11 Essential Running Tips for Lifters
If you're a lifting enthusiast looking to go “full-hybrid”, it’s important to understand the nuances of combining lifting and running to maximize your gains in both areas. One of the biggest mistakes you can do is to simply add a random running program, to your lifting schedule. While giving you the ins and outs of programming for both modalities would require a complete masterclass, follow read the 10 tips below and this should give you a great starting point.
1.Start Small: Running is a high-impact exercise. As a lifter, you carry more muscle mass, which means greater strain on your body with each step. Combined with your lifting routine, this additional stress can be more rough on your joints than other types of hybrid training like lifting and erg training for example. Avoid potential injuries by starting with a conservative training volume, giving your body a chance to adjust to the new demands.
2. Run More: While it may seem contradictory to starting small, improving your running proficiency requires consistent effort and volume…a few 400-meter repeats won’t cut it. Sure start with shorter distances as per your tolerance, but the goal is to increase your mileage over time with continuous running. This consistent, incremental approach will aid in building your capacity and running efficiency.
3. Embrace the Pace: Intensity and volume have an inverse relationship. To increase the amount you run, you need to slow down. Many beginners struggle with running because they start too intensely, often resulting in minor injury or just developing a sense of profound hatred for running. Maintain a light and manageable pace that makes your running enjoyable.
4. Understand Your Threshold: Try to “guesstimate” your lactate threshold – the level of intensity at which you can still comfortably hold a conversation. Aim to run at this pace or even slower for most of your sessions. Running below this threshold enables you to handle longer distances and encourages adaptation while minimizing fatigue.
5. Aim for Steady Progress: The long-term goal is to see some decent progress in both lifting and running. Rapidly increasing your running volume may hinder your lifting performance and potentially lead to injuries. Once you find your starting point and running is getting more comfortable, resist the temptation to drastically increase training volume. Build it up progressively over weeks and months.
6. Try Run-Walk Intervals: If you're new to running, consider adopting a run-walk strategy. It allows for greater volume, and lower intensity, and minimizes interference with your lifting sessions.
7. Prioritize Volume over Speed: Once you've established a running routine, set a weekly running volume goal. Gradually increase your distance until you consistently hit your target, then begin to vary your running intensity.
8. Balancing Squatting and Running: Combining lifting and running will place a higher demand on your back, hips, knees, and ankles, it’s even more the case when they are combined. You might need to adjust your lifting volume initially to accommodate your new running routine. However, as your body adapts, you’ll be able to train both modalities pretty seriously without much interference.
9. Master the RPE: Learning to gauge the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is vital to your running journey. Practice this skill from your very first run, comparing your effort level at the start and end of each session. Over time, I want all my athletes to have a pretty sharp sense of what a specific intensity feels like so that they don’t have to be entirely reliant on me or their tracking devices. This is extremely important for hybrid athletes because it can somewhat be difficult to predict exactly how they are going to feel on a given day.
10. Organize Your Weekly Routine: Plan your week so that you don’t schedule your most demanding lower body and running workouts too closely together. Running on tired legs is challenging….on the flip side of a lot running could negatively affect your lifting performance. Over time, as your body adapts to the combined regimen, this scheduling will become less of a problem.
11. Adjust Your Caloric Intake: Increased training volume requires more fuel. Consider adjusting your calorie, intake to reflect that. As you increase calories, you’ll probably feel better, and perform better. On top of that, if you add food and don’t see an increase in your bodyweight, these are pretty clear signs that your body needed that extra energy.
BONUS TIP: Plug In or Tune Out:
Consider experimenting with both running with and without headphones. Using headphones can offer a motivational boost or entertainment while running without can offer a chance for quiet reflection. Theres something about being alone with my thoughts that I appreciate a lot when running. It’s also important to have an occasional confrontation with your negative self-talk and learn to manage it properly.
