marathon weight training

jbabefit

Cathlete
Hi Friends!

I am wondering if there is anyone out there that is experienced in marathon training, specifically when it comes to weight training (not the mileage part - got that one ;)).

Thanks in advance!!! :D
 
Hi!

Hi there,
Right now I'm training for a couple of Fall marathons (in Oct & Nov) and have been doing weight training 3 times per week. I alternate full body with splits, heavy and high rep, etc. Last week I used Cathe's Gym Styles and this week I'm using Cross Train Express (Leaner Legs & Upper Body Premix + probably a full body higher rep like Muscle Max).

The main thing to do is make sure to fit it in but don't over train, easier said than done. ;)

Good luck! When is your marathon?

Kathy G
 
I am not experienced in marathoning specifically but I have trained for a couple of halfs and am currently training for an 18 miler. I also have a couple of friends on the boards who are currently training for a full marathon and a couple of experienced marathons whom I am learning from every day. From everything I have learned the important thing is to use endurance lifting for the lower body. As for the upper body, I think it's up to you how you choose to train it. How often you lift depends upon how much time you have and how much you want to. Obviously the running should take presidence over weight training at this time. You should also be careful not to plan your lower body weight work too close to your long runs.

I am training for an 18 miler in October as I said. What I am doing is running 4 days per week with my long runs on sat or sun. I am training legs one time per week and making sure it gets done no later then wednesday. Right now I am training endurance for the full body but in August I was training my upper for strength and my lower for endurance.

There are many on these boards with far more knowledge and experience then me. I am sure they will add to what I've said! :)

Hope I helped atleast a little bit!
 
I am training for a half right now and I have totally cut out lower body weight training. It just got to be too much for me. I run a lot of hills and do a day of speedwork so I feel like I am getting enough. I still lift 2x a week for upper. I found that I was getting too tired and my running was suffering when I did lower body work. This is just me though.
 
I've been doing kettlebells since my marathon training started. I've got another month and a half left before my event (OMG, I can't believe it's just around the corner!!), so I'm planning on sticking to kettlebells till the end--except for the last two weeks, when they generally tell us to lay off on the lower body weights to conserve as much energy as we can for our lower body.

In previous years when I was training for half-marathons, I used both heavy weight/split routines and total body/endurance routines; I found both to be effective and just went with preference. This is my first full, so I didn't want to experiment too much. Because I figured the cardio/running portion of the training would be so demanding, I wanted to take it a little easier on my body in terms of weights, so rather than go for strength gains with heavy weight training, I decided to do more functional/lighter weight training.

So far so good!
 
Thanks to all of you for your input, I appreciate it! I am actually helping someone out that is training for a full marathon. Her race is mid-January and she will be doing strength training one day per week. I am not sure if this will be in-between long run days, but will def check on that. I have read that lighter weight with higher reps is recommended over heavy weight. Also to train the core area to be nice and strong to support the run. All of your responses seem to support this as well so I feel more comfortable now with it;)

Thanks again for your input!:D
 

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