Run to build muscle: turn your cardio into a resistance workout and get the best of both worlds - Cardio Clinic

Men's Fitness, May, 2002 by Steve Stiefel

It's all very simple. If you want to gain mass, you do weight work; if you want to burn fat, you do cardio. Or so you've been taught. It's time to throw this dated assumption out. With a few adjustments to your aerobic workout, you can not only shed fat, you can add some lean muscle, too.

Okay, so these cardio-bound muscle-building techniques alone won't take you from scrawny to brawny. But they will help you tone and supplement your regular resistance routine. What's more, when you're busy, time can be as scarce as decorum at a Mike Tyson press conference, and getting in some resistance training with your cardio is the ultimate two-for-one special. Ergo, if you want to efficiently reduce body fat and build muscle, the following strategies and exercise program will add resistance to your cardio and transform your next run into a body-shaping adventure.

DEFINE YOUR ABS

With a mere change in focus, you can effectively train your midsection while you run. Just do the following.

* Tighten your abs. Just before you start your run, contract your abs (while staying upright), then hold that position while running. As with other intensity techniques, it may be tough to stay like this for long, so begin with interval-style training--tighten your abs for a minute, then relax them. Work up in time until you naturally hold your abs tight as you run. Continue to work on intensity by increasing the muscle tension even more for intervals.

* Perform abs sets. You can also perform abdominal "crunches" as you run, or even during a cool-down power walk. As you bring your stride arm forward and slightly across your body, crunch that side of your abs. Repeat with the other side. Continue working alternate sides of your abs as you run. Also, concentrate on stretching your abs as you pull your arm back.

DEVELOP UPPER-BODY MUSCLE

The best way to build up your upper body is in the weight room, but you can also use running to enhance upper-body development.

* Use hand weights. "Using hand weights can allow you to get more anaerobic conditioning for your upper body," says Majid Ali, an experienced runner and a professional trainer certified by the International Sports Science Association. "Keep the weight relatively light--I recommend a half-pound to two-pound handheld weight per hand. You don't want to go much heavier than that because it will cause your arms to swing across your body too much, which can overwork certain muscles, the trapezius in particular."

Ali recommends holding the weight with your palms facing one another as you run. "Move your elbows straight back and forth, keeping them in one plane." Although normally you should run with your arms relaxed, to build muscle hold your biceps, triceps, shoulders and pectorals tight as you run, and shift your focus from one muscle group to the next, spending time concentrating on the feel in each. "Rotate your shoulders back and hold your traps loose when you run with weights," Ali cautions. "Otherwise you can create tightness or strain in them."

* Perform boxing movements. Begin throwing punches without weights as you run, and eventually progress to handheld weights. "When you first start throwing punches while you run, it may feel like you're trying to walk and chew gum," Ali says. Start slowly to allow your body to adjust to the new demands. "Once you adapt, it's a really efficient way to train. It forces you to breathe more rhythmically, enhancing the cardiovascular component of your run." Add weights to your boxing motion and you crank up the anaerobic capacity of your run by increasing the muscle force you have to apply to each punch.

BUILD LEG MUSCLE

Not all of your leg work has to come in the form of a squat rack or a Smith machine. Your cardio routine can have a similar effect on your lower body as it has on your upper body.

* Do sprints. Sprinters carry a huge amount of muscle in their quads and hamstrings. "Look at Michael Johnson or Carl Lewis," says Tom Seabourne, who has a doctorate in exercise science. "They're all muscle from sprinting, using ATP [adenosine triphosphate] as their energy source." Sprinting recruits fast-twitch muscle fibers; slower running does not. If your goal is to increase the muscle mass in your legs, then include a day or two of sprint training each week. On a track, sprint a hundred yards as fast as you can, then leisurely jog the rest of the lap. Work up to sprinting half a lap, then jogging for the rest. (If your body is not accommodated to sprinting, increase the distance gradually to help avoid hamstring strain.) Do this three to five times, focusing more on the intensity of your sprints than on the overall duration of your training. You can also perform sprints on a treadmill.

Sprinting is difficult and can be uncomfortable as you push your heart rate close to its maximum. So sprint only if you feel up to it, stop at any point if you feel dizzy, and get clearance from your doctor if you're new to exercise or coming back after a break.

* Dig with your quads. It's impossible to sprint as fast as possible without "digging in" with your quad muscles, Ali says. The lesson: If you want to build your quads, then use your quads. Even if you're not doing a sprinting session, as your foot strikes the ground, squeeze your quads and use them to pull forward (avoid "bouncing") through each stride. If you find this is a difficult style of running, then implement this strategy in intervals, digging with your quads for a minute, then reverting back to your "normal" stride.