<p>Next year I’m gonna be running JV Boys Cross Country. Wondering if there are any runners here on CC. I already have a schedule set up for the summer, so I’m pretty pumped. And, would you recommend lifting weights to train? My brother told me that benching helps for XC, but I don’t believe that. Any opinions?</p>
<p>I’ve been running XC since middle school. I’ll be a senior next year and will be varsity captain. </p>
<p>Yes, you should lift weights! It helps. You need to build muscles in your arms.</p>
<p>Thanks, I’ll probably lift when I go to my local YMCA to swim. And what’s your 5k time btw?</p>
<p>I don’t think benching helps that much for XC. It might help for the 800 and under in track, but not for track. You’re much better off doing stuff like pushups. Benching gives muscles mass in your arms, which is just more mass to carry over five kilometers. It really only helps with explosive speed, which really is not that big of a component for 5k’s.</p>
<p>It’s much, much, much more important to do core and stretching. That prevents injury, while benching on the other hand can cause injury.</p>
<p>Now, if you want to to run the 400/800. then yes, lift, but that’s track. I’ve reached this conclusion after talking to people I know, all of whom are very successful with long distances. By successful, I mean some went to the Olympic trials. Others were state-champs and All-Americans.</p>
<p>Especially if you’re a JV runner, you need to focus on getting that aerobic capacity up, not weights.</p>
<p>Try to get up to 50 miles a week over the summer.</p>
<p>I don’t run the 400 or the 800. And do you have any tips on stretching? I hurt my quadriceps last spring from Track. I’ve found that I feel better if I stretch after I run, rather than before I run. Thoughts?</p>
<p>Don’t bench!</p>
<p>Squat alot and work your core.</p>
<p>I’m actually gonna quit soccer and go to XC next fall, just because I’ve fallen in love with track and wanna start running year-round. I may do a bit of benching to train this summer (keep in mind, I run 800m/1000m in track) but mainly I want to work on my endurance. Gonna do some speed work but mainly work on heavy mileage. Core > Benching with XC. As another poster said, 50 miles weekly is a good benchmark. And for stretching, I do a quick mile warm-up, then stretch, then do my workout THEN stretch again. Seems to work for me but everyone’s different. Some people are even about to totally forgo stretching.</p>
<p>Benching is fine, no high school freshman is going to have that much muscle mass that it affects his/ her running.</p>
<p>Core work is the most important, however. The stronger your core, the more energy will be focused on moving forwards.</p>
<p>Stretching before you run does nothing. It only matters if you stretch after you run. But yes, stretching is not a requirement. It can prevent some injuries though, like IT band injuries. </p>
<p>Anyway, what’s most important is your mileage is both high in quantity, but especially high in quality. 10 miles at 8:00 pace is not going to help much, but 10 miles at 5:45 pace while hammering the last two miles is great.</p>