Training for the Arnold Pump and Run 2012
It’s that time of year again – time for the Arnold Pump and Run. The Arnold Pump and Run is just one of many events at the annual Arnold Sports Festival, held right here in Columbus, Ohio. The pump and run is a combination of running and lifting weights. Competitors first take part in a bench press. Weight, gender and age determine how much weight each participant will have to bench press. For each repetition on the bench press, 30 seconds are subtracted from the ensuing 5k time. Competitors are limited to a maximum of 30 repetitions on the bench press so a maximum of 15 minutes can be subtracted from the 5k time. Runners looking for a challenge beyond running often sign up for the pump and run.
Training for the pump and run has always been a challenge for me as there is not a lot of readily available information on how to bench press your body weight for up to 30 reps or more. You can find plenty of information on how to increase your one rep max for the bench press. To a certain extent, increasing your one rep max is helpful in achieving more repetitions of a weight at or near your body weight. For example, if your Arnold bench press weight is 135 pounds and your current one rep max on the bench press is 200 pounds then your Arnold weight is 68% of your maximum bench press. If you can increase your one rep max to 270 pounds then your Arnold weight becomes a mere 50% of your one rep max; therefore, the Arnold weight becomes easier to perform physically and psychologically. In essence, you gain endurance through your gain in strength; however, I believe that your training should match what you will do in competition and training strictly for a one rep max increase ultimately will not suffice to achieve a maximum number of reps at a much lower rate. Similarly, training for a 100 meter dash is not going to significantly lower your 5k time.
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