I’ve been having huge issues trying to improve my runtime AND squat max. It seems that when I improve on one, I end up back tracking on the other. My bench and deadlift max are still steadily rising but my damn squat just won’t keep up. I know there are a bunch of other military guys here so I’m hoping for some advice/tips on how to keep my runtime low but keep making gains.
Have you tried doing hill sprints for the majority of your run training instead of distance runs? I always lost squat when I was with a unit that did 30-50 mi. a week. When I did PT on my own I cut the distance, upped the speed, and kept up with my PL.
What kind of distance are you looking at? If you’re doing long distance (endurance) and squats (power) you’re asking your body to do two different things at once, so it may be a matter of spreading out the two activities better to better compensate with recovery. If you’re looking to improve on your sprint time, then the two are more similar and one should hopefully improve with the other.
I used this to improve my run times considerably while maintaining(and even improving) my squat.
Litvinovs-
Front squat a decent weight for 8 reps(not maxing), then immediately sprint 1/4 mile. Like literally rerack the weight and take off. You probably won’t be able to squat right next to a track, so a treadmill works just as well(that’s actually what I used).
Anyway, front squat 8 reps, then sprint 1/4 mile, then rest 90 seconds. Repeat for four total sets. You want to keep the treadmill at the highest speed you can maintain for the full 1/4(hopefully your treadmill does at least 12mph). This will suck, but after a few weeks of doing it 2-3 times per week, you should feel it getting a little easier.
At this point, you can progress in any(or all) of three ways: increase the squat load, add incline, increase speed(if you still have some left on your treadmill), decrease rest period, or add additional sets. Okay, that’s more than three, but you can continue to make progress using this workout for quite a while with all the variables.
If you are trying to squat as well, do this once or twice at the opposite end of the week from your heavy squat sessions. IE, Litvinov on Monday and Wednesday, then squat Friday or Saturday. Between the differences of front squatting and back squatting, and the amount of lee time between the two different workouts, your legs should be fine.
Play around with it, and see how it works for you. When I used it to lower my PFT time, I never did more than 4 sets(1 mile). Between the pre-fatigue of the front squats, the short rest periods, and the accumulation of fatigue in the later sets, this is still more than enough to improve your 1.5 mile time.
Keep in mind your running form…
- Posture
- Hand placement / grip tightness
- Proper breating / or whatever your currently used to
add static stretching somewhere into your routine.
boatguys routine sound pretty nuts. Ive been able to increase squat/overall strength a good deal and improve my run. Im almost 3x bw squat as well, and doing starrs advanced 5x5. I did not do alot of running but various methods for 1-1.5 hours keeping my HR at like 150. Though i would go on some long 6-8 mile runs real slow. During this i would usually add in heavily resisted cycling 2x a week for 3 weeks, 20 min a session or short 10 sec hill sprints with full recovery for like 20 reps. Sooo itd look like this
week 1-3 1-1.5 hr low intensity cardio 3x a week
week 4/5 maybe 6 1-1.5hr low intensity 2x a week, resisted cycling 2x a week
week 6-8/ maybe 9 1x low intensity session, 2-3 times sprints. 1x cycle
I did this while lifting HEAVY 3x a week. Strength was able to progess nicely (ive been lifting for a while too). If i ran too much id probably have negated some gains and had bad lifting days, but you can train the same systems other ways that carry over well. The cycling sessoins i did right after lifting and they helped alot with DOMS.
I can run a pretty good 3 mile and i havent even been focusing on that…(starr advanced 5x5 is a bitch). So they definatley are NOT mutually exclusive.
Thanks guys, I just got back from break so I’m just looking at these.
Devildog-I recently tried sprinting, although not up hill, for 1/4 mile intervals and that was helping.
Griff-Its 1.5 mile and 3 mile. I have to take the Navy PRT right now but since I’m trying to commission Marine Corp I need to take their PFT also. I’ve been doing a morning running afternoon lifting split for the last 6 months.
Boatguy-That sounds like it will hurt, can’t wait to try it. Should be interesting given the added fact that the treadmills are on another floor from the weight room, so I’ll be throwing in a set of stairs to that mix.
Since the treadmills are on the second deck of your gym, you can also do your front squats with DBs. that way you can take them upstairs with you, and stake your claim on a mill without losing it while your downstairs squatting(used to happen to me all the time - really frustrating to amp yourself up, pound out the squats, run over, and find the treadmill taken over by somebody walking…slowly). And as soon as you finish a set and drop the bells, you can hop on the mill and get going.
Grab the heaviest you can handle(I don’t think I got above 75s when I did this), and sling them up on your shoulders so your elbows are pointing forward - like the rack position of a power clean. I usually lean the bells against my head the whole time, otherwise they tend to bounce off my dome during the set. The gym might bitch a little, but as long as you clean up after yourself, they shouldn’t make too much of a big deal. The whole thing(done the way I do it) only takes around 15:00, so you’re not even tying equipment up too long.
Have fun.