Weight lifting testimonies

I did a lot of upper body weights, mainly dumbells. I focused on the upper/lower back, shoulders, arms, and chest, as well as my stomach to help my form. I did this during the winter and saw a dramatic PR in the mile for myself (by over 20 seconds). I also saw improvement in the 2 mile and 5k (PR'ed a few months later by nearly 40s). This is just my personal experience with weights and I do not expect everyone's results to match mine. It has different benefits for other folks.

lift until the marginal cost of putting on muscle = marginal return.

Running is done with the legs, not the upper body. Focus should be on lower body. Runners will not put on muscle unless you are a) consuming an entire cow a day (insane amount of protein) or b) you're just genetically gifted to put on muscle....so you're probably in the wrong sport.

Steve Spence was third in the 1991 World Championships Marathon. He switched from a circuit we are all aware of (high rep, low weight) to a real strength training program of 3 sets of 10 reps.

I've seen articles showing Haile Gebreselassie in the gym. Middle distance runners lift. Athletes in every other sport lift. Why running remains in the 50s and 60s with its training is beyond me...

Alan

One more thing....every single small injury or problem I've ever had was corrected after getting back into a lifting routine. The problem of course is finding the time to lift.

Alan

Lifted for a while, did a mix of low weight high reps for upper and lower body. My arms always felt terrible at the end of races leading to not so great performances. I stoped lifting for a season in college and pr'd by a lot in every distance and my problem with my arms went away.

as a freshman i was a 2"08 guy, soph only improved to 2:06, i was so frustrated with the lack of improvement the next winter i got into a very solid lifting routine with guys on the football team that concentrated on core strength and power, improved to 1:57 junior year and much of the credit i give to lifting. I also agree with the above poster that every injury is caused by a weakness somewhere that generally can be corrected with a good strength routine.

nfdan wrote:

Lifted for a while, did a mix of low weight high reps for upper and lower body. My arms always felt terrible at the end of races leading to not so great performances. I stoped lifting for a season in college and pr'd by a lot in every distance and my problem with my arms went away.

Neuromuscular fatigue. Lifting too many reps. Increase the weight, decrease the reps = increased strength without the fatigue caused by high reps.

Alan

Runningart2004 wrote:

One more thing....every single small injury or problem I've ever had was corrected after getting back into a lifting routine. The problem of course is finding the time to lift.

Alan

I agree here. I'm in my 40s and only started lifting legs 2 years ago after succumbing to several overuse injuries. I wish I had started much earlier in life. I only lift legs for about 10-15 minutes 4 times a week (light weight on machines), and many little problems have vanished. Lifting won't won't make you faster, but it will make you more durable so you can handle a higher training load and get faster, if that makes any sense.

Runningart2004 wrote:

Neuromuscular fatigue. Lifting too many reps. Increase the weight, decrease the reps = increased strength without the fatigue caused by high reps.

Alan

BINGO!

The original "low weight, high reps" thing was popularized by the swim coach Doc Counsilman. It was based on research which *the authors themselves* later repudiated. In general, heavy weight and medium-low reps/sets are the way to go for runners. This tends to promote strength development with minimal weight gain, and also helps ameliorate the "no time to lift" problem.

Parenthetically (with reference to another thread, about static stretching), functional flexibility--that is, flexibility at normal movement speeds/loads--is enhanced by a program of strength training that emphasizes repetitions through a full range of motion. Such a program (combined, perhaps, with PNF stretching) is also extremely beneficial in preventing injury.

My junior year of college I was a 4:04 1500 runner and a 1:57 800 runner. The following year I decided to nix XC and focus just on track. I felt that XC raced me into the ground so that I was very flat by the time track started and also that I needed a break from competition as well.

During the Fall of my Senior year I ran long in the morning and trained with the sprinters in the afternoon. Part of that sprint training was weight lifting. By spring I lowered my 800 to 1:54 and my 1500 to 3:59. I feel that the shift in my training was the reason for this improvement.

You know I don't lift.

got back to lifting 2-4x a week senior year after CC. all upper body and mid section. no leg lifting.

dropped 20 seconds off my 5k. 14:15 for reference. definitely not only due to lifting, but it certainly helped.

there was a very significant difference in how my upper body felt at the end of hard workouts and races...i was much more comfortable and hence able to hold my form.

plus, i stopped looking so much like a skinny girl with no boobs.