Lift before or after run

Lifting was always secondary to running in my eyes. An important supplement, but not something that I wanted to affect my run for the day. Therefore I always lift after my run.

I have a pretty nice work schedule and I am trying to just maintain a healthy lifestyle after years of destroying my body.

I lift each morning from 8am - 9:15 am. I then clean house or do other chores as needed until about 10:00am. I then get ready and am out the door running at 10:30 ish. Home usually by 11:30 (longer if im doing more than 8 which is at least once a weekday). Shower up then out the door to work by 12/12:30.

My runs seem to be way better if I lift first. Warms my body up.

if running is the no.1 priority, you run first.

Even if running first is "better" you don't need to rearrange your life to run first. Do whichever is easier for you.

At a clinic a long time ago Clyde Hart mentioned that there were days where Baylor lifted first because that's when his team was assigned the weight room.

If possible run first, if not lift first.

Run first, lift later.

What difference does it make if you do military press or arm curls or bench press before or after a run? Issue: Leg days.

Leg day needs to be done on day of hard workouts or day of longest run.

For T&F athletes, you are lifting for improved T&F performance. I wouldn't lift with expectation of building muscle mass.

Yes, you gotta do what you gotta do.

I often lifted before workouts or on easy days. I had people tell me I was crazy and had it all backwards. But I was just making sure I could get in the work when I had the time. Don't kill yourself in the weightroom in the morning and you can still get in that medium effort tempo or your cruise intervals that night. Might be a touch slower on tired legs, but training is training. I wouldn't hit the weights before a truly killer session though, but I rarely run those anyway.

I agree with other posters to do what is convenient.

If you have the flexibility I would vary things. If you are doing chest and shoulders lift after you run especially if it is a hard workout day.

If you want to maximize your lactic threshold do your squats and deadlifts before your run. The run will be harder but will set you up for better endurance come XC season when it counts. Just make sure you get sufficient rest after doing leg lifting and running days.

if you are running six days a week and lifting four, do one of your chest days on your off running day and make sure one of your leg days is matched with an easy run workout. This will help your body recuperate.

I don't expect this to be a popular answer, but I do both. I'll run either an easy aerobic effort or workout prior to lifting, then about 30-40 minutes of running super easy afterwards as a cooldown. Also the run after helps clear any lactic acid from the lifting to help prevent soreness for my run the next day.

I think this is the best answer so far, but if you can't do that then...

Lift first!

You will be able to utilize more muscle fibers during lifting, and like minong said, running is a good way to clear the metabolic waste products from muscle tissue.

But the main benefit of lifting before a run, especially if you are training for longer distances, is that it will "pre-fatigue" your muscles, which teaches you to run better on tired legs.