how much does 5k training mess up muscle building?

[D_chelyst]

Hi, everyone! I was looking through some of Steve's blog posts (trying to find that link for the site that shows how many calories are expended for different activities...found it!) and I found this here:

"11. Cardio is your enemy – Running long distances isn’t going to help you. If you’re going to run, do sprints or run up a hill. Think about it: would you rather look like a sprinter or a marathon runner? Keep your distance cardio to a minimum if you want to put on some pounds."

One of my summer goals was to build more muscle, but another goal was to be able to run properly and then run at least .4 mi and hopefully much more.

So 2 questions:

1. I had thought about starting the Couch to 5k program (thanks, Baloo! )...how much will that affect muscle building?

2. I do the beginner body weight workout 3x a week. Can I run on rest days?

Thanks for your insight!

[bigm141414]

Not much if you are starting out. At some point to need to make a choice between lifting heavy things or running fast. But really that doesn't need to be made until you have a good base of strength to work with. I myself did Starting Strength ( a novice 3x5 heavy lifting plan) and couch to 5k at the same time with no real hinderance in results.

It wasn't until I got to above a BW squat, and 1.5BW dead lift that the running tapered off and I focused more on my strength numbers (ie I quit running and in 6 weeks added 80lbs to my dead lift)

You can totally run on rest days as long as you listen to your body and you don't over train or hurt yourself

[D_chelyst]

Thanks, BigM! I've been wanting to do something on my rest days, so if running won't hurt the muscle building for now, then I'm in! (as long as it's not rainy like today )

[dragonlyre]

I know of several folks that have done both in the beginning. But yes, you will need to decide which you would like to use as your main. No dual class (sorry rangers ).

[baloo]

I know of several folks that have done both in the beginning. But yes, you will need to decide which you would like to use as your main. No dual class (sorry rangers ).

No multi-class? Boo.

[msuroo]

Not much if you are starting out. At some point to need to make a choice between lifting heavy things or running fast. But really that doesn't need to be made until you have a good base of strength to work with. I myself did Starting Strength ( a novice 3x5 heavy lifting plan) and couch to 5k at the same time with no real hinderance in results.

It wasn't until I got to above a BW squat, and 1.5BW dead lift that the running tapered off and I focused more on my strength numbers (ie I quit running and in 6 weeks added 80lbs to my dead lift)

You can totally run on rest days as long as you listen to your body and you don't over train or hurt yourself

Agreed. I'll take it one further - I trained for a half marathon while doing Starting Strength and made great progress at both. Eventually, if you want to be *really* elite at one, you'll have to choose a focus, but 5k training won't slow down your lifting at all.

[Zorch]

I'll second what the others have said - 5k training isn't really enough volume to seriously hamper your strength in most cases. I do both strength training and cardio, but much of my cardio is in the form of intervals, and my longest runs end up about 30 minutes.

If you start getting into the realm of half marathon training(or maybe even 10k), you may start getting into the area where long cardio sessions begin to cut into your strength gains.