How to Work Running into Routine?

New here and looking for advice on mixing in conditioning with my weight training. I used to lift primarily for
Aesthetics, however im now concerned with function along with looks. I figure a pro sprinter, pro football player etc have desirable bodies as far as aesthetics are concerned however they train for function. So why not become more athletic while I’m building a desirable body.

Ive been following Defranco’s Westside for Skinny Bastards routine as I’m getting back into weight training after being more of a runner for a while. I’ve already gained some muscle going from 157 lbs to 173 in two months. However I have gained a little bit of fat, not enough that anyone but me would really notice but nevertheless.

Anyway, I want to add sprinting into my workout and I also enjoy using a sled. But I don’t know how to add sprinting without over-training. I was doing a crossfit football-esque routine however I burnt out rather quickly and was over-training significantly. I’m going to be doing one lower body weight workout per week and I want to keep a day for hitting the sled plus I want to do some sprinting but I’m afraid even three days hitting my legs (one lower body weights day +one sled+ one sprinting day).

How the heck do I for in sprinting without the risk of overtraining? How do I keep my conditioning on par? Even if I do one sled+ one sprint day+ one lower body weights, that’s still only 2 days where I’m conditioning.

I’d love to have a sprinter’s muscular, athletic look but I’m not sure what a sprinters routine looks like. I’m sure they do a good bit of lifting because of the muscularity but where do they fit in the sprinting and conditioning work?

I apologize if this post is long winded, I’m hoping someone with an athletic background can share some advice.

There are a few articles on here about sprinting, mainly in the context of adding it to a lifting program. Here’s an example:

If you’re worried about over training, I would recommend adding a little bit of either sprinting or sled work and see how that goes. If all is well, then you can add more, then eventually add in the other day of conditioning. I find adding in running and other conditioning has to be a somewhat long process to avoid injuries and to see progress.

[quote]BradyA238 wrote:
New here and looking for advice on mixing in conditioning with my weight training. I used to lift primarily for
Aesthetics, however im now concerned with function along with looks. I figure a pro sprinter, pro football player etc have desirable bodies as far as aesthetics are concerned however they train for function. So why not become more athletic while I’m building a desirable body.

Ive been following Defranco’s Westside for Skinny Bastards routine as I’m getting back into weight training after being more of a runner for a while. I’ve already gained some muscle going from 157 lbs to 173 in two months. However I have gained a little bit of fat, not enough that anyone but me would really notice but nevertheless.

Anyway, I want to add sprinting into my workout and I also enjoy using a sled. But I don’t know how to add sprinting without over-training. I was doing a crossfit football-esque routine however I burnt out rather quickly and was over-training significantly. I’m going to be doing one lower body weight workout per week and I want to keep a day for hitting the sled plus I want to do some sprinting but I’m afraid even three days hitting my legs (one lower body weights day +one sled+ one sprinting day).

How the heck do I for in sprinting without the risk of overtraining? How do I keep my conditioning on par? Even if I do one sled+ one sprint day+ one lower body weights, that’s still only 2 days where I’m conditioning.

I’d love to have a sprinter’s muscular, athletic look but I’m not sure what a sprinters routine looks like. I’m sure they do a good bit of lifting because of the muscularity but where do they fit in the sprinting and conditioning work?

I apologize if this post is long winded, I’m hoping someone with an athletic background can share some advice. [/quote]

Well, I’m sure there are people with more athletic backgrounds than mine on here, but here goes. A “sprinter’s routine” wouldn’t necessarily be of much use to you because it would be based around doing a fair bit of sprinting with the only goal being better sprint times. You seem to be looking to add sprinting in once a week as more of an afterthought to your lifting for fat loss reasons. Getting faster would be more of a bonus. An aside, fat loss has almost everything to do with what you eat and not as much to do with how you train. However, I suggest that you be careful not to hamstring your progress by getting too obsessed with bodyfat right now. BTW, how tall are you? Weights mean more when related to height.

To the point, WS4SB 3 includes what I think is not a bad speed and conditioning (there is a big difference in how you train for these) layout in the Speed & Strength Template. It calls for 1 day speedwork, 1 day prowler/sled or equivalent, and 1 day sprint-based conditioning around a modified Westside lifting schedule. You may need to scale back the intensity on the sprints a little in the beginning to avoid burnout and/or injury. Think 90-95% effort as opposed to 110%. It sounds easy enough, but it calls for a decent amount of volume if you’re generating any real intensity, so be careful and see how you feel. Pulling a hammy is no joy. There may be better programs out there, but this one is based around what you are already doing so…

http://www.elitefts.com/ws4sb/WS4SB.pdf

It’s usually not a bad idea to build a bit of a base and good mechanics doing some slower running before you push the pace too hard with sprints, IMO. However, you describe yourself as a runner so this may not be less critical to you.

