Goodbye marathons, hello deadlifts

[Mony]

Hi! I'm new on the NF forums! After a few months of stalking the archived articles and boards for tips and info, I figured it was finally time to join!

I'm a former marathon runner that found myself "skinny fat" at the age of 30. About 3-4 weeks ago I started lifting, with hopes of being able to finally lift something heavier than a stopwatch. Running was my first fitness love, but I recently discovered deadlifts and I am smitten. I have a long way to go to totally change my body composition, but I'm seeing myself get a little stronger every week. Just wondering if there are any other former long-distance runners out there with some advice for building muscle, losing fat, (I'm 5'10" and about 25%BF), and generally overhauling the way I work out and my body comp.

I'm allergic to gluten, so I'm already practically eating Paleo anyway. My diet is actually pretty clean, so I'm mostly hoping to get some guidance on training. Especially if there are any fellow tall women who can offer some advice! (any 5'9"+ girls out there?, anybody, anybody.... Bueller?)

Thanks!!!

[Razor]

It doesn't matter if you're a former runner or not, the body builds muscle the same for everybody. If that's your goal, you need to check the warrior and ranger guilds.

Also, good on you, Deadlifts are one of the BEST (many say the best) in strength exercise! Are you doing anything else with the deadlifts? And have you done weight training before? If not you could try Starting Strength or a similar program that gives great results to beginners.

[Mony]

Yeah deadlifts are so satisfying and I'm already feeling like bad@$$ every time i get a little stronger and can add some more weight. i'm also doing squats, rows, shoulder presses, and some dumbbells. i'm doing a basic beginner plan I guess.... alternating upper/lower body days with 2-3 days of surfing or running/walking or some type of cardio. I guess I'm a little confused about how much cardio is too much if I'm trying to gain muscle.... ? When I was marathon training a 10-12mile run was common, but obviously I'm not doing that (and it's so freaking hot right now I have no desire to run outside anyways). My understanding is the muscle growth, especially in women, is pretty slow.... ? Or is that myth?

[Razor]

Muscle growth is slower in women because testosterone drives muscle repair, and women have significantly less than men. However, women can still gain plenty, and I mean PLENTY of muscle without needing extra testosterone.

Another thing is that contrary to popular belief, cardio does not kill gains. If you don't eat a lot, your body burns the calories through cardio that would have been used for muscle repair. Consuming a lot of calories is how you build muscle.

If you eat enough food so that you can burn cals for cardio AND repair damaged muscle, you'll build. However, don't do too much, because every body has its limits and doing too much exercise is counter-productive to muscle building.