Programs for looking more athletic

[hargi]

Hi all,
This isnt a new year new me thread, but has come more through an injury and wanting to improve.

Im a runner, I run 3 times a week not fast but am capable of decentish half marathons and ultra runs. However this is the only training I do, I have no core strength at all, poor posture and just other then my legs I'm very week.
I popped on to the mobility thread yesterday and then started googling.
Basically I want to do more to improve my core and look more like an athlete , so more toned but not like a body builder.

Had a look and found athleanx which looks kind of what I want. However reading redit and the likes they all say that you can get the same results using free stuff.

I would be doing this at home along side my running, I want to improve core strength improve moblity and get toned.

Any tips?

 

[jigger]

Maybe circuit training at a local leasure centre?

 

[FrenchTart]

Just do a proper strength training programme. You won't turn into Arnie overnight.

 

[Somnambulist]

Worrying about starting strength training getting you too big is like worrying about going for a run round the block and accidentally turning into Usain Bolt. Do a proper strength training program 2-3 times a week that utilises multi-joint movements in the low to moderate rep ranges. Home workouts are more difficult in terms of loading lower body movements sufficiently but you can sort of make up for this by employing unilateral movements like rear foot elevated split squats, single leg RDLs/deadlifts etc.

 

[NickK]

kick boxing works well - it will apply to the whole body, especially if you're doing all the core exercises etc.

 

[D.P.]

Worrying about starting strength training getting you too big is like worrying about going for a run round the block and accidentally turning into Usain Bolt. Do a proper strength training program 2-3 times a week that utilises multi-joint movements in the low to moderate rep ranges. Home workouts are more difficult in terms of loading lower body movements sufficiently but you can sort of make up for this by employing unilateral movements like rear foot elevated split squats, single leg RDLs/deadlifts etc.

While you wont turn in to Arnie overnight, you do have to be careful about gaining unwanted muscle mass. Every 1lb of body mass will cost 2-3 minutes in a marathon, and muscle mass is worse than fat as they will use additional oxygen.

OP, just google strength training for runners. You will find lots of exercises you can do at home that will strengthen hips, glutes and relevant core muscles without building excess muscle mass elsewhere. 30-45 minutes twice a week.

Also when runnign add some hill work, it will build core and leg muscle strength without impact forces. I run a lot and certainly don;t have noticeable core or leg weakness, quite the opposite and I barely do any dedicated strength work. Have a look at running form, and maybe even just run more to build that strength. You sometimes see beginner runners at the end of a marathon hunched over because their core has fatigued, and then this makes their runnign form terrible etc. One solution is indeed core strength work, but the actual cause of the hunching an fatigued is that their body is just not suitably trained for that kind of run, because they are beginners. You see a sub-elite cross the lines at 2:2x and their core is very strong and have good form, yet very few of these ever do much strength work (some stretching and rolling). they are strong because they run more than the beginner. It is kind of obvious that if their is a weakness then consistent loading will lead to adaptions to strengthen it. A long run of 2+ hours wont only do wonders for your runnign performance, but it is also a workout for your core and you will get stronger form doing that. More time spent runnign will make you stronger and a faster runner, time spent doing pure strength work wont help your running directly.
When strength work comes in is if you are injury prone or have developed some kind of imbalance.

 

[Somnambulist]

While you wont turn in to Arnie overnight, you do have to be careful about gaining unwanted muscle mass. Every 1lb of body mass will cost 2-3 minutes in a marathon, and muscle mass is worse than fat as they will use additional oxygen.

OP, just google strength training for runners. You will find lots of exercises you can do at home that will strengthen hips, glutes and relevant core muscles without building excess muscle mass elsewhere. 30-45 minutes twice a week.

There is an interference effect when it comes to concurrent training though, making it difficult for a predominantly endurance athlete to achieve a great deal of hypertrophy... but more importantly, the OP seems to care more about looking athletic than optimising their long-distance performance.

 

[D.P.]

An endurance athlete can achieve a lot of hypertrophy, the problem is this comes at a catastrophic cost in terms endurance performance. Aerobic training releases a lot of testosterone and human growth hormone which promote muscle growth. This is used by the body to repair the leg muscles. The other issue is defined hypertrophy requires excess calories which makes for a double whammy with weight gain. There are some people that combine body building with endurance sports, mostly iron man type events. They never achieve the athletic performance they could have for the amount of training but they bulk as normal.

 

[mid_gen]

I've been bouldering for about 8 months now, it's done exactly what you're after. Done wonders for my back problems as well. I've always been kinda gangly even when playing rugby regularly but climbing has totally transformed my physique, brought the gun show to town (and abs, pecs, shoulders, back).

Really great core exercise, especially roof climbing, highly recommend it! I absolutely loathe gyms, but bouldering halls are great, social, good brain workout too figuring out the problems.