Is squatting my weight for a couple reps good for a distance runner?

Well, it's better than a distance runner that can't squat their own weight.

For me this was hard but I have been on a light strength training program for a number of months (never used to lift). Just wondering what most competitive distance runners do.

Oh OK thanks.

It’s pretty good id say, especially if your main focus has been running and your weight training has been light. You’d likely make significant improvements if you did a dedicated weight training plan for a few months that involved progressive overload

Do you apply the same concept of progressive overload to your running training?

No.

No it isn’t.

Most competitive male distance runners are probably between 125-160 pounds. 160 is probably a bit on the higher end but there are plenty of good 800/miler types that weigh that much. Even if you weigh 160, only squatting that a few times isn’t very much. I can squat a lot more than I bench but people should also be able to bench press their weight more than a few times. Particularly distance runners that are not all that heavy.

Too reductive of a question. Squatting your weight isn't indicative of any real fitness.

Generally speaking, an in-shape (M) person should be able to squat 1.5x their BW for 2 reps (regardless of how much you run. Unless you're running 150 mpw, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to do this once you get your form down)

Age, gender, mileage etc all factor in. FWIW, I run 45-50mpw, and top out at 320 for squats at 145lbs. Do I think this is good? I dunno, maybe. It's also something I have kept separate from my running.

To be a better runner-Run

To be a better lifter- Lift

Its definitely going to be helpful, but if you're asking if its impressive that depends on your form and your leverges. I'm 6'4 with really long femurs, so squatting deep is very difficult, so I'm pretty content not going far beyond bodyweight when I squat deeper. If i am doing a half squat i will be a decent bit above body weight.

Respectfully sorta disagree, for distance runners.

Certainly almost all "fast" guys that compete over 800 and down are capable of squatting 1.5xBW. If they couldn't hit that because they don't squat, they likely could do it if they gave it an honest try after a little training. To a certain extent, you gotta be strong to be fast.

We've all seen Mo Farah squatting "heavy" and not even coming close to parallel. I saw some decent college distance kids in the weightroom recently and they were loading up 200lbs+ and doing like 1/3 squats and they genuinely thought they were capable of squatting that weight. I recognize that partial squats certainly have a time and place in a running strength training program, but I've seen so many good distance runners who couldn't come close to 90 degrees, none the less an a$$ to grass squat, with just 1xBW.

If we're talking someone whose goal is just to be fit, then a male should definitely be able to take 1.5xBW to their heels and back up.

I was running 60–70mpw in 800 offseason, lifting 2–3/week, and even included a serious hypertrophy phase. I was able to do 225lbs all the way down for a few reps during lifts at a BW of ~150lbs. Probably could have hit somewhere in the ballpark of 250lbs on fresh legs if I gave it an honest try.

I just don't see someone who logs more miles, with significantly less weightroom experience, getting close to those numbers with half decent form.

Also this ^

Proportions matters a lot for some lifts. It's not uncommon for good Olympic lifters to have short legs and a long torso, almost like a swimmer. Unsurprisingly, this can make it easier to squat deep and strong.

I have a 6'4" friend and him hitting parallel involves him moving the weight soooo much further than it does for me at 5'9". I have a 5'4" friend and his squat form is immaculate.

Definitely fair points. Undoubtedly an element of experience/inexperience in the weight room that has to factor in.

You also hit on a nice point that if you are lifting to supplement your running, a traditional squat will help, but won't be the end all be all. 1/4-1/2 squats are beneficial as are RDLs, SL squats etc.

For the OP- squats are great, but don't discount other lower body lifts

* You have not stated your height & weight.

* You have not stated your age.

* You have not stated your running success. Some on here refer to 800m athletes as distance runners. Are you a gal or guy who just wants to run sub-19:20/sub-40 5K/10K?

It's getting close to three years since I have touched iron but I have no doubt I can squat 225 lbs. x 10, all the way down and all the way up (with pain treatment in right shoulder) today. If you are squatting 135 lbs. to 160 lbs. a couple times past age 50, that's fine. If you are under age 50, not impressive.

I agree with everything but the last point here.

I think lifting can make one so much of a better runner. Better muscular strength can aid in both short and long term fatigue/recovery, it can make running form a lot better if caused by imbalances, and increased strength paired with a good plyometric program can reduce ground contact time a ton.

Think of your average highschool distance runner, not the ones you always see on flotrack and milesplit. They look like they are sprinting at 5:00-5:20 mile pace, their feet lag on the ground for sooo long, and their form is all over the place. It all spells out a garbage running economy/mechanics which can be ironed out in the weight room. Increased leg strength and mobility reduces ground contact time, and training out imbalances in the upper body will give you a more efficient arm swing and torso rotation. All together you also get the benefit of being able to push through muscular fatigue late into a race.

Before getting serious with my weights, I could only run about a 57 in the 400m, after an injury that sidelined me from running for a couple months I went crazy in the weightroom, ran a 53 off of just over a week returning to running, and worked my way down to a sub 50 over the next year. I attribute that to making huge gains in my strength and power, and that new top end speed brought the potential for me to get significantly better all the way up to 5k.

My recent emphasis on weight room and plyometric work has brought my maximum sprinting cadence from roughly 242 to 254 over the last year as well, which is pretty significant.

The correlation between squating and distance running performance is not there. Focusing on squating is useful for other sports like ski racing or bobsled or shot put, but focusing on squats to improve your distance running is just inefficient.

200m sprint times, triple jump or 50- 200m hill sprint times have strong correlations. So you should rather focus on these.

You still can do squats, but as general conditioning which means they shall not substract in any way from Key stuff like: intervalls, hill sprints or jumps.

I could full squat 1.7x BW with almost zero training in high school, but had zero jumping or sprinting ability.

I was a mediocre runner, but the best skier. So don't worry about squats if you want to run

It’s good enough for a distance runner as in it is rather unlikely that your running it bottlenecked by lower body strength or muscle mass.

FWIW, 1.5x body weight squat is a commonly cited rough benchmark for transitioning from a beginner to an intermediate lifter, but treating them as rigid standards for anything is pointless.

It's not bad. It's a starting point. You should gradually try and get stronger though. The weight room is great way to reduce injury risk.

Sort of, 1.5x bodyweight squat is the transition from Novice to Intermediate, in the 5 level scale of: Beginner(.75X) Novice(1.25X), Intermediate(1.5X), Advanced(2.25X), Elite(2.75X)

strengthlevel.com

Squat Standards for Men and Women (lb) - Strength Level

Tables of Squat strength standards for men and women. Find out how strong you are compared to other lifters at your bodyweight.

Link:strengthlevel.com/strength-standards/s...

But yeah you're probably right about squat not being a bottle neck even though the OPs bodyweight squat is only between Beginner/Novice. That's pretty weak for powerlifting, but i'm sure the OP would make a powerlifter look like a hobby jogger if it came down to a race.

Mo Farah is only squatting like 64lbs 6 reps here (10 & 10 plus the bar), granted I’m sure he’s not pushing a max per se

does everyone on letsrun make 500k/year, squat 200lbs+ easily and have a hot wife?