opaquepurple
New member
25, not 30, but still have important questions about this stuff. Most advice and fitness subs delete my post bc it's "too long" or bc they're weirdly only for one small topic. So here goes:
This is more of several related questions than just one. Seriously love the feel and benefits of running but don't know the "right" way to fit it in the day and with strengthening. Have the willpower, but don't know how to make it work in practice. Different people say to do different things, so being able to 100% execute a running and overall fitness lifestyle is vague, making results and the fun of of it difficult to make sense of.
Backdrop: I used to just run 5 days a week after work, sometimes really long. Up to half-marathons (alone, not in a group). Preferred it in evening bc work is stressful and it feels better to run as a nice reward after a hard day. Coming back to college made running feel impossible, bc of work/classload and how the college gym closes at 10 (8 in summer) and reduced/no hrs in weekend . Trying to work out in general with more tasks and less allowed gym time made if feel like a job to overthink how to plan amd overthink time I can work out and run (why close gym so early, I'm not retired with all day to do things I like and when I want). It takes a while to stretch too, since I'm flat-footed. Even walking without 6 days a wk of thorough stretching makes it hard to just stretch for 10 minutes and run 10 miles. Time is a currency doing work and school. I want to get truly fit and have the benefits consistently working out brings, not settling. My dad says I should just focus on my career and work bc it's hard to fit fitness and those things in life in college, but fitness is too good to wait till 35 to start, that's lame. Life is too short for that, and fitness makes social and dating life a lot better; after 30 social life tanks, and dating becomes harder. I don't want to prevent myself from having good things like these in life.
I wasn't an athlete in high school, so I don't know what's considered best for certain fitness things, but they matter to be able to grow in strengthening and cardio. I don't know how to just feel for what I should work on (like some ppl saying they just feel for what muscle group needs lifting on certain days and does them). I have to plan things with detail and know all the ins and outs of doing things a certain way, to be sure i can do something that way. There has to be an in-depth plan and written workout split to make working out make sense for me.
My goals rn are to shed 20 lbs (of fat), and build some muscle (probably would increase weight). And dive deep into running.
So:
Should I run and lift in same day?
Same session? If yes, how much to run?
As a running lover, running feels more important than strengthening (both are important though)- so should I run before lifting or after, for max running results?
I usually have 10+ hrs of work, school, study and errands to do, 7 days a week. So running in the morning just makes it hard to finish everything and feel relaxed. When is it best to run though?
How many days a week to run, if I run mid to long runs most times?
Probably the biggest Q; How to schedule anounts of running to do from the beginning stage and on. Should I slowly move up in weekly mileage like the 10% rule says? Or does it just depend on the person? When I originally started running before college. (between it and hs) I pretty quickly went from running 3 miles each run to 6, 10, and half marathons. My first half marathon was 7 months after I started running.
For the weekly mileage thing, how should I split up days of runs (one being 3 miles, one 5, etc)? Should I do the same distance every time in one week?
This is more of several related questions than just one. Seriously love the feel and benefits of running but don't know the "right" way to fit it in the day and with strengthening. Have the willpower, but don't know how to make it work in practice. Different people say to do different things, so being able to 100% execute a running and overall fitness lifestyle is vague, making results and the fun of of it difficult to make sense of.
Backdrop: I used to just run 5 days a week after work, sometimes really long. Up to half-marathons (alone, not in a group). Preferred it in evening bc work is stressful and it feels better to run as a nice reward after a hard day. Coming back to college made running feel impossible, bc of work/classload and how the college gym closes at 10 (8 in summer) and reduced/no hrs in weekend . Trying to work out in general with more tasks and less allowed gym time made if feel like a job to overthink how to plan amd overthink time I can work out and run (why close gym so early, I'm not retired with all day to do things I like and when I want). It takes a while to stretch too, since I'm flat-footed. Even walking without 6 days a wk of thorough stretching makes it hard to just stretch for 10 minutes and run 10 miles. Time is a currency doing work and school. I want to get truly fit and have the benefits consistently working out brings, not settling. My dad says I should just focus on my career and work bc it's hard to fit fitness and those things in life in college, but fitness is too good to wait till 35 to start, that's lame. Life is too short for that, and fitness makes social and dating life a lot better; after 30 social life tanks, and dating becomes harder. I don't want to prevent myself from having good things like these in life.
I wasn't an athlete in high school, so I don't know what's considered best for certain fitness things, but they matter to be able to grow in strengthening and cardio. I don't know how to just feel for what I should work on (like some ppl saying they just feel for what muscle group needs lifting on certain days and does them). I have to plan things with detail and know all the ins and outs of doing things a certain way, to be sure i can do something that way. There has to be an in-depth plan and written workout split to make working out make sense for me.
My goals rn are to shed 20 lbs (of fat), and build some muscle (probably would increase weight). And dive deep into running.
So:
Should I run and lift in same day?
Same session? If yes, how much to run?
As a running lover, running feels more important than strengthening (both are important though)- so should I run before lifting or after, for max running results?
I usually have 10+ hrs of work, school, study and errands to do, 7 days a week. So running in the morning just makes it hard to finish everything and feel relaxed. When is it best to run though?
How many days a week to run, if I run mid to long runs most times?
Probably the biggest Q; How to schedule anounts of running to do from the beginning stage and on. Should I slowly move up in weekly mileage like the 10% rule says? Or does it just depend on the person? When I originally started running before college. (between it and hs) I pretty quickly went from running 3 miles each run to 6, 10, and half marathons. My first half marathon was 7 months after I started running.
For the weekly mileage thing, how should I split up days of runs (one being 3 miles, one 5, etc)? Should I do the same distance every time in one week?