Weight lifting for runners?

[Jon Allen]

I would like to hear everyone's opinion on if distance runners should weight lift.  I'm curious to hear if people think it helps improve times or not.  I have seen arguments both ways, and am interested in the blog's opinion.  When I say weight lifting, I am referring to low weight/high rep for both upper and lower body. 

Also, if it does provide a benefit, is it a bigger benefit than if you just spent the extra time running more, instead?

[Josse]

I think weights are a good thing.  Although I mostly do upper body, abs and back.  My legs get enough with running.  I feel that upper body strength helps you in the end of a marathon.  You use the upper body alot when you are tired and trying to hold a good pace. 
I will add lower body in when I am injured or in the winter time to build strenth.  You can easily do a workout in 20 mins with free weights at home 2-3 times a week.

[Tom]

I think I mostly agree with Josse. I've done the type of weight training you described for a lot of years and I do think it helps  late in the long races to hold form and finish a little stronger. On the other hand if you get too much bulk up top it's bound to slow you down overall so I'm still undecided on whether what I've been doing is a net benefit or handicap. The last year as I've cranked up the running training and mileage I've also cut back on the weights (2 sets vs. 3 sets and only twice a week instead of 3 times). I guess it's a matter of experimentation trying to find that optimum balance.

[Josse]

Tom-For distance runners I only recommend a light weight-high rep weight program this build strength and not bulk.

[Paul Petersen]

Depends...if you are a low-mileage runner, I think weights can help performance a bit. If you are a high-mileage person, your time is probably better spent running more. The best way to get better at running is to run more, right? In my mind, the best benefit of weight lifting is not increased speed, but is injury-prevention. Runners who can stay healthy can therefore get more consistent (no interruptions), higher-volume training. Improvements in speed will come from the ability to train more, and weight lifting can indirectly facilitate this.

[adam]

I think it really depends on your event.

If you are looking at marathon type training, some lightweight lifting can be helpful in overall muscle conditioning, and injury prevention. It will probably not help much with speed increases in this event.

If you are looking into middle distance running, it can be helpful in increasing speed. For this I think it is a trial and error type of thing. Some people respond very well to heavier weights, others to lighter weights, and some to no weights at all.

If you are looking at anything less than the 800m, I think it is vital training. Heavier resistance training targets fast-twitch muscle fiber groups needed in the shorter sprints. They don't definitely won't become faster runners by running 100 mile weeks.

[Adam R Wende]

Jon, I agree with Paul. In that injury prevention is the benefit the weight lifting gives you. Also the over all health benefit for quality of life down the road can't hurt. After you exit your teens you are fighting your body for dwindling muscle mass so may as well help it all you can. I think it also helps in the last miles of the marathon. I've noticed on training cycles that I've focused on something upper body I've been stronger in the finish. But it doesn't have to be weights. I find consistent push-ups will do the trick just as well. Also, as far as "other" exercises go my high school coach and Olympic trialist swore by sit-ups. Anything for the core. She would do three hundred a day split between 2-3 sessions...

[Sasha Pachev]

I've tried lifting weights on and off, both using upper body and lower body. I've also tried other form of upper body and core strength work. No measurable  improvement or decrease in performance. I was getting exactly my mileage's worth in all distances from 5 K to the marathon with our without the weights. No impact on injury prevention for me - I was not getting injured with or without the weights. Lifting resulted in better performance during Elders Quorum moves, but gave me less time to run the mileage.

I think the notion of stronger arms helping you maintain better form when you are tired is not true. The cause of slowdown at the end of a race is decreased neural output to the leg muscles. You lose the explosiveness of your step. In some cases it may be possible to reboot your nervous system by swinging your arms harder, but they do not need to be very strong at all. You need to have them neurologically activated, and they have to be wired to the legs the right way for it to happen. But you should not have to lift to create that wiring and activation. And you might be able to find another way to send a better signal to the legs.

[Nick Miller]

I agree with what Paul said. I do a lot of core strength drills and preventative style strengthening exercises mainly because my form is not excellent. I tend to do high repetition exercises to not bulk up, and only work out 2-3 times per week. I am fairly weak as far as form is concerned, and these excercises help me out a bit. I feel like they have helped me improve, but everyone needs to do whats best for them.

[Marcie J.]

I think light weight training is essential for anyone, runner or not! Especially for women! I know running is great but it doesnt keep me completely toned. And hate to say it but I do run to burn calories and keep my weight down, when I dont weight train my weight fluctuates up. I dont burn calories as efficiently when i am a little flabby. I do light weights on my upper body, pushups, dips and lower body squats/lunges, ect. Not enough to build bulk but just keep toned. I also believe working your legs helps prevent injury. Regardless if it helps your running or not, I think its so important to do especially as we all age! There is a ton of literature and studies on why weight training is essential for everyone.

[Sasha Pachev]

I gained 3-5 pounds since I started running 120 miles a week. But I am running faster, so I do not consider it bad. Probably blood volume + bone density increase + muscle weight. My dream is to convince every woman to care more about how fast she runs than about how much she weighs :-)

[Fredrick Teichert]

I look better when I lift weights and guys don't kick sand in my face as much. It definately helps me when I play basketball (jumping, first-step, etc). I feel more "in control" when I run, but if I gave up the 5 lbs. of muscle mass lifting adds to my frame, I might improve my times.

[Tim]

When I started to run at Idaho State I was only 5'9" weighed about 145lbs.  They put me on a weight training program, upper body only and I gained almost 10 lbs in one year and my times improved.  My upper body strength increased especially my abs.  As for connecting the improved times to increased upper body strength I don't know if that was the case or if it was just the workouts but I did feel like I was a stronger runner and and my form improved.

[Dawson Hinton]

For all those who say that they get enough lower body workouts from ONLY running, I guess I will play the devil's advocate a little here.  Before I started running last Feb., I had two different leg workouts that had been made up for me by a personal trainer.  When I started running more, I lifted my legs less, not wanting to injure something.  All I can say is that on the few occasions that I have gone back to do either of these workouts, it has really made me sore afterward, regardless of how many miles I was running at the time.  I think that lifting wieghts will work muscles that will never be worked out very well by running alone.  Same with the one and ONLY  spin class that I have done at the gym!  I was sore for like 5 days!!

[Fredrick Teichert]

Dawson, that's an excellent observation. If the only thing you aspired to was running, then you probably wouldn't need to work any muscle groups other than those used to run. But, as I said, I want to run and discourage people from kicking sand in my face, so I lift. I don't bulk up if I'm logging a lot of miles, but I don't lose strength, either. i have a friend who is an ultrathoner and she swears that lifting improves her durability big time. She strongly advocates lifting for all runners. She's a PhD in exercise physiology, but she's not as fast as most of the people on the blog... so who knows? It all seems to come back to (how many millions of times do we hear this on this blog?) what works best for you.