Curious how any of y’all are balancing endurance training vs strength training

A

adrastus

New member
Hi! I (F, just turned 30) have been lifting for coming up 3ish years. I’d say about 2 years of that have been pretty seriously. I’m in the gym 6 days a week most weeks, I do a push pull legs/glutes split. I love lifting and being strong, it’s changed my life and my relationship with my body. I just finished a bulk and am seeing PR’s left and right.
About 1 year ago, i wanted to build my cardio base, so I started running. I had this idea in my head that I would run a half marathon. My dad was a runner and his dad before that, and to me, running is the epitome of athleticism. So I want to be good at running! But… I’m slow. And I’m not getting faster. Still running 10 minutes miles unless I really push is depressing me. I guess I’m just finding it hard to make time for both. I know there are people who train for both endurance and strength. (Alan Thrall, etc). I run about 5-6 (takes me like an hour!) miles twice a week, and always do a cardio sesh (assorted) at the end of lifts.
Anyone here train for both? I know that was long winded so I thank anyone who read this far! Any advice is welcomed.
 
@adrastus The book Tactical Barbell 2: Conditioning really sums up balancing strength and endurance work. Took me from struggling through a 30 min 5k to a sub 2 hour half marathon and a 20:50 5k whilst still benching 100kg. Nothing fancy on either side, but decently capable.

The main takeaway? Run slow, but run further.
 
@adrastus Unfortunately, there's only so many hours in the day and unless this shit is your job you're going to have to choose what your priority is.

That being said, I've heard that it's possible to focus on strength gains for a while then cycle back to a cardio focus while maintaining the strength gains.
 
@adrastus It is hard to do both well, but similar to weight lifting having different modalities, running has its different workouts for addressing different areas. Long distance runners still have sprinting and middle distance repeats a part of their regimen. Those longer steady state runs, even at what you are calling slow, are good for an aerobic base. I'd either keep it simple by going back and forth between longer slow runs and fartleks (this means "playing with speed" and it can be as simple as jog for 2 mins, run hard for 1 min, and do this for 10-20mins starting out). To go more in-depth, a good running regimen will integrate a combination of slow easy runs, tempo runs, repeats (like on the track, aiming for a goal pace and resting in-between), hill repeats (great for leg strength and having the power to pick up speed), long runs (respective to the weekly miles goal), and rest days (1-2 depending on how many miles you need for the week). My last thought is getting in a swim once or twice a week typically helps me build up my lung capacity and I find that helps tremendously when I want to improve my running and overall cardio.
 
@dawn16 Yea some days I try to do this! I’ve read thinner, leaner stronger by Michael Matthew’s and he suggests doing cardio and lifting in different sessions, it’s just I am a mom and student and I work part time so some days I don’t have the time to do two different sessions! Ideally I would be doing this though.
 
@adrastus Do shorter runs and focus on speed. I joined a running club and go twice a week, workouts are like 40 minutes but I’m cooked afterwards. I also find it takes me way longer to get fast than to get strong. Patience has been the hardest part and the progress is maddeningly incremental, but it does happen
 
@adrastus Because there is always choice. You can’t be all things. One of the things I have learned in my journey back to decent health in my 40s is that as I age I have to make choices. Youth allows you to make very dumb ones and still do okay. Make those same stupid choices as a 40 year old and you are going to be in for a world of hurt. It is the same with how and why you workout. You have to decide on your own goals. For me I wanted to fix my weight issues and that is all about food and then cardio stuff. So I focused on that. 4 years later and I have largely only done cardio with increasing intensity. Even after I hit my current weight 2 years ago I have really only done hard cardio with some basic stretching and body weight exercises. And running is something I do now that I haven’t done in a serious way since my late 20s.
 
@questioner1 I do understand I am only getting older, and could possibly be overextending myself. Can I ask what your training looks like as a 40 year old focused on intense cardio? Just curious!
 
@adrastus I workout largely outside. So summer I will do 40 minutes of stair climbing and a 40 minute run for example. I don’t make hard goals anymore. Those times are just what I aim for. I might do that 5 days a week with another day I go on a long bike ride or whatever else I feel like. I find I use to fixate far too much on numbers/goals. When I did that I would be far more likely to push myself to that goal when it could cause injury. Everything is about the long term now and doing it in sustainable ways. Otherwise I stretch snd do some body weight exercises. Nothing complicated. Most of the maintaining comes from proper diet as byways especially when it comes to weight. The biggest worry is that most people rely far too much on exercise for weight control. Once you figure out that you can control that through diet alone the fitness becomes so much easier. And there is not a constant fear that if you stop working out you will gain weight immediately. This is what would drive me to push harder then I should resulting in injury. Again something that as you age you likely will have to deal with more and more. Everything now is about longevity and long term sustainability. But by doing this I had to face that this 47 year old me is likely in better shape then 27 year old me.
 
So what I learned from this thread:
Run slower, but run farther.
Run shorter distances faster.
10 min mile is slow!! 😂
Do supersets with HIIT.
You can’t do everything!
Haha jk thanks for the advice guys 😝
 
@adrastus Supersets. That’s how I get most of my cardio. I throw in some weighted jump rope, battle rope, and water rower hiit on my non weight training days. For awhile now I have been using antagonist full body workouts. Might not work for you for total strength but if blending strength and endurance it might be a style to try.
 
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