We all can agree (hopefully) that strength is important. But there is some disagreement as to when one should add in or begin strength training. Some say to develop the aerobic system first, and initially shun weights 100% because it will impair proper aerobic development. Others say the opposite: Start with weights because you’ll burn more calories and see results quicker than training your aerobic system alone.
It’s very individualized, but I don’t see strength training as being as harmful as anaerobic endurance workouts with insufficient aerobic base. For example, if I saw a person who was doing absolutely zero daily exercise, I would first encourage him to start walking. That’s going to be aerobic. Moving—it’s fairly important. I would also want to know what he wants to do so he’d hopefully stick with an exercise routine. So although I’d love it if he were walking and doing some dynamic, natural movements every day and eventually some strength work too, that may not happen for some time.
If the person is under a tremendous amount of stress and eating poorly, he’s living an anaerobic lifestyle already, so no way do I want him training too hard either via anaerobic endurance or heavy-strength training. Deep squats, balance work, and maybe carrying some weighted objects would be a good way to get this individual integrated into more strength training. Now, if the person just doesn’t know where to start, and he is eating well and under very little stress, then I’m all for some weight training to start.
Here’s the point: Take a look at the whole picture and don’t just do what everybody else is doing. Do what works for you, do what you like to do, and make sure your body can handle the workout. Unfortunately, if you’re often involved in group training sessions, this may be difficult, as you will be pressured to train with the group versus doing what is ideal for you. The group setting is often not best, at least for the majority of your training program, and especially if you start in a class that is above your current fitness level.
People often go from one extreme to another. It’s somewhat like diets, going from the high-carb, low-fat diet to a low-carb, high-fat diet. Endurance athletes fear strength work and too much anaerobic while sprinters, lifters, and power athletes fear workouts that are overly aerobic. The marathoner wants to steer clear of the weight room. The powerlifter avoids the treadmill, track, or trail.
Strength training is very important for every athlete, even a long-distance endurance athlete. That doesn’t mean the runner needs to squat massive weight, just as a shot putter shouldn’t run several miles every day. How much weight and how many miles, respectively? That depends on the individual—what they are trying to accomplish and what their goals are. A long-distance runner doesn’t want the overdevelopment of type II muscle fibers or to use a lot of energy trying to develop such. A strength athlete doesn’t want to expend too much energy on his aerobic system. But for the runner, power developed by carrying a heavy load up a hill can be very beneficial at various times in training, just as a strength athlete can achieve some benefits from running for a prolonged period of time, even 30 minutes, to develop aerobic capacity. That brings us to the next point.
Train Your Weaknesses: Focus on Your Goal
“Train your weakness” is stressed as a MovNat principle, one of the many I learned while attending MovNat with Erwan, Vic, Clif, and a dozen other participants (Sock Doc’s MovNat Guest Post). Training your weaknesses is important in becoming a well-rounded athlete. This can mean training your body more on the weaker side (the less dominant side) so you become more balanced, but it also means training what you’re not very good at so you can become a more fit and healthy individual. So if you’re more into lifting weights, work on some easy long runs to develop your aerobic system. You’re not going to lose your strength and develop skinny legs! I’m talking about 30-minute runs, maybe even up to 60 minutes every so often. Keep it slow; walk if you need to. Carry a kettlebell or a log if it makes you feel better (or cooler) or benefits your training. If you’re more of an endurance athlete, as I am, work on strength: carry heavy objects, lift, throw, and jump—things that help develop power. Find the fine balance between what your goals are and what you like to do to make yourself a well-rounded athlete.
Aerobic conditioning may not benefit the strength-only athlete as much as the endurance athlete can benefit from strength, but they can both help (or hinder) to various degrees. The strength-only athlete will lack many of the health benefits of true aerobic training, such as reduced stress hormone levels, increased immunity, and resistance to fatigue. Those incorporating aerobic activity are thought to live longer, too (see Part V). On the other hand, the endurance athlete shunning anaerobic will lack power and speed, impair glucose metabolism, and might not live as long if they have to climb a tree to escape a tiger chasing them (!).
I’m not going to lift heavy every day, even if I were able to keep up my running. That would impair my ability to run a one-to-three-hour race as fast and as efficiently as possible. But I do want to develop power and anaerobic endurance, so I incorporate strength training at different times in my training cycles during the year. Strength training is fine, but the more you do, the less time and energy will go into your endurance training (which will hopefully be primarily aerobic) and the greater chance you’ll develop an aerobic/anaerobic imbalance. These aerobic/anaerobic imbalances lead to muscle imbalances resulting in pain, injury, illness, and lackluster performance. (Lackluster is an old word; thought I’d bring it back.)
Likewise, if you want to lift a whole lot of weight, integrate some aerobic activity into your workouts, but not so much that it impairs your strength. The more developed your aerobic system, the longer you’ll be able to sustain certain workouts and the faster you’ll recover. Even in a very anaerobic sport, such as ice hockey, soccer, boxing, or MMA fighting, the athlete who will be strong physically and sharp mentally until the end is the one with superior aerobic and anaerobic conditioning.