[quote]StormTheBeach wrote:
[quote]louiek wrote:
[quote]StormTheBeach wrote:
Condition for the demands of the sport. There is nothing wrong with being just a powerlifter. There is nothing wrong with running a tough mudder. Trying to be great at both will make you shitty at both. Or, even worse, it will make you ok at both and you will never reach your potential on either.
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Are you saying it’s not possible to run them and have just as much strength as if I hadn’t run them? I’m not trying to be an endurance athlete. Just make it through them in an hour or two.
I always thought that you could have a fairly large base of muscular/cardiovascular conditioning even while powerlifting. I heard a story once about a Westside athlete who ran a stadium in the morning and squatted 700 at night for some charity event.
[quote]StormTheBeach wrote:
You can run a tough mudder right now. All recovery from anaerobc activity (lifting really heavy shit over and over and over) is done via aerobic energy systems. Not only would you do well without having to do a single session if sigh cardio, your aerobic capacity is probably beter than 80% of the skinny-fat fitness enthusiasts that go to those things.
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But to run the tough mudder you’d have to be able to run 3 miles. How do I take my aerobic capacity from lifting maximally and make it carry over to aerobic ability to running for distance? Right now I can’t run 3 minutes without my legs burning and breathing hard. 25x2x50% box squats isn’t hard anymore, Hill Sprints take a while to get difficult, but constant jogging kills me.
[quote]StormTheBeach wrote:
Conditioning for powerlifting is easy:
General- Early in training- sprints, sled pushes, thorws, sledgehammer stuff, sled drags, barbell complex’s that don’t include the competition lifts, etc., etc.
Specific- Closer to the meet- Shorter duration, higher intensity movments that more mimic the competition lifts.
Conditioning for a tough mudder:
Anything but jogging.[/quote]
Same question, how can I train to run a 3 mile race/obstacle course without jogging?[/quote]
- Yes. You can’t have as much strength as you possibly can and train aerobically. You can most certainly have a large conditioning base. The ability to handle higher and higher training volumes is a key characteristic of getting stronger. Even though this is governed by the increased development of absolute strength, youe conditioning/aerboic ability/recovery ability must improve as well.
Aerobic capacity improves in strength and power athletes due to all recovery being mediated aerobically. The opposite is not true because in aerobic activty, factors like load, force production (maximal, not repeated average force production like in jogging, contraction speed, substrate usage, etc. are all being determined by the duration of the event and usually remain constant the whole time.
I am not familiar with the example you used but this is not a surprising thing if it is true. 2-3 a days are not uncommon for higher level strength and power athletes. Again, and adaptation over time that is a result of better aerobic capacity (ability to recover) while strength is being developed.
- You can’t run for three minutes because your running technique is terrible. This is the seperation between every sport. Squats are GPP for football. Squats are technical training and SPP for Powerlifting. A mastery of squats is key for PL. A mastery of football is key for football. Just like in running. The best runners have the best technique and running economy. You don’t have either of these qualities well-developed because, hopefully, you are no where near the 10,000 hours of practice it takes to develop an acceptable level of form.
Your aerobic capacity, due to your recovery time between workouts and the GPP work you should be doing, is the same if not better than a lot of the other runners. Your ability to showcase that ability, however, is now where near the assholes that wake-up and get 3 miles in every monring before their skinny-fat ass gets to work.
Probably the most important question after reading what you responded to me: Why the fuck do you want to do this in the first place if running is so difficult for you? Doing these assisnine themed races that seem to now pop-up every weekend in every city on Earth have become some supreme measure of fitness. That’s stupid. I have so many conversations with people about this bullshit. “Oh cool man, I lift too! I train for tough mudders.” I always have to bite my tongue because the first question I want to ask is “Cool. What actual sport did you suck at so bad before you started settling for expensive fun runs?”
Just don’t be the guy that shows up, does shitty, and then goes “Well, I did pretty good for a Powerlifter.” Then a monthe later, do shitty at a powerlifting meet and say “Well, I did pretty good for having run that tough mudder a month ago.” You know? I can’t stand that bullshit.
- Training for a tough mudder (or ANYTHING that requires muscular effort):
Find the average time it takes for people to do the event from start to finish. Figure out the common muscular contraction qualities involved in the event. Train those qualities, in that amount of time, ande get more specific and intense as the event gets closer.
So, let’s say a tough mudder takes 30 minutes to finish (is this even close? I have no idea). You run, climb, roll around in the dirt, and fart your way through the 3 minle course. If I were training for something like this, which I never, ever, ever, will because I cherish my strength too much, I would build a circuit of 10 exercises, got through them all 3 times at an interval of 20s on/40s off for a few weeks. Then work up to 30s/30s. Then do a week of 40s/20s.
I would do that at least twice a week (if three times, you need a whole new circuit with different times and more of an orientation on speed of movment). On off days I would do prowler marches, push-ups, and pull-ups.
Again, I wouln’t ever do this, but this is what I would do or have someone else do. You want to still powerlift too? Go for it. You will be mediocre at both.
Just for the love of God, don’t jog.
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Makes sense, thanks. My primary goal is being a better athlete in Strongman. But Tough Mudder just looks fun. Not fun enough to give up strength though. And I’m glad I asked someone because I’ve been adding in some jogging, 5+ hours after my workouts. I’ve heard a lot about endurance running being fucking horrible for you. Don’t know the science behind it. Something about hormones, cortisol, shit like that. Any thoughts on that?
So if technique/practice was not an issue, you’re saying that strength athletes (who do GPP training and all that) can be just as good at running as the average person who actually runs distance? That’s just nuts to me because I’ve never heard that shit. I’ve always had my goal for being that athlete who can run stadiums and squat 700 in the same day. But I never heard the whole strength/anaerobic capacity making your aerobic capacity better. I need more books.