Can I expect to gain muscle...

[michaelnow]

from running 4-5 times a week, weight training 2 days a week, and eating a "bulk diet."

I am 19, 6'0 and 165 lbs.

I try to do full body workouts on M and W (usually chest, shoulders and then arms, back) with a variety of ab workouts included. I do very little leg work, this is where I have been trying to improve on. I am kind of a newbie, but does training without doing a surplus of leg exercises hurt my other progress?

In terms of running, I usually run 3 1/2 miles 4-6 times a week. I run usually a 7 minute mile pace.

I try to eat 5-6 times a day, breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack.

My main question is, what kind of results should I expect from running this often, and also trying to gain muscle with weight training, bulking diet, and protein supplements. Can the two co-exist to achieve good results?

So far this summer from following this routine I have went up from 155 to roughly 165 lbs, most being muscle built in my chest, core, and arms.

 

[Karky]

as long as you eat a surplus you will gain weight and some of it will be muscle as long as you train. and you should do some squats.

 

[Acein91]

Doesn't sound bad. Just add in squats and deadlifts for lower body I would say. A lot of runners have a tendancy to ignore leg work I've noticed... I can only guess this comes from a misunderstanding of weightlifting and building muscle.

I'm not sure if this would work with your schedule, but if you're doing full body workouts twice a week you might switch from Monday and Wednesday to Monday and Thursday. The longer recovery period might help you get more out of it.. good to hear you're getting a proper bulk diet though.

 

[Excder]

a and you should do some squats.

Karky you need to make this ur new signature or just have it to where it posts it every time u reply to a thread

 

[SmithMachine]

Karky you need to make this ur new signature or just have it to where it posts it every time u reply to a thread

We should all have that in where it posts every time u reply...

 

[tribal1]

Karky you need to make this ur new signature or just have it to where it posts it every time u reply to a thread

I agree, how come its only in working out that people want to neglect their legs, whilst when they are taking a bath, they bath the whole body?

 

[jpfitness]

I respectfully disagree with the advice so far. If you are serious about putting on some lean mass, drop the mileage. Switch around to 3 days of weight training, and a day or two of sprint interval training. You won't lose much ground on your running. If running is that important to you, then do it with no illusions of also putting on a lot of muscle (unless your are a rare genetic freak).

 

[Typhon]

I respectfully disagree with the advice so far. If you are serious about putting on some lean mass, drop the mileage. Switch around to 3 days of weight training, and a day or two of sprint interval training. You won't lose much ground on your running. If running is that important to you, then do it with no illusions of also putting on a lot of muscle (unless your are a rare genetic freak).

This is good advice ^^

OP – Is this middle distance running that you’re doing important to you? If not and you’re just doing it for cardio benefits then increase the days that you’re weight training and think about doing either a 3 day FBW or even a 4 day split like upper/lower push/pull split and do interval training for the cardio. Doing interval training will allow you to spend less time running while keeping the benefits of the cardio. Interval training is more likely to assist with muscle gains too as it’ll recruit more fast twitch muscle fibres that longer distance running

 

[michaelnow]

OP – Is this middle distance running that you’re doing important to you? If not and you’re just doing it for cardio benefits then increase the days that you’re weight training and think about doing either a 3 day FBW or even a 4 day split like upper/lower push/pull split and do interval training for the cardio.

Yes, I am just doing it for cardio, primarily as a means to stay active/exercising on days that I am not doing FBW. I have been aiming to keep my 3 miles around 20-21 minutes in hopes that my cardio would be the main focus instead of fat (or muscle) loss.

I have done some interval training on the treadmill and find it is a great workout, I definitely think I will have to make that my main focus for cardio.

Thank you jp and Typhon both for the honest advice.

I made great gains last week in my FBW, most likely my best week of lifting thus far this summer, and this morning I weighed roughly 167 lbs (up from about 153 at the beginning of summer) which was before eating a meal or filling up on my liters upon liters of water

 

[hardyb]

If you're concerned about your cardio health and wanting to bulk, you probably want to stick to intensity training rather than steady state cardio also. 3 1/2 miles will undoubtedly burn some muscle. HIIT will keep your cardio up while minimizing muscle loss.

If your goal is to bulk, I would recommend just completely cutting out steady state cardio for the bulk period and replacing it with HIIT.

Also, 3-4 days per week of lifting is probably a good idea. MTRF or MWF would be your best bet.

 

[Typhon]

Yes, I am just doing it for cardio, primarily as a means to stay active/exercising on days that I am not doing FBW. I have been aiming to keep my 3 miles around 20-21 minutes in hopes that my cardio would be the main focus instead of fat (or muscle) loss.

Well, 20 minutes doesn't sound too bad, I was thinking more along the lines of how long it'd take me to run 3 1/2 miles I doubt it'd have much of a negative effect on muscle but you might as well do intervals anyway as it's more likely to assist with muscle development