Weight Train & Run 3 miles OR Run 4.5 ? Help!

[NativeSFGirl]

Hi everyone. I have a question for those in the know out there.  I have about an hour to workout each day (usually 4 days a week) during my lunch hour.  I can either run 4.5 miles or I can run a bit faster 3 miles and then hit the gym and do some upper body weights for about 20 minutes.  I am not sure which is better for me fitness wise.  I am at my goal weight, so I guess I am looking to maintain and probably gain some muscle, so am I better off with the shorter run and hitting the gym?  Any weight lifting recommendations you can give me? 

I enjoy my 4.5 mile runs also... just not sure which is best really.  Please help if you can 🙂

Thank you!

[nikmeyer · Accepted solution]

I would most likely alternate between the workouts.  If you are only weightraining upper body you should probably do it every other day unless you are using different muscles. 

So, the week might look like this:

Monday - Run 4.5 miles

Tuesday - Run and lift

Wednesday- off

Thursday- run 4.5 miles

Friday Run and lift.

That is similar to what I do and it seems to be working out well. 

[TandemWalker]

I agree with @nikmeyer - Instead of just running on those running days, you may want to incorporate intervals in your workout, the benefits of which have long been established.

[NativeSFGirl]

Thank you so much.  That seems do-able and I get the best of both worlds really.  I thank you for your time 🙂

[Heybales]

---

@NativeSFGirl wrote:

 I guess I am looking to maintain and probably gain some muscle, 

---

Skip the running on 3 days and only do it 2 days for a calm run, you can still get your 4 miles in there.

Why?

Because you'll want the recovery from doing a hard lifting workout on the 3 days, to help build muscle mass.

You can easily get the Strong Lifts 5 x 5 in 30 min, plus some warmup and cooldown cardio.

You won't gain muscle without lifting. Unless you are having issues eating so low and really need the cardio to increase your eating levels, it's not going to do much of anything for your muscle mass.

And you have to manually correct the Fitbit for strength training, as it is badly underestimated, so manually log it as weight lifting, 2 options there, probably Light to start with.

 And no - you can't get bulky even if you tried. Well, if you tried with steroids and other hormones sure, but not natural.

http://www.muscleandfitness.com/news-and-features/athletes-and-celebrities/17-time-world-champion-po...

Meet Amanda Harris (AKA Barbie Barbell). At 21, 5’4” and 125lbs, she is a 17 time World Champion Powerlifter. Amanda has broken 468 state, national, and world records over the last 12 years with 95 competitions, and won all 95 meets. 
... 
My biggest and best lifts have been 420lbs. in the squat, 265lbs. with my bench-press and 365lbs. with the deadlift. Little girls are not supposed to be able to do things like that. 
... 
I was diagnosed with acute scoliosis at the age of eight. 
... 
http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/BarbieBarbell/

[NativeSFGirl]

Thanks so much Heybales!  I am going to look up those Strong Lifts 5x5 and give that a try as you mention.  Will also cut down to 2 running days and add one more lifting day (so 3 a week).  I am not worried about adding too much bulk, as you mention we women dont do that (without pharma help).  Will give this a try for a month and see how much muscle I gain and go from there. 

Off to look up the Strong Lifts 5x5!  🙂 Thank you!

[SunsetRunner]

It's all about the cross fit!

Get a short run in, then follow it up with a WoD.

Theres plenty of sites around for ideas, if you google "wod shop" you should get a good generator for it.

[NativeSFGirl]

Great thanks! Will check that out as well.

[CakeHenn]

You really didn't mention what you would be doing on the weekends.  If you are training for a race then I'd probably just do all runs and do something like this:

M, Tues, Thurs run 4.5.  Saturday long run.  On Wed and Friday you could do some cross training with some weights and other cardo but that won't really help you in the short run for a race.

But if there is no race I would probably do the short run and weights MWF...and a long run on the weekend.  You really need to have at least one or two days a week for rest.  On the rest days I would opt for a long walk vs run or weights.  

[NativeSFGirl]

You are right, I did forget. On weekends I do fun stuff with the kids.  We either go for a bike ride, trampoline park or something else active.  I do my running and gym time during my lunch hours 🙂

Thanks so much!

[TandemWalker]

---

@NativeSFGirl wrote:

You are right, I did forget. On weekends I do fun stuff with the kids.  We either go for a bike ride, trampoline park or something else active.  I do my running and gym time during my lunch hours 🙂

Thanks so much!

---

And you know @NativeSFGirl  you can log all this stuff, as the Activities database at fibit.com is quite extensive. You can even create you own activity. If you're not sure what caloric burn to assign to it, Google it, and you'll come up with all kinds of hits - I usually take an average of three or four of them and run with it. Who cares if I'm off a few calories +/-! The main point is to keep track of what I do and get all the encouragement I need in my quest for a better lifestyle, by eating better (not less) and staying active.

[NativeSFGirl]

Thanks TandemWalker! 🙂

[biker123]

Intervals work. The old running from one telephone pool to another, will work. Run one, then walk, walk, then run. Or, run one telephone pole and the job the rest (or any type of random pattern). You'll be amazed how effective it is.

It is referred to as fartlek.