Hope some of this is helpful.

Yeah thanks for the responses and recommended reading. I’m 5’11, 173 lbs right now. Also, I know what you’re saying about not getting hung up on fat loss right now, however in a way I’d rather stay thin and ripped (like I was before) than get more muscular and add more than negligible bodyfat. I realize I’m probably going to gain a little fat, as I have thus far, but I think with just a little conditioning work I can avoid anymore fat gain. (by anymore I’m sort of thinking proportional to my muscle gains).

Also, as far as speed being a side effect of my desire to sprint and fat loss being the primary goal, I was actually looking at it the other way around, in a sense. I really want to become more athletic and that includes sprinting faster.

Like I said I want improved aesthetics and improved athleticism. They are equally important to me at this point but I’m training as if athletics was my only focus because the aesthetics will come with.
In a way I’m using the physique of an NFL safety as my lofty goal. Many seem to be around my height (of course some are taller but RB’s and Safety the two you find guys around 5’11). So using that model I’m shooting to get as close to 220lbs as long as I’m not gaining fat and am becoming powerful/explosive enough to get faster. Realistically I think that happens between 190-200lbs but I’ll go as big as I can until I start being a slow fat ass and my purpose is defeated.

[quote]BradyA238 wrote:

Also, as far as speed being a side effect of my desire to sprint and fat loss being the primary goal, I was actually looking at it the other way around, in a sense. I really want to become more athletic and that includes sprinting faster.

[/quote]

Well, have you considered actually taking up a sport that might have somewhat similar demands?

Just freaking go out and run. The chances of you actually overtraining are pretty low. If you really find you’re having symptoms of overtraining back off a bit.

[quote]batman730 wrote:

[quote]BradyA238 wrote:

Also, as far as speed being a side effect of my desire to sprint and fat loss being the primary goal, I was actually looking at it the other way around, in a sense. I really want to become more athletic and that includes sprinting faster.

[/quote]

Well, have you considered actually taking up a sport that might have somewhat similar demands?[/quote]

Or this right here

Overtraining is unlikely. You might get burnt out and tired. But that means you need to eat and sleep more, and push through, IMO. Running isn’t very stressful to the body. I’m doing 2 a days, 6 days a week now. Morning bodyweight strength, and evening all kinds of conditioning. I’m tired as fuck. But I just keep training and wait for the glory of Sunday, my rest day.

Or, you could just add it in one day a week and build up slow. Whatever you want to do.

[quote]louiek wrote:
Overtraining is unlikely. You might get burnt out and tired. But that means you need to eat and sleep more, and push through, IMO. Running isn’t very stressful to the body. [/quote]

I hear what you’re saying, but true sprinting (not just running kinda fast) is actually very stressful and demanding on the body, especially for someone who isn’t accustomed to it. Significant amounts of force are very rapidly generated and transfered throughout the body in an extremely dynamic manner. This is more true the faster you are and the closer to max effort you are working. I don’t know about overtraining per se, but burnout, shitty (potentially counterproductive) workouts and injuries are very real risks. I would that one well intentioned but poorly planned and/or executed sprint session/wk could potentially wreck a guy if he’s able to generate any real force while sprinting.

[quote]batman730 wrote:

[quote]louiek wrote:
Overtraining is unlikely. You might get burnt out and tired. But that means you need to eat and sleep more, and push through, IMO. Running isn’t very stressful to the body. [/quote]

I hear what you’re saying, but true sprinting (not just running kinda fast) is actually very stressful and demanding on the body, especially for someone who isn’t accustomed to it. Significant amounts of force are very rapidly generated and transfered throughout the body in an extremely dynamic manner. This is more true the faster you are and the closer to max effort you are working. I don’t know about overtraining per se, but burnout, shitty (potentially counterproductive) workouts and injuries are very real risks. I would that one well intentioned but poorly planned and/or executed sprint session/wk could potentially wreck a guy if he’s able to generate any real force while sprinting.[/quote]

Highly doubt one sprint session a week would cause “real risk,” considering I was sprinting multiple times a week and was fine while performing tons of other shit, because I’m not a sprinter by sport. I’m not saying 6 MAX sprint sessions a week. I’m saying adding in conditioning and/or speed/power sprinting should be done. Just do it slowly and build up. Max work is usually advised against in strength work and sprinting is the same way.

you can do 3 sessions a week as long as you vary your distance and intensity. Try one day doing 200 meters and a couple 1/4 miles…that would be about 85% of your speed…A second day do 100-200 meters and the 3rd day do short 20-50 meter sprints…even a hill…those will be all out…But It may take a few months to adjust. If you are accustomed to it then you will die.

