Should 800m Runners Lift Weights?

Question

Hello I'm a middle distance runner (400/800) with a mesomorph body type and I have read quite a few conflicting articles online about push ups, pull ups, etc as well as lifting light with high reps VS doing away with such practices. What is the best way to increase strength performance and prevent injuries without becoming to bulky and more prone to injuries?

Answer 1

I'm also an Athlete I'm about to atend State in June for X-country and got an 800m PB of 2:11 I'm 13 and i dont do weights its just technique

Answer 2

Research proves the only thing important to speed is how much support force you have at ground contact. This means you need strong isometric strength so your ankle and knee don't collapse at ground contact. A strong or bulky upper body has nothing to do with support force. Lifting light weight has nothing to do with support force. Work up to heavy isometric dead lifts where you hold as much weight as you can for 10-30 seconds where you are on ball /mid-foot and knee almost straight. The goal is to get as strong isometrically as possilbe without gaining weight.

Answer 3

My mid distance runners only go to the gym 2 times a week. I have them do low weight and high reps. on Mondays they do legs and on Fridays they do upper body. Endurance in the key so that is why you do a lot of reps and you don't want bulk so that is why you do low weight.

On wednesdays I have them do General strength exercises. All of these excercises can be done with out weights:

Pull-ups

Chin-ups

Push-ups

Circle push-ups

Dips

Prisoner Squats (same as a regular squat but without weights and you go lower)

Abs

Lunge walks

I would never take weightlifting away from my athletes, it is needed especially in the beginning-middle of the season. I hope this is able to help you out a little.

Answer 4

Lighter weights and more reps. You are looking for endurance not bulk...........

Answer 5

Yes, follow all other advice you got in here.

Answer 6

Absolutely lift weights. As others have said, don't lift for bulk. I ran track in college and the mid-distance guys lifted 4-5 days a week early in the season and tapered off to 2-3 days a week towards the end.. eventually not lifting at all before conference and nationals. When I was there that group had a 800m national champion and multiple All-Americans.

One guy (400/800) I entered college with lifted religiously and he was always 6'1 150lbs. He was running 47/1:51.

Even our cross-country guys lifted weights and they won the national championship my freshman year. Lift weights, it works!

Answer 7

I'm a middle distance runner too! and a sprinter. not too heavy and not too light weights. You don' want to injure yourself but you don't want to waste your time

Answer 8

Yes.  Do lighter weights with higher reps and less rest in between sets.  Concentrate mostly on the lower body and the core (abs, obliques and lower back)  do your triceps once a week.

Answer 9

as a fellow 800m runner whe would you guys incorporate your weight training...if u lifted 2-3x a week would you do it on the days that you run (before or after?) or maybe on an off day?

Answer 10

I have no idea what a mesomorph body type is, but it probably needs medical attention.

Regardless of your body type, if you're gonna run the sprint races you gotta have upper body strength.  You get that from doing weight training in the gym, and not the lightweight hi-rep stuff.

Just look at the next college track meet and tell me how many wimpy bodies you see getting into the blocks.

I am no fan of bulky, but I've never heard of bulkiness causing you to be more prone to injury.  If that is your assumption, I'd say that the injured bulky person didn't stretch or warm up properly.

Good Luck

Answer 11

Strongly disagree with most of the advice offered so far.

"Concurrent training" (strength plus endurance training done together--not necessarily in the same training session, but in the same phase of a season) increases all markers of performance in middle distance and distance runners, assuming the volume of resistance training doesn't "eat into" running volume or intensity. (Namely, lifting so much, or so hard, that you have to run less, or slower, is bad.)

Runners (except absolute beginners, or those returning from rehab) do *not* need resistance training meant to improve "local muscular endurance" (ability to do endless submaximal work). We get enough of that from our running! "Low weight, high rep" work is a waste of time.

What we DO need and can best develop in the weight room (and through plyometrics) are:

  1) raw strength to resist the forces and stresses of speed and volume, and

  2) power to be able to deliver our strength instantly. (Not the same as strength. There are massively strong, slow athletes. Ironically, so-called "power lifting" develops raw strength and ignores power!)

The weight room regimen that improves these two faculties begins with instruction in technique, which must be *perfect* to avoid injury; moves to heavier lifts; and finally to derivatives of the Olympic lifts (clean-and-jerk and snatch).

Routines which rely on resistance machines, and those focusing on muscle "isolation" (curls, for example) do *not* improve athletic performance.

So you need a competent strength & conditioning coach to design your weight room program and oversee your lifting in the early going.

Finally, it is utterly impossible to "bulk up" through strength training if you're running good mileage. You may add a couple of pounds/kg of muscle, maybe even 10lb/5kg if you're young, male and truly scrawny, but that will enable you to train and race far faster than formerly.

Good luck!

Answer 12

i myself run 800's and what i suggest is lifting twice a week with low weight and high reps. also, to be an even better runner your core needs to be ripped. i do 200 crunches every day. to not get injured, stretch before AND after workouts. also a warmup and cool down help prevent getting injured. good luck!

Answer 13

Resistance training is important to a runner.  Even distance runner have shown that a good resistance training workout improves their ability especially for the "kick" at the end.  At the worst, resistance training has not shown to decrease one's time.  On the flip side, long distance running for sprinters decreases their power.

I would concentrate on 2 aspects in the weight room.  Power and prehab.  Power comes from cleans/snatches, but you will get additional work on shoulders, abdominals, etc.  Work on a set/rep scheme that makes sense.  Middle distance runners are primarily still a controlled sprint. For prehab work, I would work on ankles.  Running on a track, you typically do a lot of work on the inner lanes leaning to your left.  You need to strengthen your body (esp knees and ankles) by doing work either by running the opposite way on the track - though some coaches hate this or by doing work in the weight room.

Now I am a big believer in running form before weight room.  If you are getting more powerful, you should become faster, but if your form is not ready ready then you are just hastening an injury.

Good luck!