Help with weight lifting, running and relative strength balance.

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Pisser

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I don't want to be muscle bound but I want to be strong. I want to be strong in terms of strength to weight ratio, or in other words, have relative strength over absolute strength, like a gymnast, figure skater, runner, etc.

I have been doing exercises that require no weights, such as push-ups, pull-ups, crunchers, dips, squats, etc. I've also been running some (not a whole lot but some).

I thought I'd maybe increase my progress by lifting SOME weights. This is something I haven't done in the past. (I haven't started with the weights yet.) I thought that maybe if I didn't do it THAT much I could still keep the relative strength and avoid buffing up and getting muscle bound.

What I want to know is if mixing these "free-weight" (relative strength) exercises and weight lifting is O.K. and what kind of weight lifting routines should I do (such as how much weight and how many reps). Again, I want to keep my weight down so I'm strong relative to my body weight. I also read something on another thread about jogging after exercising. Does is actually undo some of your progress if you jog soon after weight lifting/doing the non-weight exercises (see above) or vice-versa?
 
Weight, body fat, muscle building and muscle destruction is mostly a function of diet. Yes, there are ways you can work out for strength only, while building as little muscle as possible. Rep schemes like 3x3's and 1x10's are what you should be looking at. For more, look up powerlifting.
 
All that you speak of is mainly in your diet, like Lei said. Just keep a balance of calories, or deficit if needed and train hard with small reps. Keep a good amount of cardio as well. Weights are great for sport training.
 
Like they said, part of it is a function of your diet.

As far as lifting go, most of your lifting should be heavy (5 reps or less) and your rest intervals should be long (at the very least 2 minutes). This will help insure that most of your strength gains come from neural adaptations rather than increases in muscle size.
 
Wow! I didn't know this was so complicated!

So from what I understand I can do weight training in addition to the various exercises to gain relative strength (push-ups, etc.) without it adding to my bulk as long as I do heavy weights with few reps? But I thought heavy weights with fewer reps added bulk while small weights with many reps added definition.

As far as my diet goes, I try to eat healthy but I'm not the healthiest. Compared to the average American, I'd say I'm better than most people my age and lifestyle and maybe a little better than the average person (though that's really hard to say since people's diets vary so much). Let's just say I am health-conscious but it's not always easy to eat a healthy meal, like when I'm at work.

And what about the running thing?
 
I do body weight exercises to warm up on upper body days, 1 set to failure of handstand pushups, pullups, dips (dips with added weight or I'd have to do hundreds to reach failure). Around 12-20 reps of each with minimal rest between. If you are lean, you will never loose your relative strength (or get muscle bound) no matter how much absolute strength you gain. And to stay lean, just eat healthy and you will never gain fat. And as everyone else already said: the number of reps per set has nothing to do with gaining mass, consuming more calories than you burn causes an increase in mass (increases in both muscle and fat).

It is generally not good to run after doing resistance exercise, because the benefit of resistance exercise occurs during the recovery phase, after you are done exercising. If you run after resistance exercise you tend to retard the recovery and rebuilding process or delete the chemical messengers you created during exercise that signal your body to rebuild stronger than before the exercise. A good plan is to do resistance training 3 days a week and run on 3 other days of the week.
 
Well, I'm not naturally lean but then again I'm not naturally stocky/bulky. I'm 5'10 (just barely) and weight about 165-170 lbs. (it flucuates for whatever reasons). My weight is actually an entirely diifferent topic, as I really don't understand how I weigh as much as I do considering my size. Anyway, I am not stocky or bulky or anything, but not really lean or slender. I'd say in the middle and maybe a little toward the leaner side. Though clothes sizes tend to vary from brand to brand, I can comfortably wear a 33 waist with still some room to spare. (It hangs a bit and I like that loose fit.) Sorry I don't have any measurements. I hope you can at least get an idea of my frame.

ANYHOO, my understanding of calorie burning is that cardiovascular exercises, endurance exercises, such as running and swimming, burn more calories than weightlifting, short exercises that force you to use a lot of effort. That correct? If that is correct, why are body builders so big and muscle-bound if it's diet that determines your bulk?

