u/roc200

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on putting together a hybrid athlete program that balances running and lifting.

Currently, I do a 4-day gym split, alternating between:

Push/full body: Bench, incline DB press, OHP, dips, tricep pushdowns, Bulgarian split squats, leg extensions and core.

Pull: Pull-ups, bent-over rows, DB rows, lat pulldowns, single-leg RDLs, hamstring curls, bicep curls and core.
The single-leg work is mainly because I’m recovering from an injury that caused some imbalances.

I’m unable to play sport for a few months, but I can run, so I want to use this time to improve my running and become more of a hybrid athlete.

My issue is that I’ve never been able to make good progress in both running and the gym at the same time. When I’ve been good at running, it’s usually been because I wasn’t lifting. I went from running a 10k in 56 minutes to 47 minutes in just over a month but this was with no lifting at the same time.

I’m looking for a 4-day running split that I can combine with my current gym routine, ideally covering easy mileage, intervals, tempo/threshold and a long run without compromising recovery or strength.

Any advice from people who successfully balance 4 days of running with 4 days of lifting would be appreciated!

I am currently 25 from Ireland and I have one years experience as a Financial Analyst and 3 years experience as a Fund Accountant. I don’t want to work in Fund Accounting forever and I would like to work more in the front office side.

There’s not much opportunities to work in front office side in Ireland and I am planning to live abroad for five years in June and I would like to take my career to London. I just want to gain some advice that with my experience would it help me transition into more of the front office side of working in Finance in London.

Hi All, I started the CIMA FLP in April and I reckon with scheduling the next year I will have everything done bar the Strategic Case Study exam. Since the CIMA FLP runs off a subscription method which is pricey, when it expires could I pay for the CIMA Case Study exam on its own or do I have to renew the subscription.

Did some research on Anterior Pelvic Tilt which I struggle with and it says that’s it due to having a weak core, hamstrings and glutes- basically a weak posterior chain - Im looking for the best exercises to help me improve my posterior chain, thanks.

I have been going to the gym for years and have built a decent physique but workouts now tend to get boring every now and then so I was thinking of switching my workouts to something like this as all I really need per body part per week is 9-12 sets, I’ll give an example of a pull and push workout (all sets are too failure)

Pull -

Pull Ups X2
Bent Over Row X 2
Lat Pulldown X 3
DB Row X 3
DB Curl X 2
Incline Curl X 3

Push -

Bench Press X 1
Incline DB Press X 2
OHP X 3
Dips X 2
Fly X 2
Side Raise X 3
Tricep Pushdown X 3-5

I have had to switch from Barbell Squats to Bulgarian Split Squats due to imbalance issues caused by a knee injury awhile back.

I am enjoying Bulgarian Split Squats so much (they still suck) in comparison to Barbell Squats as the load is just strictly on your legs. I am wondering can Bulgarian Split Squats be used as a main leg movement like a squat is because I really enjoy them and find them much more efficient than a squat.

I have had to switch from Barbell Squats to Bulgarian Split Squats due to imbalance issues caused by a knee injury awhile back.

I am enjoying Bulgarian Split Squats so much (they still suck) in comparison to Barbell Squats as the load is just strictly on your legs. I am wondering can Bulgarian Split Squats be used as a main leg movement like a squat is because I really enjoy them and find them much more efficient than a squat.

I’ve always been a good runner and used to just run based on how I felt—sometimes easy 5Ks, sometimes all-out 10Ks, long runs, etc. No real structure, just going with the flow. That got me to a 45 min 10K pretty quickly, and I’ve also done HYROX and half marathons.

After a recent injury, I’ve started running again but I’m really struggling. My performance feels off and I’m stuck in a rut coming out of this injury (recent best was a 5K around 5:15 pace - could have defo gone a bit harder but that’s my best coming back from a grade 3c hamstring tear)

Not sure if I’m missing something like structure, recovery, hydration, stretching, etc., or if I just need a proper plan.

Looking for advice on how to get back on track because I really enjoy running and usually progress quickly, but it’s not clicking right now.

I train full body 3x a week and used to barbell squat every session with good strength and size gains. The barbell squat is my man leg exercise for these sessions.

A year ago I fractured my knee playing soccer. After rehab, my injured leg is noticeably smaller and weaker than the other.

When I returned to squats, my stronger leg kept taking over and it felt risky, so I switched to Bulgarian split squats and single-leg extensions instead. I always train the weaker leg first to failure, then match it on the stronger side to fix the imbalance.

I’m really enjoying them and don’t miss barbell squats—they feel more efficient and easier on my back.

