Weights or running or both?

April 17, 2007

Barry,

Congratulations on getting yourself into an exercise program. Sounds

like you are doing quite well. You can still run for cardio pulmonary

fitness and increase your leg strength. Run sprints. Start by running

10 yards at 70% of full effort and decelerate within 5 yards (sorry

about the imperial measurement). Decelerating withing 5 yards is v.

important. This is the eccentric phase of your running and will likely

make you sore even at this relatively light effort. Do this 10 times

with 60 sec. rest between each sprint. This workout should be fairly

easy for you given your current state of conditioning. Be sure to

check your heart rate between sprints while resting. When you finish,

check your heart rate twice, once immediately and again one minute

later. How fast your heart rate drops is a good indicator of coronary

fitness. You can manipulate the variables, (distance sprinted, rest

time, sprint effort) as you become more fit. Two or three times a week

should be plenty.

Another training modality I find extremely effective is sprint rows on

a Concept II Rowing Ergometer. Rowing is essentially the pull movement

of power cleans done sitting down. So you can crank up your heart rate

and burn lots of calories without impeding your Weightlifting. A great

alternative to sprints, particularly on bad weather days. Does all

this make sense?

W.G.

Ubermensch Sports Consultancy

San Diego, CA. USA

>

> I am a 43 yr old male. I weigh 82 kgs and am 1.75m tall (apologies to

> those still on the imperial system). I guess I have what could be

> called an " endomorphic " (is that term still used?) body type. In

> other words, I " thicken " really easily around the middle and

> have " love handles " even when my weight is down.

>

> I have been training fairly regularly for about 9 months and have

> lost 10kgs in that time. I run about three times a week (20 to 30

> km's a week) and do weights once or twice a week.

>

> I enjoy the running, but recently have become excited about doing

> weights and am enjoying learning to olympic lift. I can snatch about

> 50kg's and can clean about 90kg's. So, nothing stupendous! Those have

> come off a much lower base and I am sure that continued training will

> see further improvement.

>

> My quandary is this. I am beginning to sense that my running is

> working against my weightlifting. When I am running well, I seem to

> lose that sense of strength and power I have when I lay off running

> for about 2 weeks and just do weights 2 or 3 times a week.

>

> I prefer how I feel when I do weights. Also, I'm not a very good

> runner (never have been, even though I played decent rugby and used

> to be quite strong in my youth).

>

> The problem is that I am concerned about maintaining my fitness level

> and it would seem a shame to lose what I have gained running.

> However, it doesn't seem too smart to do two activities that work

> against each other.

>

> Does anyone in this group have any thoughts?

>

> Barry Eagar

>

> Brisbane, Australia

>

April 17, 2007

Barry

There is an activity that kills two birds - aerobics and weight

training - in one shot: kettlebells. As one of the promoters said,

they allow you to lose fat without the dishonor of aerobics or

dieting. Probably most comprehensive free info on this subject can

be found on www.dragondoor.com forum and www.bodybuilding.com.

Main advantage of KB is in their ballistic exercises. Snatching them

for numbers will send your heart rate to the maximum. Check it out.

You can send me an email (eugenesmet@...), I have some info

that I can send you. And no, I don't sell KBs or related products :-)

Eugene

Sydney, Australia

**[Mod: Please don't forget to sign your post with your full name - many thanks

in advance]

>

> I am a 43 yr old male. I weigh 82 kgs and am 1.75m tall (apologies

to

> those still on the imperial system). I guess I have what could be

> called an " endomorphic " (is that term still used?) body type. In

> other words, I " thicken " really easily around the middle and

> have " love handles " even when my weight is down.

>

> I have been training fairly regularly for about 9 months and have

> lost 10kgs in that time. I run about three times a week (20 to 30

> km's a week) and do weights once or twice a week.

>

> I enjoy the running, but recently have become excited about doing

> weights and am enjoying learning to olympic lift. I can snatch

about

> 50kg's and can clean about 90kg's. So, nothing stupendous! Those

have

> come off a much lower base and I am sure that continued training

will

> see further improvement.

>

> My quandary is this. I am beginning to sense that my running is

> working against my weightlifting. When I am running well, I seem

to

> lose that sense of strength and power I have when I lay off

running

> for about 2 weeks and just do weights 2 or 3 times a week.

