[LSRfan]

I have a quick question. I've been doing a cardio/weight training combo for about five months and its worked really well for me. For cardio I mostly did elliptical or a treadmill. Now I want to get serious with my running (or more serious) and have started running outside. I was hoping to run Monday Wednesday and Friday and weight train Tuesday and Thursday. My question is if I am running should I also be working with those muscles on Tuesday and Thursdays, or are there specific muscles I should be working with? thanks! any advice would be appreciated.

[jamsk8r]

Yes, lifting weights is a different stimulus than running, so you don't need to skip it in order to run, but your legs still need recovery and rest. You could try that schedule and see how your legs feel. It might be fine, or it might not give your legs the rest they need.

If they're feeling trashed, you might consider putting a rest day midweek or lifting more often with a lower body/upper body split, like Mon do lower body back squats etc, Tues upper body/abs or similar plus a run (immediately after lifting, or do one a.m., one p.m., but same day), Wed rest or a recovery workout like swimming, thurs lower body deadlifts etc, friday upper body whatever you didn't do Tues (and you could put a shorter run here or work sprints, taxing but with a quick recovery rate), Sat your long run for the week, Sunday rest.

It all depends how hard you train, what your nutrition and recovery are like, and what your priorities are.

[3fcuser1058250]

I run 2-3x/week and weight train 2-3x/week... I work my legs only once/week, and do a body split of back/biceps and chest/triceps on the other two days, with some abs/shoulders thrown in there time permitting...

It's a very good idea to work your legs. A few years ago I saw a doctor and mentionned to him that I was running, he was surprised that I didn't have sore knees "For a woman my age" ... Another time I visited him he noticed that I was muscular and asked if I weight trained, I said yes, and he said "So that's why a woman your age doesn't have sore knees, your knees are only as strong as your ligaments and muscles are." So I guess if you have strong muscles and ligaments your bones and joints will be strong ... So, in my eyes, weight training is all good

[ennay]

I run 6-7 days a week and weight train either 2-3 times a week or 5 days a week depending on whether the kids are in school or not.

I've gone back and forth on training on my easy/rest running days vs. training on my hard running days. (running is clearly my primary goal, weight training is a support function)

I have found that for the most part I am better off weight training on my hard running days and taking my light running days off of weights. I find both the running and the weight training do better. Play around and see what works for you.

My current schedule is
M - easy or recovery running - no weights
T - hard run (intervals or hills)- upperbody
W - legs - long mid pace run
Th - rest or recovery run - no weights
F - mid distance run - upper body
S - short run
S - long run

My legs are sandwiched in between 2 of my hardest runs of the week and yet it works. The stimulus is so different. Some weeks I cant do the wednesday workout and then I add legs into either the tuesday and/or friday session. I was doing upper body on M & Th, but I found my energy low. Hard runs make my lifting better. Hard lifting makes my running better. I did a crazy training session on tuesday with hardcore legs and anaerobic intervals and plyometrics and had so much energy I HAD to run intervals to burn it off.

For running specific weight training...walking lunges are probably your number one go to. Squats are very good at hitting the muscles running neglects. Calves are just about pointless. If you run hills, you will get more calf strength than you can imagine. Hill repeaters are not that different from calf raises. Overworking your calves can be a problem for runners as they tend to tight calves anyway. If you want to do calf work make sure you keep them flexible.