As a bodybuilder (not a professional one mind you), I’ve generally been hesitant to run. I perceived running as a burden on my gains at the gym, as my goal is to get as big as possible (95kg, 15% bf).
I began seeing YouTube videos of Braden Wuerch, Nick Bare, Marcus Hunt and other athletes who included running in their weekly routine, and yet they could still look impressively huge. I wondered how they kept up their swole physiques while still running with good endurance. Tbh, I believe they supplement their lifestyle with TRT to hasten recovery and maintain muscle growth. However, despite that, I’m not discounting the hard work that they put in to maintain this high-intensity lifestyle.
Recently, I started to enforce twice-weekly runs to keep my cardio health at bay, and to improve my breathing and endurance. I want to stay strong for Spartan Race and IPPT which I do annually. As I continued this routine and got better at running, my mindset began to shift and I modified my fitness approach to one that is Hybrid (aka. A Hybrid Athlete trains like a CrossFit athlete to lift heavy and run far at the same time, having the functional strength and endurance of a military Spartan).
Over time, I noticed that running provided me more benefits than I thought:
- Running is a form of active meditation - As I run, I feel a sense of freedom as I clear my mind of all thoughts. The solitude is slightly different from lifting at the gym, where I'm stationary and in my thoughts. Running allows me to absolutely clear my mind from thoughts and allows me to have a refresher for the day.
- Running is an active recovery from the exertion of lifting - With an increased heart rate from running, muscle recovery is improved as there is better circulation of blood to my muscles. Given that I do heavy squats every day that I work out at the gym (five days a week), doing runs helps to keep the muscles mobile and active.
- Running is like an adventure, while lifting is like my routine - When I lift in the gym, I go into my own 'zone' and work on the weights by myself. As I work at it repeatedly, I strive for progressive overload and work my muscles to failure. Running is different, in the sense that it gives me a fresh view of the outdoors, with the dynamic surroundings changing each time I'm out there. Be it a different path, or a different location, every run gives me a fresh environment to discover.
- Running is social, but lifting is personal - This last one might just apply to me only. I do not gym with other people (sharing benches / working on the same sets/reps). To me, lifting is a personal endeavour because we have our own levels of weights to push at and the exercises we do are tailored to our own preferences. Running, on the other hand, is easily a social activity as we can invite any friend along to run together and adjust our pace accordingly to the group. After all, a good run is about being the fastest. I'm not here to run and beat my running PRs. Running is an activity of consistency and mental perseverance.