Lifting weights

[Billy Hunt]

I was wondering if you lift weights as a hobby can you improve your running and body weight exercises at the same time or will it hinder your running times etc?

 

[thirdtry]

I have only become fitter, faster and built greater endurance since taking up weights. These days weights are also in the official RM fitness program on the website, and encouraged by everyone expert in military fitness prep (e.g. Coach Mike Chadwick a Para instructor, GrizzPhys on Instagram ran by RM PTIs etc etc).

The key thing is to do functional, compound strength movements. You will get nothing from doing bicep curls and cable exercises in a mirror, taking ridiculous supplements and packing on mass. However if you're doing plenty of running and circuits work then doing compound lifts for strength will be invaluable (e.g. DL, Squat, OHP, Bench).

Strength training has been shown time and time again now to contribute to injury resistance/resilience as much as flexibility work as it strengthens the bones, tendons, ligaments etc as well as the muscles.

An example of what I do when the gyms are open is a full bodyweight circuit warm up (e.g. an AMRAP or EMOM type circuit of Press-Ups, burpees, jump squats etc) then I'll follow into doing 5x5 of the main compound lifts, then usually do an intense bodyweight finisher such as Tabata burpees or bear crawls. This, combined with a good running program, has worked wonders so far.

 

[Billy Hunt]

I have only become fitter, faster and built greater endurance since taking up weights. These days weights are also in the official RM fitness program on the website, and encouraged by everyone expert in military fitness prep (e.g. Coach Mike Chadwick a Para instructor, GrizzPhys on Instagram ran by RM PTIs etc etc).

The key thing is to do functional, compound strength movements. You will get nothing from doing bicep curls and cable exercises in a mirror, taking ridiculous supplements and packing on mass. However if you're doing plenty of running and circuits work then doing compound lifts for strength will be invaluable (e.g. DL, Squat, OHP, Bench).

Strength training has been shown time and time again now to contribute to injury resistance/resilience as much as flexibility work as it strengthens the bones, tendons, ligaments etc as well as the muscles.

An example of what I do when the gyms are open is a full bodyweight circuit warm up (e.g. an AMRAP or EMOM type circuit of Press-Ups, burpees, jump squats etc) then I'll follow into doing 5x5 of the main compound lifts, then usually do an intense bodyweight finisher such as Tabata burpees or bear crawls. This, combined with a good running program, has worked wonders so far.

Thanks, when gyms open up again I’ll definitely look into it more.

 

[J9R4W]

In my own experience I'd recommend functional, compound weight training especially if you're on the tall/slim side - and not just for the sake of 'bulking up'. I started off training only bodyweight stuff but eventually hit a plateau and picked up some injuries like tendinitis where I was doing too much endurance work on my muscles and not enough strength building. The weight I was working with (my body) was not enough to build strength with, and so I basically stayed weak and unable to push above 30 press-ups to the beep.

I started training with a weighted vest and doing compound lifts within the ranges of 5x5 to 3x10 and this really helped push my scores up. My focus remains on bodyweight circuits but having 1 or 2 sessions a week focused on strength training has been really useful. I also think it's good for tendons to lift heavy weights (in a controlled manner with good form obvs) as I've not had any injuries since I started strength training.

 

[mrar32]

encouraged by everyone expert in military fitness prep (e.g. Coach Mike Chadwick a Para instructor, GrizzPhys on Instagram ran by RM PTIs etc etc).

Spot on mate. I encourage everyone to have a look at Coach Mike Chadwick's instagram page. Really useful information that will benefit anyone preparing for RT. I'm currently on his individualised 10 week tactical athlete programme and my strength and cardio has significantly improved. What I also found impressive during his recent instagram Q&A is that the pass rate for his clients undertaking Para basic training and then P Company was 88%. Not bad for a bunch of lads who struggle to read and write