Running is a great way to maintain and build your overall fitness, but it doesn't necessarily build big muscles. Just look at a marathon runner for proof of that. Running, however, can be part of a training plan to build muscle. The key is to choose speed-focused running workouts and mix them with resistance training and a good diet.
Instructions
1. Condition yourself properly before you start a more intense, speed-focused running regimen. According to Coolrunning.com, you should be running at least 20 miles per week before you begin workouts such as this.
2. Begin adding speed workouts to your weekly regimen. Speed workouts build your fast-twitch muscle fibers, while endurance running builds your slow-twitch fibers. Fast-twitch fibers build the bigger muscles you see on sprinters, so that's why speed is important for building muscle.
3. Two or three times a week, go to a high school or public track with a stopwatch. Run 400 yards (usually one lap around a standard track), then 200 yards, then 100 yards and then 50 yards. Give yourself 200 yards of walking to rest between each. Do this set three times. Time your splits with your watch and record them in a journal. Try to run your fastest on the last set.
4. On other workout days, find a big hill that is safe for running. Run hard up the hill, then walk down the hill to where you started. Repeat this as many times as you can. Running hills builds your leg muscles.
5. Make sure you take a rest day every week. Muscle growth occurs when your body repairs the damage you do to your muscles in a heavy workout. Also, mix weightlifting or other resistance training in with your running workouts to continue to build muscle.
6. Eat protein. This nutrient is essential to building muscle. According to Fitness.com, a strength trainer needs to consume 0.6 to 0.8 g of protein per pound of body weight each day.
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