See:

http://www.active.com/running/articles/6-fartlek-workouts-for-3-training-phases

And don't forget to keep track of your workouts to see the process.

[wapuka]

When you perform cardio BEFORE weight training you are depleting your glycogen stores which makes

your workout less effective during your weight trainging session. I will split the two workouts or do the weight lifting first.  Also, less is more.  Do the three mile run faster and/or incorporate sprints into your workout.

About me: I have been a bodybuilder for thirty five years.  I am female. I have squatted 405 lbs injury free.

I am a judge with the National Physique Committee.  Understand proper biomechanics in the gym (what is the purpose of the muscle I am training). Avoid using momentum and inertia to move the weight.  Slow continuous tension is the name of the game.  All the very best to you. Natasha

[josephz2va]

I have mine setup as a daily routine to keep consistency in me.

AM Strength Training - Isolated Muscle Strengthening (chest/back/legs/shoulders/arms + Abs everyday)

PM Cardio Training up to Goal Calories (2 times a week or more Maximal Performance 170 BPM)

[Dominique]

---

@wapuka wrote:

When you perform cardio BEFORE weight training you are depleting your glycogen stores which makes

your workout less effective during your weight trainging session.

---

I assume this applies to a situation where you do both strength and cardio training during the same workout. What if you do one in the morning and the other one later in the day, with several hours in between? How much time do you need to replenish your glycogen stores (if you depleted them by performing cardio in the morning)?

[Heybales]

---

@Dominique wrote:

---

@wapuka wrote:

When you perform cardio BEFORE weight training you are depleting your glycogen stores which makes

your workout less effective during your weight trainging session.

---

I assume this applies to a situation where you do both strength and cardio training during the same workout. What if you do one in the morning and the other one later in the day, with several hours in between? How much time do you need to replenish your glycogen stores (if you depleted them by performing cardio in the morning)?

---

The premise given is actually false.

You'd have to run a marathon AND hit "the wall" to use up all the glycogen stores in your leg muscles.

You'd have to figure out some way to do total muscle cardio for super intense and long to use it all up, couple hours intense x-country skiing perhaps.

The problem with doing cardio prior to lifting too intense or long - is you tire out your muscles.

And because lifting ONLY gives an improvement if you overload the muscle with weight, if tiring out your muscles with cardio first prevents that, you just basically wasted the purpose of a lifting workout.

Since recovery is slower in a diet, you'd have to test yourself to know if you are wasting to some degree your lifting workout.

Because worse case scenario, you are too tired to do much if any damage by lifting heavy enough.

Then what little repair is needed is killed by an attempted intense cardio workout the next morning, but that also can't be done that intense because now muscles are tired.

So what you end up with is basically workout after workout that none are as useful as they could be, and none are getting the repair they could be.

It would be as bad as lifting with the same muscles day after day, thinking that's doing something useful.

When it takes 36-48 hrs for repair to muscles that have been correctly overloaded.

So you might skip a couple mornings of cardio, or make it walking only, and see if you can increase the weight on the bar by the afternoon. If you can, now you know.

Do you want to just basically spin your wheels in your workouts for little to no improvement, or do you want each hard workout to really give max benefit.

Because many go by feeling - that felt like a hard workout, I did it is as hard as I could.

Sadly that feeling is exactly the same on tired or fresh muscles. The difference is the speed, pace, weight lifted, ect.

[CakeHenn]

---

@wapuka wrote:

When you perform cardio BEFORE weight training you are depleting your glycogen stores which makes

your workout less effective during your weight trainging session.

---

For practical purposes unless you are running like 10-20 miles before you do weights you won't be glycogen depleted.  IF you are running 3 miles and could also easly run 6 or more you are nowhere near depleted.  Perhaps if you were targeting bodybuilding vs just getting better tone this would be more of a concern but I think running three then doing some weight training would be fine.  For many runners 3 miles is a warm up and I'd rather be warmed up before weight training.  Now if you are trying to hit a PR on a run then yeah you might deplete faster.

[Dominique]

---

@Heybales wrote:

The problem with doing cardio prior to lifting too intense or long - is you tire out your muscles.

---

My current program includes strength training every second day. On the days I lift weights, my cardio usually consists of walking, which I don't feel tires my muscles. I then run on the days I don't lift weights. I'm not dieting, btw. Does that make sense?

[Heybales]

---

@Dominique wrote:

---

@Heybales wrote:

The problem with doing cardio prior to lifting too intense or long - is you tire out your muscles.

---

My current program includes strength training every second day. On the days I lift weights, my cardio usually consists of walking, which I don't feel tires my muscles. I then run on the days I don't lift weights. I'm not dieting, btw. Does that make sense?

---

Very common workout routine.

So you have better recovery opportunity not being in diet, closer to the 36 hr side of the range, except for the lower body lifting where the muscles are so big, repair can will still be closer to 48 side of range.

The question is, how intense is that running during the repair process from the lifting? You could be wasting your lifting workout to some degree when using the same muscles. That's the kicker, same muscles.

Walking would be better on the leg recovery day, walk as warmup to lifting is fine, but then run as hard as your tired legs will take you on leg day right after the workout.

Slow jog or walk on recovery day.