The Most Effective Ways to Build a Bomber Body: Ryan McMullen (Encore Run)

How did I build my way to a 2:58 marathon at age 42 with no injuries? A big part of it was strength training. If you don’t want to be one of the 50-80% of runners who gets injured this year, proper strength training can help hedge your bets. While there’s no way to 100% guarantee that you’ll be one of the lucky healthy runners, strengthening your body for running can make a big difference. Today, I’m introducing you to my strength coach, Ryan McMullen. Welcome to the Planted Runner. I’m Coach Claire Bartholic and my mission is to help you improve your running, your mindset, and your life with science-backed training and plant-based nutrition. In this conversation, Ryan and I will go over: Exactly how much and what kind of strength training helps runners best Whether we should lift heavy or light or both And why and how you should mix up the ratio of strength training to running in different seasons I also ask Ryan what it’s like to train me and I promise you I didn’t edit his answer at all! Ryan has worked with hundreds of clients on nutrition, strength training, and more. He has owned a CrossFit gym in California since 2014 (but don’t worry, he doesn’t make me do CrossFit!). He coaches nutrition and strength with MetPro and helps clients navigate their goals from weight loss, body composition changes, training programs, and increasing performance across a wide range of different sports. Including runners like us. Now, a little warning that Ryan and I have a few differing opinions on certain aspects of training for endurance runners, which you’ll hear. But that’s actually pretty great since there are lots of ways to build muscle and my preferred way might not be the most effective for you . LINKS: Learn more about MetPro or schedule a call to work with Ryan. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐The Planted Runner Podcast is your perfect running buddy! Subscribe, follow, rate, and review now wherever you get your podcasts. This is the #1 way to support this work for FREE. ➡️FOLLOW The Planted Runner on Instagram @theplantedrunner for more running, plant-based nutrition and mental strength tips. 📣FREE Ultimate Fueling Guide for runners: theplantedrunner.com/join 📖The Planted Runner: Running Your Best With Plant-Based Nutrition is available here or wherever books are sold. ⁠ 📣Invest in a custom training plan for your next race. Or get a plan to keep you fit in between race. Get one created just for you at theplantedrunner.com/plans RECENT REVIEWS: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Very informative! Love this podcast, it’s so great to hear running advice specifically for plant-based (vegan in my case) runners! However, there is also plenty of information that would be relevant to all athletes (for example, the Lauren Fleshman episode). JTD813 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Great Resource for Plant-Based Runners I’m a newbie runner and this has been one of my favorite podcasts! Claire is so personable and breaks down running terms + lingo so well. As a longtime veggie, it is helpful to gain nutrition + recovery tips. Excited for future episodes 🙂!!! allylovespodcasts ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐One of my fav running podcasts! I found Claire on Run to the Top and followed her to her own show here. Her insights and those of her guests are always relevant, grounded and applicable to almost every runner! She’s also just very easy and pleasant to listen to. NicT_CO