Possible to add weight, yet keep endurance?

[cman]

I was looking to add about 20 lbs of muscle, but I do not want my stamina or run times to suffer. What would be the best way for me to put on lean mass, and keep my runs where they are at?

 

[the People's Champ]

20 lbs seems like a lot of weight/mass to add on while keeping the same run times you have. how many runners do you see that are muscular? hardly any because they devote their time to running. are you a sprinter or an endurance runner? name distances and times please..

 

[cman]

The runs i am training for are 1.5 mile runs for police testing. I will usually do 1.5 miles to 3 mile runs 4 to 5 times a week. I run the 1.5 consistently in around 11 minutes with my best being 10min 47 sec. I also weighttrain heavy 4 times a week.

 

[the People's Champ]

I don't see how this is impossible, but if you are looking for quick gains, you will find frustration. otherwise, with a clean diet, good training, enough rest, and motivation, I can see this happening within a couple of months. I can't gain weight too quickly, me being 5'10.5 weighing in at 178lbs. I think I eat enough, but I know if I eat at least 1.5 times what I am eating right now, I could seriously gain some weight, as well as FAT.

 

[Thadon]

20 lbs seems like a lot of weight/mass to add on while keeping the same run times you have. how many runners do you see that are muscular? hardly any because they devote their time to running. are you a sprinter or an endurance runner? name distances and times please..

Sprinters are very muscular, Long Distances runners are usually lanky.
Make sure you're eating good, running that much burns a lot of energy.

 

[the People's Champ]

bump

 

[fhg43]

Your running will suffer GREATLY. 20lbs is a lot of mass to add. You can keep your running fitness, but it will be harder-you'll need to run more to improve your fitness just to maintain that pace as you add the weight. Think of it like this: You are a 200lbs race car w/ an engine that generates 200HP and your top speed is 200mph. If your car weight goes up to 220lbs you'll need 220HP to go 200mph! As you add weight you need to add horsepower to maintain that top speed. Horsepower in running or any aerobic sport isn't muscle, but improved cardiovascular ability. The only way to improve cardiovascular fitness is to do more cardio. Leg muscle can help some, but overall adding 20lbs will slow you down. You could run at the same speed, but it will noticeably more difficult while adding the weight.

Endurance heavily favors lighter athletes.

Good luck. Like the others said eat clean, rest lots and train hard. Diet and nutrition will help your body grow and recover with the increased training you'll need to do.

FHG

 

[cman]

Excellent info. FHG. Thanks. Your points will be taken into consideration.

 

[FitnessFrk]

It will depend on the individual, slow weight gains are the best for runners. Your speed relies on the ratio of fast and slow twitch muscles that you have(genetically predetermined), your endurance is solely dependent on your training.

When I ran track in college I was a sprinter/log jumper. At 18 and 200 lbs I was running a 10.2 in the 100. Now at 33 and at 240 I can still run under 11 seconds.

 

[Thaibox]

I was a pretty hard core runner in High school before I started getting serious about lifting. After realizing that these were seriously conflicting practices, I stopped running and started to blow up. Its unatural for the body to adapt to the conditions of a runner and those of a bodybuilder simultaneously. I started at 140 and I'm now at 245. I still do a bunch of cardio, but gaining weight is very difficult to do naturally when your a serious endurance athlete. Just keep your diet tops, you'll gain, just be patient(and dedicated).