Need help adding muscle to a runner's legs

[Gunsmith]

I have a very good friend that is a female physique competitor , she has to run several long distance runs a week and can't seem to add mass to her legs.

MY line of thinking is that she needs to train heavier (due to the legs being trained light and long time with the running) and add in some intra workout nutrition like MG's powdered muscle to speed recovery , right now all she takes is 10g BCAA"s during training.

she has well rounded build everywhere else but her legs are lacking a bit

anybody have any advice or ever been faced with same situation?

 

[Cerberus777]

A lot of her fibers are built for endurance. I've had friends in same situation ( 2 went from road to moutain biking 3 were runners in my kungfu class that wanted more size strength) they all had to back off Long distance. They replaced half of the endurance work with heave squats leg press and up hill sprints.

You are on the right track with her, as for training... But she probably will need to back down on long distance running. But she will have the power for any up hills to help.

 

[benner]

Basic power movements..squats & deadlifts will plump em' up good

 

[Flex2019]

If she really wants the mass on her legs, she'll most likely have to back down from distance running. Look at marathon runners vs sprinters. Marathon runners are typically skinny as a rail, while sprinters have thighs like horses.

I have a male training client who is a long-distance cyclist. I handle both his training and his diet. He trains like a bodybuilder, but when riding a lot, we actually back off on leg training a bit because 1: we know that he can't gain a ton of muscle while he's riding 50 miles per day (due to our experience together), and 2: the leg workouts actually hinder is endurance training due to recovery.

In the beginning, this guy wanted the best of both worlds, but we found that it's almost impossible to find the right balance.

 

[goback2013]

Basic power movements..squats & deadlifts will plump em' up good

you are clearly not an athlete in the traditional sense.. maybe a great local gym jockie, but not someone who has ever competed in classical sports at an elevated level.

 

[Twatta]

legs

Squats as heavy as she can without hurting her self. Then leg press with different foot possitions every time. for quads

For hams, Heavy stiff leg deads.

If her hamstrings are weaker looking than quads, then train hams first in workout.

 

[sma]

I have a very good friend that is a female physique competitor , she has to run several long distance runs a week and can't seem to add mass to her legs.

MY line of thinking is that she needs to train heavier (due to the legs being trained light and long time with the running) and add in some intra workout nutrition like MG's powdered muscle to speed recovery , right now all she takes is 10g BCAA"s during training.

she has well rounded build everywhere else but her legs are lacking a bit

anybody have any advice or ever been faced with same situation?

Yea you have to build the type 11 muscle fibres in her legs depending how long she has been doing the long distance running for she may have altered her leg and calve fibres to type 1.

I would say low volume moderate reps repetitive number off sets

Squats 5x 5
Leg press 2-3x 6-8
Ham curl 2-3x 6-8
Stiff legg 3-4 x 8-10

That should be sufficient and calves should be similar to this.

But like flex said you can't do both if so probably only 1 exercise and a high carb day for that day and the following.

 

[pesty4077]

Simple as this, she is over training her legs and will not develop mass with all that running. I use to run, when I stopped and focused on weights, they grew.

 

[mass3000]

Win tabs....
Depending on age, stay away from squats.
Give up cardio, and take longer breaks between exercises.
Hack squats and walking lunges seem to work really well.

 

[benner]

you are clearly not an athlete in the traditional sense.. maybe a great local gym jockie, but not someone who has ever competed in classical sports at an elevated level.

I realize I went old school. ..however the OP did say she wanted size correct? We're not talking about me. ..we're talking about someone else here...& no I'm not a 'great local gym jockie' ...what the hell is that anyway?

 

[comedycentral]

I would actually look at some volume work with her using the weighted sled or prowler. I know lots that have had great results from concentric only work and she can hit the quads and posterior chain completely using a simple minimal learning exercise

 

[Gunsmith]

Well , she is actually running a lot more than I expected so we discussed it and basically told her it was gonna be nearly impossible to add size when running distance.

She has decided to just stick with running and maybe look into physique later down the road

 

[jedmagnus]

I would stick with light squats for her, step ups, lunges etc, maybe even deads. Just depends on her size and what she is trying to gain.

 

[DK0223]

Well , she is actually running a lot more than I expected so we discussed it and basically told her it was gonna be nearly impossible to add size when running distance.

She has decided to just stick with running and maybe look into physique later down the road

Well if that's the case I'd say she'd be better off sticking with higher reps light/moderate weight to help tone/shape with all her running. Sounds like this is her goal as you mentioned she's looking into physique comps

 

[triathloncoach]

I have a very good friend that is a female physique competitor , she has to run several long distance runs a week and can't seem to add mass to her legs.

MY line of thinking is that she needs to train heavier (due to the legs being trained light and long time with the running) and add in some intra workout nutrition like MG's powdered muscle to speed recovery , right now all she takes is 10g BCAA"s during training.

she has well rounded build everywhere else but her legs are lacking a bit

anybody have any advice or ever been faced with same situation?

Gunny, pick one or the other. Endurance athletes have slow twitch, sprinters have the big fast twitch. I only see this happening with lots of exogenous hormones. Although more elite female runners have more muscular legs than you see with the elite men which always amazes me at races. Some of the top women look great. The top men never do. Oh, whoops, I almost forgot. No homo.