People often look at me and tell me they know I’m a runner. It’s usually a compliment. But the genetic lottery of traits that made me a shoe-in for the cross-country squad, also made me a longshot for any sport involving a ball or puck. In particular, strength has always been my greatest weakness.
A 50K race in the Catskill Mountains? No problem. Jog an ultramarathon-distance lap of Manhattan with friends—for fun? I had a blast. But ask me to lift something heavy and my confidence immediately flags.
So, given the opportunity to work with my (significantly stronger) colleague, Men’s Health fitness editor Brett Williams, on a strength and running challenge, I embraced the opportunity. Beyond the increase in muscle power, I know strength work also increases my body’s endurance for longer runs and harder workouts while also staving off injury. So more strength ultimately means more running. I loved the idea.
Workout Routine Rx
Brett’s a NASM-CPT certified trainer, so I felt confident he’d come up with a challenging, yet doable plan. He suggested a six-week strength-training cycle to improve my absolute worst lift, the bench press. The goal: bench pressing my rough body weight, 185 pounds.
The program easily slipped right into my running routine. It was just two weekly sessions that I paired with easy runs. On Tuesday and Fridays, I’d slip on my on to make the easy days restorative and the hard days fast—a springy running shoe that I could also wear at strength sessions—to run the 1.25 miles to my gym. There, I’d build up to as many as five heavy sets on the bench, then perform three circuit rounds of accessory lifts like barbell rows, dumbbell overhead presses, and glute bridges—yes, Advertisement - Continue Reading Below requires strong legs. Then I’d run home along a route that allowed me to hit my daily mileage goal.
Occasionally I had difficulty balancing all my miles with the lifting. There was one point halfway through the program when I realized how challenging managing both running and lifting can be. I had a target race, a track 5K that landed on a sunny and sweaty Sunday—high 80s, high humidity. Before the race, I stayed hydrated and I hid from the sun. I ran smart, I went hard, and I hit my best time since college, 17:42, despite the heat. Despite being totally drained, I thought that by my Tuesday session, my body would be ready to lift. I was wrong.
I got a lesson in how running really is a full-body sport that day. Not realizing I was still recovering from my big effort, I pulled the bar off the rack with 165 pounds for a two-rep set, lowered the bar to my chest, and, well, wondered why I couldn’t push this previously manageable weight back in the air. (With a little help from a gym buddy, I got the weight up and dialed back the workout.)
Other than that, training mostly went smoothly and I checked in along the way with Brett on points like how many reps make a good warm-up and pressing technique (it turns out my grip was too wide). On Mondays, I ran hills with my club, the Hellgate Road Runners. Tuesdays I benched. Wednesdays I hit the local track with Hellgate. Thursdays were off. Fridays meant more benching. And then the weekends were for miles big and small. I loved it and had my How to Adjust Your Run Schedule After a Big Race a strong bench press.
Strong Results
When the day to test my bench press came, I was grateful for that hot 5K and the practice of performing in the heat, because that Tuesday was sweltering, mid-90s, and my gym didn’t have AC. I was already soaked from my warmup run to get there, and a little worried if I could put up with the heat. But Brett was there to coach me through the test and help me mentally chill out.
After prepping my chest, shoulders, and legs with a few favorite moves from the accessory circuit, I hit the bench. I started progressing toward 185 with 3-rep sets: 95, 115, 135. Then I dialed down to 2-reps, 155, 165. And finally a single at 175—I felt great.
With 185 loaded on the bar, I drove my heels into the floor, lifted my hips off the bench, and with a little assist from Brett, lifted the bar off the rack. Dropping it down to my chest was easy, it always is. But before I could pause on my ribcage, I squeezed the bar slowly, and pressed it back to Brett’s waiting hands.
My goal was achieved, and seemingly with a little gas left in the tank. So we decided to finish the day with a moonshot: 200 pounds. Buzzing from my success, I didn’t notice that the heat and work had started to wear on me. So while I did get the 200-pound bar off my chest, it didn’t go very far.
And even better than that specific goal of pressing my body weight, I’d trained myself into a stronger runner. A couple of weeks later, I had a 4-mile road race on the hilly Central Park loop. I pumped my way up each incline and hauled ass down the backside. It was another sweaty day, but instead of just hanging on as the miles wound down, I found the strength to keep charging, and keep passing runners through the finish line. That’s when I realized I’d truly accomplished my goal.
on to make the easy days restorative and the hard days fast Bicycling and Runner's World magazines. He's run nine marathons and come heartbreakingly close to BQing three times. In addition to running and cycling, he's also covered beer for more than a decade and is a certified beer judge.
