Why do you go to the gym? Is it only for the health benefits of being in shape, or is it so that you can do something useful with your body? Do you just want to cut down on your body fat and build up some muscle, or is there a practical reason that you lift weights? Do you have some fantastical idea that you need to lift weights so that you can be “buff” or do you not really care about what you look like but want to be able to perform some real work with your body without being a quivering mess afterwards?
When I lift weights, I have specific goals that I want to accomplish. Usually, that means that I want to do what I can to improve my running. My running is a way for me to measure myself against my peers and for me to engage in a level of competition where people do not (usually) have to get hurt. While I obviously do not want to look bad, how my body looks compared to somebody else has rarely been something that I have thought about or obsessed over when I am working out. I really enjoy the health benefits of being in shape, but that is generally just a happy side effect of being in shape and is not really the goal that I strive for. If it were, then I probably would not run marathons and depress my immune system so much in such a short span of time.
One reason that I do lift weights, though, is so that my body will be more useful to me. Being able to lift and carry things, being able to rake my lawn, and being able to shovel my driveway are all very tangible actions that are made much easier by the fact that I am not as weak as I once was. Being able to lug a 6 gallon carboy of wort without dropping it is a must. Moving a table saw when you are the only person home is a useful ability to have. Having the ability to do whatever I want, and knowing that my body is going to respond and be able to do what I ask of it is probably the second most dominant reason why I lift weights.
Why do you lift weights? There is no right or wrong answer, obviously. It is just something that I thought about as I was shoveling 8 inches of snow while it is still blizzard conditions this evening. I was thankful that I had the endurance to keep out there for a few hours and that I had the strength to throw the snow over the 4 and 5 foot banks on the edges of my driveway where all of the snow has been piling up. What gets you into the weight room? Or, for that matter, what keeps you from getting into a weight room?
I would emphasize caution adding lifting weights to a running routine.I apologize if you already did and I missed it.Very easy to pull a muscle.A runner might be better off adding more hillwork if goal is to build quads for instance.You can create much upper body strength and tone through increased reps of push-ups.
In terms of beginning a new weight lifting routine, then yes, you should use caution and you should learn how to properly do a weight lifting workout.
In terms of a runner needing more caution and doing a hill workout rather than adding weight lifting into your cross training, I have to disagree. Weight lifting is a great cross training activity for runners or for any athlete or fitness enthusiast. Hill workouts are great for you, but they still can not offer the same kind of resistance training that you can get with a barbell and some dumbbells. I have pulled more muscles running hill repeats than I have from lifting weights.
The secret to not pulling a muscle is to learn what you are doing, lift within your means, and to warm up before each workout. If you are unsure how to do any of those, then you should hire a trainer for at least for your first few months so that you can get some help easing into your workouts.
I think the key is to understand the difference between “lifting weights” and “body building.” Running and push-ups alone won’t give you a full body workout that weight lifting can give. However, I wouldn’t want to discourage someone from the fact that hill repeats and push-ups are far better than just running. As much of a total body workout as someone can get is a step in the right direction.
But, I suspect that people who read this website are not your average couch potato. Run to Win’s target audience seems to be people who are in pretty good shape and want to take it up a notch.
Caution is always important though.
As a typical English couch potato until recently the only exercise I did was to occasionally go to the gym. Somehow it seemed the only option to fit in with my work schedule.
Now living in Australia, I am running to get in shape for my Surf Lifesavers Bronze Award, and it feels good. I’m also doing a lot of swimming, and having the goal of achieving the SLSA Bronze gives me something to ‘work out’ for, as well as making me feel great & helping me meet some new people 🙂
I run around 40 weekly miles and do core push-ups,crunches.Weight lifting to support running would be for muscle tone not size of course.Less weight,more reps.I’m in PT for a knee injury at Orthopaedic Associates in Portland,ME.When I suggested quad conditioning with weights my therapist said to never use weights.I disagree.I do think quad extensions with weights are beneficial if done correctly. Dave T.
Dave, weight conditioning is so widely varied because you can do so many different things with it. Personally, I have stopped using machines that lock me into a specific motion; I stick to free weights and to pulleys where I can go at any angle I choose, for the most part. I used to subscribe to the less weight, more reps bit but last Spring I changed that up and went more weight fewer reps the closer that I got to the marathon and it really worked out well for me. If you are doing heavy strength training and running 30-40+ miles per week, then you are not going to get a lot of size. To get a lot of size you need to concentrate on getting size, and endurance excercise will tend to take precedence since your body needs to prepare more for it.
I haven’t been to Orthopaedic Associates, but there is a sports medicine center above the Maine Medical Center on Congress Street in Portland. You may want to see if you can get an appointment in there to talk with somebody that knows the sports side as well as the medical side to see what they have to say in your particular circumstances and with your history. Maybe it would be the same thing, but I would tend to doubt it. I have yet to meet a therapist that knew what they were talking about when saying to avoid all weights under all circumstances.
I just haven’t been able to motivate myself to work on my upper body yet. I NEED to. I just don’t understand why I haven’t.
Blaine,Ortho Asscociates is a sports medicine facility at 33 Sewell St in Portland.Website: http://www.orthoassociates.com.All in one complex MRI,surgery,PT.I don’t think you can subscribe to one ideal when it comes to training.Lifting weights with running may work well for someone but not as well for another.Given your times it obviously works very well for you.I’ll be out much of year after miniscus knee surgery.Hope you have a great 2007 season. Dave T.