4+ years ago I stopped lifting weights ... Why would a runner want to carry extra upper body muscle? I have taken off approximately 15 pounds of muscle. I miss the days when I could bench press 335 and push 80lb dumbbells overhead. The amount of mileage I have run in the last 4 years it would have been hard to find the time to keep lifting.
I am in my 2nd week of the re-start of weight lifting and focusing on core workouts. Why re-start weight lifting? 1) I like it, 2) core strength, 3) injury prevention and 4) I want to keep a certain level of strength as I age.
I have a 2 routines that take 30 minutes for different parts of the body. I do core work between each set in the 30 minutes. The goal is to do each a minimum of 2 times a week. I am willing to re-gain 5 pounds of upper body muscle, but will try to build muscle stamina more than high end strength.
Only 5 month to bikini season :)-
Benching over 300? For me, that's twice bodywright...
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping my hill running, sprinting and so on will supply the strength I need (though I would like someday to do more than 3 chin-ups!)
You doing lower body weight lifting stuff ?
ReplyDeleteMy goal for the year is 3x a week doing a 30-45 minute session of pushups / pullups - core - stretching.
john ramsay
I do lower body stuff to prevent injuries. It seems that if I do Hip Aductor, Abductor, Knee lift weight machine(not sure what to call it), light leg ext and leg curls, I tend to avoid knee, hip and groin pain.
DeleteNothing heavy. Then I do dumbells for Bench, Incline, Overhead press and Single Arm Curls (SAC) along with Dips, Lat Pull downs and seated pully rows (SPR) for upper body. Plus Core (5 different exercises).
I break upper body into 2 days. 1) Bench, incline bench, overhead press and dips and 2) SAC or Preacher curls, Lat Pull downs and SPR or bent over rowing. On day 2 I do the legs stuff too.
A Big Horse -
Plus, that weight stuff is going to help you as you age.
ReplyDeleteI stopped the lower body weight stuff years ago, because I got injured. Always thought the running would take care of the lower body. Though the hips are something that are now starting to ache in old age.
Seems you run enough to not gain much of any muscle mass in your upper body.