Once your speed legs get into shape it wont be hard. Of course you cant overdo the sprints either…I do 10x 200 meters on sundays… 1/4 miles would be less…maybe 2-6 depending how you feel…40 meter sprints you could do 10-20, But your legs wont get weak as long as you build into this gradually…

[quote]louiek wrote:

[quote]batman730 wrote:

[quote]louiek wrote:
Overtraining is unlikely. You might get burnt out and tired. But that means you need to eat and sleep more, and push through, IMO. Running isn’t very stressful to the body. [/quote]

I hear what you’re saying, but true sprinting (not just running kinda fast) is actually very stressful and demanding on the body, especially for someone who isn’t accustomed to it. Significant amounts of force are very rapidly generated and transfered throughout the body in an extremely dynamic manner. This is more true the faster you are and the closer to max effort you are working. I don’t know about overtraining per se, but burnout, shitty (potentially counterproductive) workouts and injuries are very real risks. I would that one well intentioned but poorly planned and/or executed sprint session/wk could potentially wreck a guy if he’s able to generate any real force while sprinting.[/quote]

Highly doubt one sprint session a week would cause “real risk,” considering I was sprinting multiple times a week and was fine while performing tons of other shit, because I’m not a sprinter by sport. I’m not saying 6 MAX sprint sessions a week. I’m saying adding in conditioning and/or speed/power sprinting should be done. Just do it slowly and build up. Max work is usually advised against in strength work and sprinting is the same way.[/quote]

It’s maxing that I’m referring to. People (not necessarily you) hear “sprint” and they often assume maximum, balls to the walls effort every repeat at a whole bunch of arbitrary (and often plain stupid) distances and intervals. This is not, in my opinion a recipe for success and training longevity. You absolutely can sprint multiple time a week and do other stuff too if you’re intelligent about it.

Athletes obviously do this all the time.

absolutlely…noone would survive…just like power lifters dont do their true super 1 max rep very often…Sprinters keep their sprints between 80-95% of their max…But to keep injury free and lift weights at the same time their has to be a lot of 85% sprints…

[quote]steviebeast wrote:
absolutlely…noone would survive…just like power lifters dont do their true super 1 max rep very often…Sprinters keep their sprints between 80-95% of their max…But to keep injury free and lift weights at the same time their has to be a lot of 85% sprints…[/quote]

Yea, I took it into my head a few years ago to do 6x400m at “max effort” (it was well sub max by the end, but that’s beside the point). Just seemed like a nice round number and sounded pretty bad ass and track guy-ish. I was running 400’s around a minute flat at that time and the first two were pretty good. Then it started to get bad. Really bad.

I got through it, but the last one was garbage and I was totally ruined. I certainly couldn’t have done another quality sprint workout or for a week at least. There would be no way you could sustain that. I think I’m lucky I didn’t get hurt because I actually stayed somewhat fast off the line for a while after I’d started to get fatigued.

you wanna do 6 fast quarters, you better do some long ez stuff for months first, so you have the endurance to do 6 of these… evrybody wants to look like a sprinter, but most lack the patience to train the proper way to get that look…tons of weight training, tons of ez running, tons of tempo, then tons of sprinting…

[quote]spk wrote:
you wanna do 6 fast quarters, you better do some long ez stuff for months first, so you have the endurance to do 6 of these… evrybody wants to look like a sprinter, but most lack the patience to train the proper way to get that look…tons of weight training, tons of ez running, tons of tempo, then tons of sprinting…[/quote]

Yea, I pretty much agree with this, although I don’t know if you have to do exclusively ez for months before you begin to gradually incorporate speedwork, if that’s what you’re saying. In any case my point was that one sprint session a week can be too many, if you’re stupid about it. For some reason (ignorance I guess) lots of people, my self included at one time, tend to be stupid about sprinting.

if someone has done years of sports in which sprinting or lots of running was important it shouldnt be so hard. But as you said above…to just decide to become a sprinter out of the blue…thats really hard.
Spk said it well