sure opposing muscles are always proportional. (ex. Your biceps can only get so big before you have to start working out your triceps. Since they are proportional you have to work out your triceps or your biceps will never get any bigger.)
