I get asked a lot of questions throughout the day by my clients, but as we get closer to Spring and people tend to want to go for a nice run out in the sun to kick those Winter blues (I know, hard to believe when it's 20 degrees today), one of the most common questions people ask, is whether they should run before or after they come to the gym for a weight training workout. My answer is always the same, no matter who the client is, and I answer with a simple question: Which is more important to you?
If your main goal is to build muscle, get stronger, and become more athletic, then the answer is obvious. Lift first, run later. What many people don't understand is that when they go for these long runs in order to lose weight, while simultaneously trying to build muscle mass in a strength training program, it's that most people don't have the right diet to sustain both goals at once. I'm no dietitian or nutritionist, so I can't really give you an exact science of how to perfect that aspect of your training, but what I can tell you is distance running typically kills the goal of building muscle mass due to a caloric deficit and not enough proper nutrient intake. If you're training to be more athletic, your better bet is to do sprint intervals after your actual weight training workouts. Short bursts of maximum effort, which is working those fast twitch muscles that you're trying to build for athleticism (power, speed, agility), is the name of the game for you guys and gals.
The other deterrent to running before lifting if the main goal is strength and athleticism, is that running seriously taxes your neuromuscular system. Without getting too scientific, this system effects how much force you can produce, how precise your movement patterns are (think about how many people are less effective in shooting/passing a basketball, puck, soccer ball, etc at the end of a game when they're fatigued), and biochemical changes that affect our energy levels.
Essentially, taxing your neuromuscular system before going to lift heavy weights can lead to you not being able to lift as much (less force production), bad form that can lead to injuries (movement patterns), or feeling generally groggy/less motivated during your workout (energy levels). These are just three examples of many that I could talk about.
To all of my Life Performance, Tactical, and Sports Performance clients; how much harder is our Single Leg Balance series when you're tired after a long day and find it hard to focus? That's another easy example of the effects fatigue has on the neuromuscular system.
The exception to this rule is if you're running at a slow pace as a warmup. A 1-2 mile run at a slow pace to get the blood flowing won't have too much of an effect on what you'll be doing in the weight room. Just make sure if you're running as a warmup, do it to get the sweat flowing, not to feel like you just finished running a sprint or a marathon.
Now, if your goal is a marathon or some sort of race, then obviously running is the more important tool for your training (in most cases), and should typically be done first. Don't get me wrong, runners should absolutely be weight training. I can't stress enough how important it is for runners to be doing some sort of weight training with a Strength & Conditioning coach for injury prevention. The amount of stress runners put on their joints over time is astounding, and most don't know that they have poor movement patterns to begin with, so the constant stress on poorly moving parts can create a lot of problems. It's important to work with a Strength & Conditioning professional to help find the root of these problems and work to fix them, instead of just masking them with icy hot and overstretching your muscles for momentary pain relief.
But I digress.
To sum this all up, if the goal is athleticism and strength, run sprint intervals after your workouts or on your off days. You'll get the same cardiovascular benefit if you do enough volume and work hard, while still being able to build adequate strength and power. If the goal is more endurance related, and you're using strength training as a means to build up your general strength/help with injury prevention, get your run in first and then move on to the strength training later. Essentially, whatever the main priority is, start with that! Happy Training. Cheers.
Eric Fish
B.S., CSCS
Strength Coach at The Way Human Performance Institute
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