How to Run and Make Gains

Sharing this from my newsletter. Might be useful for some of you trying to juggle both:

How to Run and Make Gains

You might think that running and lifting are two goals at total odds with each other. 

But what if I told you that I've hit my all-time best lifts while running twice per week? 

Or that two of my friends (much stronger than me) have done the same? 

Here's how: 

Prioritise

Not everything can be a major goal. 

If lifting is your focus, then running should be kept to the minimum to make progress. 

You may well hit personal records in running as you get stronger, but that will eventually stop as you get fitter, and you'll need to be okay with just maintaining. You also have to get comfortable with allowing your running to go backwards on weeks where you've pushed the lifting hard. 

If you go hard at running 5 days a week, you'll probably dent your recovery for squats and deadlifts. 

Minimum Effective Dose

If you're new to running, you can probably make progress on once per week. And if you're on the heavier side, this can make it easier on your joints. 

Don't move to 2 days until you either need to or you feel like you can recover from it. So on and so on. 

Where Did This Myth Come From?

T-Nation has a lot to answer for. 10-15 years ago, they were promoting a load of articles about how cardio will kill your gains, utilising the image above. 

This probably stems from research that shows that the signalling that takes place in our bodies to either get stronger or get fitter are at odds with each other. 

The problem is, we don't know to what extent this actually impacts our gains. Clearly not massively when we look at the results that people who combine endurance and strength in sports like CrossFit, martial arts, field sports, etc can achieve. Even bodybuilders sometimes do plenty of cardio to aid in dropping fat.

Rounding Things Up

Is it ever going to be as good as if you solely focus on one domain? Maybe not. 

But then again, most of us aren't trying to go to the Olympics. 

If I can squat 200kg while running 5km a couple times a week, I'm sure you can afford to add some conditioning into your programme. 

Your heart health and recovery will thank you.