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I am trying to add muscle mass, but I also need to be able to run 1.5 miles in 12:00 (for a police exam). I currently do three workouts a week with a day off between each workout. My workouts are:

Workout 1 is bench press, shoulder press, bar dips & crunches.
Workout 2 is squats, dead-lifts, calf raises & crunches.
Workout 3 is pull-ups, bent over rows, biceps curls and crunches.

Would I be overtraining if on two off days I ran for 2-3 miles? Would I hinder my leg gains (workout 2) if on the day before the worout I ran and then ran on th day after the workout? How do other people incorporate cardio into their mass training routines? Thanks for the help.

We'll assume that you can already comfortably pass the running test. If not, bulking up is a big mistake.



4 - 6 miles of running per week divided into two sessions isn't likely to cause a healthy person to become overtrained. As for sandwiching a leg workout between two running days, you should try it and see how it goes. If it doesn't work for you, consider moving the running day after workout 2 to the day after workout 3.

Good luck with your exam

Thanks for the reply.

I actually have 13:53 to complete 1.5 miles but have done it in under 12:00. I'd like to keep myself under 12:00 but also am looking to increse my endurance to 3 miles. You are probably right about not running the day after my leg routine as the muscle burn exists for a couple days. I am currently squatting up to 235 lbs and deadlifting with over 200 lbs so my legs are getting a decent workout. Thanks again.

If you're running 8 minute miles, it's safe to assume that you're not one of the 300 lb behemoths on this site. If so, 235 lbs squattiing and 200 lbs deadlifting is some serious iron pumping on your part

You should really just do abs on workout 2. Abs are just normal muscle. Mine got pretty big with very little direct work. You do squats and deadlifts, that hits the abs pretty well. In fact if your crunches aren't weighted, your abs get more stimulation from the squats and deadlifts. I tend to prefer full situps too because you work the internal hip flexors as well.

As far as are you overtraining, it depends on sets, reps and percent of 1 rep max you are lifting. The running won't interfer as long as you get plenty of food, water and rest.

Not even close to a 300 lb behemoth. I'm 5'7" and weigh in at 160 lbs, a little more than half a behemoth.

Last time I had my bodyfat checked it was 13% with either a 3 site or a 5 site method (I estimate myself to be in the 12-15% range). In either case it's not where I want to be. I'd like to be closer to 170-175 lbs with 10% bodyfat. Thanks for the input.

I'm only doing 3 sets of 20-25 crunches at body weight, with each weight workout; nothing to strenuous. Although you are right about the full situps, I've been thinking of switching to them considering that if I get into the police academy that is what they require.

As far as the other exercises go, for the majority of them I am pyramiding 2 warmup sets and 4 worksets with a couple minutes rest between sets. Six sets in all with the reps being 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 for the respective sets. By the time I get to the last set (2 reps) I'm pretty close to my max. After the last set I'll drop the weigh considerably and do a burnout set (6-8 reps) then immediately follow with another burnout set (6-8 reps again) of a different exercise working the same muscle group. After resting I'll move on to the next exercise.

I eat every 3 hours (six times a day) getting protein, fats and carbs with each meal, except the last meal of the day when I drop the carbs. I only use a protein supplement at one meal (pre-workout), everything else I eat is whole foods (fruits, veggies, meats, poultry, fish, dairy, whole grains, nuts). I eat about 3000-3300 calories in a typical day.

As far as rest goes, I always have at least one day between weight workouts, regardless of which body part I work. And I allow for 6-8 hours sleep each night, however some nights I may lie awake in bed for a while before falling asleep.

Thanks for the input.

That sounds fine to me. I don't think you have to worry about overtraining. It looks like you are doing what you need to do to reach your goals.