My question: are Bulgarian split squats a good long-term replacement for barbell squats for building size/strength and fixing imbalances?

I’ve been training for years, built a solid
physique, and also play sports. Because of work and sports commitments, I’ve switched to a 3-day full-body routine and my full body routine looks like this:

Bench 3x
Pull-ups 3x
OHP 3x
Bent-over row 3x
Squat 3x
Curls 3x
Dips 3x

(I keep the exercises the same session by session as it helps me progress on lifts)

It’s convenient and I’m getting stronger from the higher frequency, but I find it pretty boring.
I’m considering adding more exercise variety while keeping the foundations the same.

For example:

Pull-ups 2x + Lat Pulldowns 2x
Bench 2x + Incline DB Press 2x
Bent-over Row 2x + DB Row 2x
OHP 3x
Squats 3x
DB Curls 3x
Dips 3x

I know people will say that it would just make most sense to switch up exercises workout to workout but I genuinely believe that sticking to the same exercises suits me even though I don’t enjoy it I’ve been seeing crazy strength and physique results so I think the routine I listed above with the variety is a good middle ground.

This would still give me roughly the 9–12 weekly sets per muscle group that I respond well to.
Does this seem like a reasonable way to make training more enjoyable without sacrificing results?

I train full body three times a week where I do barbell squats three times a week for my legs. It works incredibly well for me and the results in strength and size have always been good.

This was until I was playing soccer a year ago and fractured my knee by clashing my knee with someone else’s knee by going for the ball at full speed.

I did the rehab to get my knee right but now I face a dilemma where I have lost size in my right leg (leg where the injury occured) and the left leg is bigger. When I went back to proper training on my legs I tried to do barbell squatting but I couldn’t do since my left leg was doing too much work and I felt like an injury was gonna occur eventually on my left leg. I have started doing Bulgarian split squats instead where I go to failure on my bad leg first and match what I’m doing on my bad leg to my good leg, I’m also doing single leg extensions aswell. My goal is to eventually match my bad leg with my good leg with the imbalances using Bulgarian split squats.

My question is basically is are Bulgarian split squats a good replacement for barbell squats cause I am enjoying them so much at the moment and I don’t think I’ll ever go back to barbell squatting as I feel like it takes a lot of my time in the gym and the heavy load can get to you’re back where as with Bulgarian split squats it’s all on you’re legs.

I have been training in the gym for years and I have built a good physique wouldn’t say insane but it’s definitely above average while also playing sport.

Due to being incredibly busy with work and playing sports, I have changed to a 3 day full body split where I would do something like this, it changes every now and then but you get the picture-

Bench X 3
Pull Ups X 3
OHP x3
Bent Over Row x 3
Squats x 3
Curls x 3
Tricep Pushdown x 3

I find this incredibly boring but it is convenient cause I’m getting stronger cause I’m doing roughly the same exercises three times a week with rest in between so it’s a love/hate relationship, I’m wondering to mix things up abit and make things fun would a split like this work to make the workout more interesting, I usually need about 9-12 sets a week per body part so would something like this work

Pull Ups X2, Lat Pulldown X 2 - 4 Sets for lats
Bench press x2, incline db x2- 4 sets for chest
Bent over row x 2, db row x 2 4 sets for back
OHP X 3, squats x3, db curl x3, dips x3 (love these exercises so don’t need to switch them up as they hit legs, shoulders, biceps, triceps)

I also get that some people will say that this workout is probably long - I don’t care I love the gym it’s like my therapy and it’s only 3 times a week so if it takes me 2 hours to do I’ll make the time for it.

I have recently just started a job in Limerick which requires me to go into the office 3 times a week.

I’m from North Cork and I have two options - about a 45 - 50 minute drive in the morning and back in the evening or the train.

I drove the other morning at around 7:15 and the n20 was fine but when I drove back at like 5:15 in the evening, it was mayhem - I was stuck behind a tractor for ages and I am not one to overtake cars on a busy road (I value my life) and the cars behind me were up hole which kinda stressed me out. I wonder if I maybe joined a gym by my office and drove back at like 7:00 would it be fine - I don’t want the roads being crazy but I also don’t want the roads being too quiet either cause that’s where reckless driving occurs. I like being behind a few cars especially on a road like the n20.

I am also looking into to taking the train aswell and I’m wondering would Colbert Station be alright in terms of safety in the morning at around 8am and in the evening at like 5:30 to 6:00pm. I also have like a 10 minute wait in Limerick junction which is fine but some details on that train station would be brilliant aswell.