being a well-rounded athlete
 

Hi Guys !!!

Personally, I did a lot of sport during my childhood and my youth (I used to play tennis, soccer, I swam, and did a little bit of kick boxing) but right now, I’m a runner. I mean a long distance runner. This is my background. I ran the Paris marathon two years ago and ran some half-marathons and 10K. I plan to run the next Paris marathon, which takes place in three months. I also do workout in a gym for years now. My goal is not aesthetic, but functional. I don’t want to get bigger but stronger and faster. I want my strides to be more efficient and lighter. But also want to be a more well-rounded athlete. I’m interested in any side of athletic activity. I want to be fast, of course, but also strong and flexible. I want to be able to do muscle-ups, heavy squats, without losing my running qualities. In one word, I wanna be a Crossfit athlete specialized in long distance running. Do you think it’s possible?

How do you think I should split my training session?
Concerning strength, should Focus in Low reps and heavy weights, or should I rather do more high intensity training?

Do you think it’s possible to improve in both strength and stamina in the same year?

By the way, I don’t mind of getting some pounds if it helps me getting stronger and if it don’t damage my running qualities.

thanks Guys !

I'm no expert, but I think some of these questions can be answered fairly easily.

Definitely. But I don't think heavy strength training is going to improve your stamina if you're already running marathons. From most of the posts I've read on this site, the general consensus is that to train for a marathon, you run, and run a lot.

Muscle-ups shouldn't be a problem as they're mostly pull-up strength and practice, and I know there's a special population of endurance oriented athletes (Navy SEALs, Air Rescue all Spec Ops really) who do a lot of pull up work. As for 'heavy' squats, truly heavy squats, I don't see that helping you're long distance running. You probably have room for improvement on your base squat numbers without gaining weight (height and weight and some base numbers would be more helpful here), but at a certain point any strength gain is going to hurt your endurance. Also, there's a lot of discussion on this site that dead lifts are better for strength gains without muscle hypertrophy, but that's for the experts to tell you.

This is known as Crossfit Endurance, and they have their own website of that name, complete with a running and weight lifting WOD. This program helped me drop my 5K time a lot, but that was about it. There's a whole different thread (in this very section) about the effectiveness of Crossfit Endurance and actual endurance events, like a marathon. And to sum it up it's not very effective if you actually care about your time.

Finally, you might want to really think about what your goals are here, because you're talking about being adept at two extremes. Marathon runners are not 'heavy' squatters, and vice versa.

Hello Alioune this may be what you're looking for:

http://www.verkhoshansky.com/Forum/t...s/Default.aspx
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&p...thkey=CNzCkMYL

Not exactly long distance, but very very similar

firstable, thanks for your answers, guys!

I forgot to describe my number:
my weight is 175 pounds (I don't want to get big because I think I'm heavy enough for a runner)
and I lift:
352 lbs for Deadlift
225 lbs for squat ( but with a very dangerous technique for my back)
215 lbs for bench press

@Mahir:
I didn't think about it, but that's exactly what I want to be. like a Navy Seal. tough, strong, and quick. But my priority right now is to improve my stamina, for my next marathon.
concerning strength , I don't plan to become an olympic weightlifter. I would be glad to lift easily 265 pounds for my squat, 420 pounds for my Deadlift and 250 for my bench press.
thanks for the crossfit Endurance advice! I'll try their WOD after my marathon!
@Andew: I looked @ your like, especially the second one, and it seems very interesting! one part talks about improving all the components of running, like increasing the footstep length, the aerobic system and even strengthen the upperbody! I like it!

@Mahir: a trainer in my gym said to me that if I want to increase my running speed, I should do some plyometric. but if I want to train plyometrics, I should be able to squat at least 1,5 times my own bodyweight. so I have to improve my strength a lot !