And if running is bad to do after strength training, is it O.K. to do BEFORE so that neither part of the work-out will be harmed?
 
Pisser said:
ANYHOO, my understanding of calorie burning is that cardiovascular exercises, endurance exercises, such as running and swimming, burn more calories than weightlifting, short exercises that force you to use a lot of effort. That correct? If that is correct, why are body builders so big and muscle-bound if it's diet that determines your bulk?

And if running is bad to do after strength training, is it O.K. to do BEFORE so that neither part of the work-out will be harmed?
Click to expand...

Your right about the cardio burning more calories while you're doing it and weightlifting requiring more short term effort. But you also have to consider that lifting stimulates the metabolism because the body must rebuild more after lifting than cardio. But diet is only part of the equation for gaining size. You'll see stuff like "it's all about the diet" on the net. Don't take it literally. Bodybuilders use lifting to stimulate the muscles to grow larger. Diet is where the nutrients to build those muscles come from.

Running isn't really bad to do after lifting, it just depends how much you're going to do. If you want to do 30 minutes it's better to do it at a different time of the day or even on in between days. But if the only time you have to do it is either before or after lifting, and you also want to gain muscle, then do it after lifting and make sure to eat right afterwards.

Unfortuantely push-ups wont do much for relative strength as you approach a certain point. They will give you more endurance though. But as you get stronger you'll need greater resistance to increase relative strength. That's where heavy weights come in. Lifting heavy can make you bulky but you have to do many sets and eat for it otherwise the growth isn't going to be much because a lot of the gains will be from neural adaptations.
 
Well, lemme say that I appreciate all the feedback a lot. I don't know much about physical training and things like that, but I'm trying to learn (here)!

Alright, so far I'm being told to run after the strength work-out and then I'm being told to run before the strength work-out. Which is it?

And let me make sure I understand a couple things. One, I won't gain bulk as long as I don't eat like a bodybuilder (with all the protein and shakes and whatever), even if I do lift heavy weights. Two, the weight-free exercises (push-ups, etc.) after a certain point will only increase my endurance and weights need to be added to really increase my (relative) strength in them. Do I have that right?

For weight lifting, do I want to do heavy weights with few reps or light weights with many reps, or does it even matter?

And could someone explain what neural adaptation is? I understand what the two words mean but not how it applies to exercising. I would really appreciate it.

Again, thank you all for your help.
 
I would say to run after your workout, no sense to tire yourself too far to lift weights properly. "Eating like a bodybuilder" is not a good comparison. Just eat more than your caloric needs, make sure that you are getting your protein in, get in some good carbs and fats and stick with it. For bulking, you should do lower sets with higher reps, for example = 12 reps, 3 sets.
 
Neural adaptations would be better if you googled it, that way you'll get a lot of information. Basically, you get stronger because your CNS becomes more efficient. There's a lot of physiology involved but it makes for fun reading.

In order for the body to get stronger, it needs increasing resistance or loads put on it and bodyweight work will only go so far before the body has adapted and you're no longer reaping the benefits of getting stronger.

You'll want to lift heavier than lighter but incorporate some higher rep work for metabolic reasons and to let the body recover from maximal and near-maximal training sessions.

Soooo...get stronger and stay teh same weight and you'll always have a better relative strength. And keep in mind that "becoming bulky" takes a lot of work, dedication, and time...you don't get there accidently or suddenly.
 
Im pretty new like yourself but this makes sense to me. A powerlifter, body builder, fitness model, whatever, getting those huge muscles is their job. Thats what they do. For lots of them, thats all they do. 99.9 percent of the population dont have the genetics, or even the time to get that big. Look at football at professional football players. Most people can only dream of being that strong. But most of them are not as big as powerlifters or body builders. Except for a few of those freaky linemen. Dont worry about getting too big. Chances are it wont happen, and if it starts to, its not like youre going to wake up and be like holy crap! i have 25 inch arms and tree trunk legs! Youll see it coming from a mile away.
 
That statistic is wrong. A large majoirty of the human population has the potential to have huge muscles. They just need to eat right and workout right. You're right about one thing though, you won't suddenly gain 100 lbs of muscle and whine about how someone screwed you over with a bad workout routine in the middle of the night.
 
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