What do you here think about adding some sort of resistance training while running, be it on a treadmill or outside? I was thinking about getting those gloves where you can add small amounts of weight so that I can tone up my arms while I am running on the treadmill.

Good idea or bad idea?

Generally it is considered not a good thing, because weights on the periphery tend to put a lot of stress on the joints (elbows, wrists, shoulders for hand or wrist weights and knees, ankles, hips for ankle weights or heavy shoes). Depending on how many miles per week you train, how conditioned you are to it and how healthy your joints are to start with, that may or may not be an issue. Weights added to the torso are generally considered "safe", so a weight vest or backpack might be a better option, although I would highly recommend adding weight very gradually over a long period of time to minimize over use or repetitive stress type injuries.

Cool, just want I needed to know.

I've gotten myself to a point where I do about 4k (2.4 miles) in 30 minutes. I do 5 mins @ 3.5 mph (brisk walk) and 5 mins @ 5.5 mph (moderate run) and repeat three times with the third (final) running set @ 6 mph.

On my cardio only days (tues, thur and sat, starting next week) I'll be doing between 45 minutes and an hour of "5 on 5 off" running/walking. My goal is to get my 5k into the 30 minute range and once I get that down, I wanna work on getting it faster. Having to build my lungs back up (asthma) is/was hindering me, but I've found with the 5 on 5 off, I'm doing very well so far.

Do you think wearing the weight vest would be a good option to help me as far as endurance goes? Say get myself going the way I am now with the weight vest to get my 5k time down/allow me to run longer periods of time.

Also, I've been doing the above mentioned running for the past 4 days and the upper part of my calves and lower parts of my hams (just above the back of the knee) are sore as heck. Is this just my body refining those specific areas of muscle or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks for you help.

personal perspective--- absolutely nothing but experience to share. bad idea-- rotator cuffs. On the other hand though, I base this opinion on my own experience. My brain gets used to the weights, and I forget about them and then my arms think they are just going along, and fall from joint a bit, and then the cuff and tendons are carrying the weight.

ankle weights on the other hand have done wonders for me in the past.

I'm guessing you ae looking to up the calorie burn of your run.

FF

Are you trying to lose weight?

Because doing your runs the other way around (starting faster, ending up slower) is suppose to burn more fat

It's a good thing you said that. LOL!!! Thanks bro. So, if I do 5.5 for 5 mins and than 3.5 for 5 mins x3 instead of slow fast x3, I'll burn more?

FF, I can't afford to damage my rotator cuffs more than they already are. Thanks for the heads up. Now, you sure that ankle weights won't play havoc on my leg joints? I have enough problems with my legs as is.

yer a hoot!

how about you just run for awhile.

Any weights while you run, ankle or hand are a bad idea. Unless you are a trained runner you probably don't have correct form. Not many people do. Doing the same pavement pounding, which is already absorbing the shock of your body weight many times over, with weights is only going to illuminate possible bad form issues in the way of injury. As you progress in your run and get more tired your gait and form will deteriorate and I guaranty you will get some sort of injury. Better to just keep your weights separate from your cardio and play it safe

I shoulda figured. There's no way to "cut corners" when trying to lose weight/gain muscle.

Well, Save for steroids. But than again, I'm not Clemens.

I'm skipping running for a while tho. I've ran every day since monday and was a bit sore last night after getting home form the gym. Today I ran again and made some progress. I managed to run without my inhaler for 10 mins straight, brisk walk for 5 and ran for another 5 before my legs started to hurt too much. The pain is sort of like a ring around the middle of my calves and sort of concentrated on the front-inside part of the tibia. A little worried about it.

whatever you do man... do it when u are 100% sure of it... because when u r starting to get injured is already too late... talking from personal experience... it probbably has nothing to do with your quetstion but just to remind you... and you really shouldnt run with weights... just try running uphill or when you find that you need harder challenge... uphill sprints are rly good for speed... i think so xD

There's a treadmill that goes up to a 30% incline at my gym. I used that one yesterday and MAN, that was a great workout! I managed to hit almost 500 cals on that thing and my legs felt more worked out than stressed! I got me a new machine! LOL!!!

New goal, 30% incline at 3 mph for more than 2.5 mins at a time.

If you want another way to manipulate m.p.h and incline on a treadmill for a good cardio workout, here's one I use to stay in shape for hockey................

Try this ...

- Set the treadmill mph at 10 ( or 12 ).
- Set the incline at 10 ( or 12 ).
- Get on, straddle the deck as it is running, then jump on as it is going at the 10/10 setting ...essentially you hit the deck running " flat out ".
- Do the 10/10 run for a minute or so , or until your legs have some lactic acid ' burning ' feel and / or you can't go on.
- then quickly hop off.
- After you hop off the treadmill ( it is still running at 10/10 by the way ) walk around the treadmill to recover and check your pulse all the while.
- I wait till my pulse rate drops to about 65%+ of my max +/- heart rate
- then, once you hit 65%+, hop back on the treadmill for your 10/10 run for a minute interval as before.

.....I'd do a total of 12 or 15 of the 10/10 1 minute runs as a good workout to both burn calories and for a cardio conditioning workout.

That sounds pretty good. I'll have to give that a try. Not at 10 mph to start, but I'll definitely give it a try. Thanks a lot for that one.

Good stuff... I wil try that too

Personally, I see it as a hassle and something that provides no benefits.

Running itself is a great exercise. It provides many things, and if you're running frequently, you don't have to worry about adding more to it. I say just run, run often, and have fun. Don't stress out about making running "harder." Making it "harder" only leads to failure - you increase probable injuries, and not to mention unneeded mental stress.