Weightlifters: When do you do squats?

halfhazzard

Barefooters
Jan 30, 2012
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Weightlifters: When do you do squats?

As I'm regaining health and getting healthier (upper and lower body) I've been lifting weights and running. When do you do leg workouts if you run every other day?

Oh, and I hate doing abs, so I don't.
 
Yes, a bit of a quandry there.
I think you have to decide what your objective is when it comes to doing squats. If you are doing heavy and just a few reps then your running will be stuffed for the next few days and you might end up injured. If you are doing light weight and lots of reps then it will probably fit in a lot more with your running.
I don't do squats these days as I injured my back 20 years ago doing them and you can not go back to them again without putting pressure on your spine. I do leg extensions, and hamstring exercises but I leave off any lower leg exercises such as calves as you can overwork them with the running as well. Once more I have found that calf raises + running = injury.
If you are going for big legs then you can't be a good runner as running will slim your legs down. Personally I'd stick with light weights. I've seen so many people hurt their backs over the 30 years I've been going to the gym. I don't belive the spine was designed to support hundreds of kgs of weight.

Regards

Neil
 
My weekly split looks like this:

Mon: AM: mid and posterior delts. PM run
Tue: Legs focus on thighs (here I do squats)
Wed: AM row mashine cardio. PM run
Thur: Back and hams (here I do deadlifts)
Fri: Chest and front delts
Sat: run
Sun: rest.

Hope this helps.
I don't feel the soreness from my lifting interfears that much with my running. I feel the running loosens up the muscles from the lifting.
 
Yah, I agree with Line. I used to try to organize my weekly routine so that squats and other lower body exercises would follow my long run by 24 hours and precede my next run by 48 hours, but I've found it doesn't really matter that much. And now I'm trying to run almost every day so it's become impossible to separate the two anyway.

But I don't do really heavy squats. My max is my BW, 225lbs/100 kilos, which is quite a light ratio compared to serious lifters, and I often do less, more like 125-175 lbs. I also do my squats after deadlifts, (which are just 1.5 BW), and power cleans, so I'm good and warmed up.

Right now my (idealized) schedule is the following:

Sun: Run - Hill Repeats/Sprints or short recovery run or rest;
ST - Polymetrics & Mobility with ankle weights

Mon: Run - short recovery run or Hill Repeats/Sprints;
ST - Upper Body (Chest, Shoulders & Arms)

Tu: Run - 5-7 miles Tempo/Aerobic

Wed: Run - short recovery run;
ST - Lower Body (Deadlifts, Power Cleans, Squats, Good mornings, Leg extensions, Leg curls, etc.)

Th: Run - 5-7 miles Tempo/Aerobic

Fri: Run - short recovery run;
ST - Mid Body (Rows, Pull-downs, Hyperextensions, Pikes, t-bar swings, etc.)

Sat: Run - 7-12 miles long run

I don't believe the squat is dangerous per se, but it is an exercise I'm extremely cautious with, because, as Neil's experience shows, it's easy to screw up one's back and/or knees with really heavy weights and/or by not building up the weight very slowly. If you're doing squats to improve your running, and not for overall fitness, I would think hill repeats/sprints would get you better results. But I don't really know what I'm talking about. This is just my own self-perception.
 
Thanks for the input. I'm not looking for "huge" legs, I'm just looking to get a base level of strength and endurance for upper and lower body. I'd be content with getting to 135 and maintaining that once or twice a week.

I like your workout Bare Lee, the only way I'm going to get there is to workout. Haha.
 
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Thanks for the input. I'm not looking for "huge" legs, I'm just looking to get a base level of strength and endurance for upper and lower body. I'd be content with getting to 135 and maintaining that once or twice a week.

I like your workout Bare Lee, the only way I'm going to get there is to workout. Haha.
Cool, like you I don't like doing abs, but I try to do at least a little ab work each st workout. I think it's important. Also, in addition to squats, check out deadlifts and power cleans. I think you'll see some benefit for your running. For upper body, I think rows in particular are good for developing strength that benefits running, but again, I don't really know what I'm talking about. But in general, as you've already programmed, upper body strength-training is important for maintaining good posture while running, and for preventing fatigue in your arms' counter swing / carriage or whatever it's called in running parlance.
 
Most of my training is strength and leg work seems to be about twice a week. I rotate between my upper body, core, and legs. If I do any runs on the same day as my strength work I usually make sure I have at the very least 3 hours in between. I'm wrecked for a couple days pretty much after every leg day so I often end up running on sore and beaten up legs anyway, but my runs aren't long and usually between 2-5 miles and usually a couple are sprinting, hills, or speedwork. A lot of times my strength training incorporates running like pushing a prowler or pulling a sled with 150lbs of weight on it while I *try* and run as fast as I can.