Bodies of a Track Athlete vs. Cross-Country Runner
Have you ever thought about what kind of athlete you want to look like? Lets just take a look at two. Cross Country and Track.
Do you want to firm up your butt? Have lean, powerful legs? Tighten your core? Create sexy calves?
Take a moment to visualize your favorite track star and then picture a cross-country runner. There is a big difference between their physiques, right?
Most of us would agree we want the qualities of which clearly resembles a track star over a cross-country runner any day. Then let me ask you; Why you spend hours and hours jogging and using the elliptical machine to try and create the results you dream of?
Quit spending so much time trying to burn calories through long durations of cardio and wondering why you still have a saggy/flat butt and INSTEAD find a hill nearby and do intervals on it. It will take half the time, if not less and you will see dramatic results in no time.
After you have warmed up THOROUGHLY (very important considering your body is not used to this type of training) then its time to give MAXIMUM efforts on your sprints. Find a track or just run on your sidewalk/grass at home. Sprint for about 10-20sec as hard as you can, REST while you WALK (yes, you are aloud to walk!) back to your starting point and repeat 8-12x. It is as easy as incorporating these two simple workouts twice a week to help you reach the desirable body of a track athlete.
Don’t give up distance running if that is what you love to do, but don’t be afraid to switch it up a little bit. Most of us don’t “love” distance running anyways, we just do it because we think that is the only way to burn calories. Trust me, as a fitness professional, you will not be sorry if you start training like you were a sprinter. You will be firmer in no time! Good luck and feel free to post comments. Remember Personal Trainers love feedback!
Great article – makes complete sense. Does it work the same for lifting?
Now I’m training a few days a week without a partner/spotter, so how would you recommend getting the effect of high weight/low reps without risking injury from failure when you’re putting up weight? Are there certain exercises that can be effective in this way without a spotter?
Thanks again – I really enjoy the blog!
Great question Mike! It works similar for lifting. What is your normal rep schemes right now? Can you give me a couple sample exercises/workouts that you do now regularly?
Yes, there are plenty of exercises you can do without a spotter and it will still be effective. I want to answer your question with more detail so please let me know what your “few” days/wk of lifting looks like and I will be able to better help you.
Thanks for checking the blog:)
Okay, so I’m stuck on the standard 3×10/12 on the large power lifts – bench press, squats, thrusters, and pull-ups. I’d like to push myself to up my loads on these lifts, but the risk of failure when trying to do 3×6 of heavier weight on a lot of these (or the inability to complete a few extra pull-ups when all I’d need is slight assistance at the bottom) makes pushing myself difficult.
My schedule is usually five days a week (I do the 3 on, one off like you suggested in your “rest” post):
Back/Bis: pull-ups, deadlifts, dumbell rows, preacher curls, 21s, and iso dumbell curls
Chest/Tris: Flat bench, push-ups, incline/decline, dips, and skull crushers
Legs/Shoulders: Squats, walking dumbell lunges, power cleans/thrusters, military press, lateral raises, and shrugs.
Any suggestions would be more than helpful! Thanks so much and BEST OF LUCK THIS WEEKEND – CRAZY!
Hey Mike,
Don’t be afraid to ask for a spot in the gym. It might be a little awkward, but most people are happy to help.
With pullups, you can try kipping to get those last couple reps in.
Check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEUxEo5_7hY and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7spRknkD1hU if you’ve never heard of a kipping pullup before. It might take a little while to get the motion down, especially the butterfly kipping shown in the first video.
First of all, pretty baller that you are doing thrusters and power cleans!
So you need to get away from the 3×10 phase consdering you have been stuck here for awhile. This is the first stage of lifting (hypertrophy) and then after 4-6 weeks you need to move onto the “strength phase” which has reps schemes like this; 4×6, 5×4, 6×3-more for power and explosive type lifts with really heavy weight)
Like Casey said, do not be afraid to ask for a spot, most people are willing to help and are usually looking for someone to help spot them. Its a trade! If not, load as much weight as you can handle safely and get as many reps as you can using one of the “Strength phase” rep schemes. If you do not get the last rep or two, thats OKAY, you will still see gains from changing up the weight to much heavier than you are used to. There are a lot of exercises where you can’t even use a spot such as Dead lifts, DB Row, Push Press-so start incorporating more of these type lifts.
Kipping pull ups are AWESOME!! I started off using a resistance band and wrapping it around the pull up handles and put my foot or knee in it to help resist me when I didn’t have a spot and I did not know how to use “kipping”. Try the band, better yet, learn the kipp!
You are on the right path Mike, let me know if I can help more specifically.
Thanks for the encouragement this weekend, I am STOKED!!!