Why runners should consider crossfit

A picture says more than a thousands words, right ? But a bit more context might help. I have seen some posts around combining running with crossfit, but not a lot of them with actual results posted. These two pictures are half a year apart.

In the first picture I had run a personal best of 39:52 on 10km in mid 2014 and you can see my medal from the Dublin Marathon 2013 on the right hand side on the mirror which i finished in 3:58 hours in 2013.

The second picture was taken on 30.01.2015 in my local gym after I started a crossfit and powerlifting routine in June 2014 which is still ongoing.

You will be less exposed to risk of injury

I am training very hard for my runs with two to three interval sessions and one long run a week besides the gym sessions and one day of rest. You would assume that this might be too much for your body but actually to the contrary. So far I stayed injury free for the roughly two years I am into running and I think the secret sauce is the weight lifting which i take serious using the Stronglifts 5x5 program.

You will get aaaaaaaaaabs

Comparing the first and second picture you see that there is some aaaaaaabs developing there. If i stay on this road for another year I think this will look very positively nice ;). Same goes for the rest of your upper body and the arms.

You will drop bodyfat & gain weight

When i started training for marathons i was 95kgs. 5kgs or one christmas to close to 100kgs at 185cm body height. I realized I had to do something and went for a silly bet with one of my good friends that i could train for a marathon and run it in 3.30 in half a year (overly ambitious). However I made it and ran the marathon after I stayed out of shape for years after finishing school in 2005. 8 years of doing nothing did not really help my fitness. If I can do it in half a year, you can do it too. After my first marathon I had 80kgs, but felt weak and thin. Enter crossfit.

With crossfit I regained roughly 7 kgs in muscle mass (compare the pictures) and it makes me feel very confident. Also the exercise regime helps me to get control of my stress levels and enables me to travel places. I went to Frankfurt for October 2014 to run a marathon and will go to Vienna this year.

You will have more fun

Once you are running consistently for a year it can get boring. With combining it with crossfit you can mix up the routine a bit and challenge yourself getting that 100kg deadlift or 5km new personal record. It is more versatile and you can compensate if you are going through a slump in running, especially in the winter season.

A shout out to you

I hope this post helps you to get your butt out of the couch and start either running or crossfit or maybe even both. My life is better since i took that decision. For progress think in half years rather than 30 days. Even though 30 days help to develop a habit, be aware, that visible progress usually takes a bit longer than that except you starve yourself.