>

> I prefer how I feel when I do weights. Also, I'm not a very good

> runner (never have been, even though I played decent rugby and

used

> to be quite strong in my youth).

>

> The problem is that I am concerned about maintaining my fitness

level

> and it would seem a shame to lose what I have gained running.

> However, it doesn't seem too smart to do two activities that work

> against each other.

>

> Does anyone in this group have any thoughts?

>

> Barry Eagar

>

> Brisbane, Australia

>

April 17, 2007

Barry, it's reasonably well established that if you want to do both

at a high level it won't really work because of contradictory

physiological implications.

However, keeping in good aerobic shape while you weight train is

certainly a plus. (I note Dave Draper's recent multiple bypass

surgery -- and wish him well of course.)

Aerobic conditioning improves arterial compliance (elasticity),

probably cholesterol profile and particle size, and markers of

inflammation.

Run and do weights by all means, just don't run more than, say, 45

minutes three of four times a week. It will help your weight

management as well. Alternate the days if you can, or at least split

the day up into morning and evening.

I do both, but I admit I won't be winning any weightlifting or

bodybuilding competitions (or marathons) any time soon :-).

Gympie, Australia

>

> I am a 43 yr old male. I weigh 82 kgs and am 1.75m tall (apologies

to

> those still on the imperial system). I guess I have what could be

> called an " endomorphic " (is that term still used?) body type. In

> other words, I " thicken " really easily around the middle and

> have " love handles " even when my weight is down.

>

> I have been training fairly regularly for about 9 months and have

> lost 10kgs in that time. I run about three times a week (20 to 30

> km's a week) and do weights once or twice a week.

>

> I enjoy the running, but recently have become excited about doing

> weights and am enjoying learning to olympic lift. I can snatch

about

> 50kg's and can clean about 90kg's. So, nothing stupendous! Those

have

> come off a much lower base and I am sure that continued training

will

> see further improvement.

>

> My quandary is this. I am beginning to sense that my running is

> working against my weightlifting. When I am running well, I seem to

> lose that sense of strength and power I have when I lay off running

> for about 2 weeks and just do weights 2 or 3 times a week.

>

> I prefer how I feel when I do weights. Also, I'm not a very good

> runner (never have been, even though I played decent rugby and used

> to be quite strong in my youth).

>

> The problem is that I am concerned about maintaining my fitness

level

> and it would seem a shame to lose what I have gained running.

> However, it doesn't seem too smart to do two activities that work

> against each other.

>

> Does anyone in this group have any thoughts?

>

> Barry Eagar

>

> Brisbane, Australia

>

April 19, 2007

Hi Hannu,

I used to run, but no longer. I believe I am too heavy to do it currently. I

got sore ankles and knees when I tried it. So I switched to HIIT and do hill

climbs instead. Luckily there is no sign of knee or ankle pain. Oh, I used to

do some running on the beach. That was pretty good. It is a full body workout.

Best wishes

Sharah

Sydney, Australia

================

hannu.leinonen@... wrote:

Tamare Cobbins wrote about Bill s reply:

That statement is funny, " The only time you should run is if someone bigger

than you is chasing you? "

..........................

<<<Thanks Bill, we need to loosen up now and then :-)

Anything that makes your heard pump over 110 r/min is aerobic exercises –

and it does not even have to be sports. Just work harder and you’ll get your

aerobic dose.

I am interested in HIIT, but also very aware of the risk of over exercising.

When you go to high intensities, it is effective, but you need to recover.

We all know this, but in practice it’s easy to over do training. (Well for

me at least.)

I’ve been monitoring my energy consumption/ workload and I am doing from

1000 to 1100 METh in 4 weeks. (from 200 – 400 METh is sports).

(This is from 15 up to 40 hours of sports per week.) This is possible

because I use very low intensity training. (I play a lot of golf, with a

heart beat rate about 100 r/m.) In textbooks this should not have an impact

on aerobic capacity, but it has had.)

I don’t have anything against running. I’ve been three times jogging this

week – about 10 km each. Walking, jogging, riding a bike, swimming or skiing

are the first things that come in mind when we start an aerobic training.

If we were intuitive, we could figure out very many other ways to develop

aerobic capacity. And it just might be done during work or very much in

shorter period of time – like in HIIT.

I run because I have the time for it – and it is easy. What I don’t like

about running is that it kills my knees.>>>