lifting for track?

Question

does any one elses high school coaches make them lift a lot for track? Cuz our workout is usually like running 20 -30 minutes then he makes us go lift for like 1 and a half to 2 hours and it apparently hasnt helped our team cuz we never win. But i dont see any point in having to lift so much cuz it cant really affect your running that much. I think we should jsut run more and do weights less. Im just wondering how much you guys do at practice for running and lifting.

Answer 1

When I was on track (we did fairly well, a few teammates got scholarships and such), we did a little more running than you (at least one hour) and about the same for weight training. I think all of us hated the weight training part because that's not the reason why we joined the team. You always want to run more because that's what you feel most comfortable doing.

However, I later learned that cross-training is very important to avoid injuries. With running, an exercise that requires repetitive motion, only certain muscles develop while others do not. That is a recipe for injury because your muscles are not well prepared in case you do something slightly different. Your body isn't able to compensate. Looking back, I don't remember a single person on the team who got a major injury. In fact, I can't even remember a single minor injury that kept a runner from running longer than a day.

Yeah, weight lifting sucks. But what sucks a whole lot more is a major injury that keeps you from running.

Answer 2

Muscle tone is crucial to good track times. Make sure you are lifting for tone(low weight, high reps) and not for bulk. You'll never see a flabby track star, especially in sprints. Excess running can only condition, to improve you need greater strength and muscle tone.