Squats and running. Can't I do both?

Yea. But take it easy. Expect slower progress in both for a bit.

Yea. But take it easy. Expect slower progress in both for a bit.

I do both. If I am training for a race, I only lift 2x a week instead of 3. I wouldn't expect any huge gains in your lifts, but I find that keeping my legs strong helps my running. Strong legs means you can pass people on the hills.

Yes, it's a good thing for marathon runners to increase their strength as it improves your ground-force contact, however; it should be a small % of your training. No more than 2 training sessions per week and possibly have one day with heavy squats (say 3 to 5 sets of 5 reps @ 80% to 85% of 1RM or Training max) and maybe one session of 3-5 sets for 6 - 8 reps at 65% - 70%. Then maybe 2 to 3 weeks out from your event you cut way back on the intensity and maybe do a couple sets of 5 reps at 45% to 55% and then the week prior probably nothing aside from maybe a couple sets of low rep box jumps (4 sets of 2 - 3 reps) or something like that helps with your GFC but not fatiguing. There are a lot of good journals detailing research on endurance athletes and marathon athletes, can probably find some of this with Google too. I can tell you with some of the research that I had to do for school, 10% to 15% of the conditioning comes from anaerobic cardio, so you may look at a session that includes some kind of sprint intervals, battle ropes, etc.

I do both.

Could I have run a marathon faster if I didn't squat? Could I squat more if I didn't train for a marathon? Maybe, but with only one data point it's really hard to tell.

I'm not competitive in weighlifting or running, so for me it was (is) about overall training. I don't want to give up one for another. So maybe I could run a little bit faster, or squat a little more weight if I gave one up, but I think I get the best overall fitness and aesthetic gains by doing both (as well as a bunch of other stuff).

That being said, 2 weeks before my marathon I dropped my squat from almost 300# to 200#. I also about crapped my pants every time I'd approach an intersection and there was a car... it was more about fear of injury than some perceived performance gains though.

39yrs old

You can absolutely do both. It's a 30-ish minute run.

I am 41, and I squat. I sometimes go run a 5K just for the giggles (by "giggles" I mean someone asks me to, and I say yes) and I never have any problems going back in the gym and lifting the next day.

30 or so minutes of cardio, whether it be running, walking, biking, HIIT, etc. isn't going to impact your squats. No need to take it easy or to do anything different, except don't run the 5K before you do squats and expect to hit a PR. You might see some loss of strength because you'll be tired after the run.

I'm trying to lift and run over the summer. I'm only two weeks in but so far it seems to be going well. The one thing I am noticing is I REALLY have to stay on top of my stretching and foam rolling! Other than that, so far so good. I did however move off of strong lifts so I wouldn't be doing SO MUCH leg work. I'm doing 5/3/1 now. I know you can't do the upper body stuff right now, but here's what I'm trying:

Monday: OHP work and 4 mile run or sprint work
Tuesday: DL
Wednesday: Bench work and 4-6 mile run and/or sprint work
Thursday: Squats
Friday: 4 mile run
Saturday: Long run (distance according to program)
Sunday: Rest!

So basically I'm lifting four days a week and running four days a week but I still get a leg break before and after my long run and never run when I'm doing lower body lifts.

My wife said it would be hard to do squats and run.. Imagining doing both at the same time was pretty funny. Reserved mainly for people like Terry Crews. Seriously though I do both but like one said above me; don't expect to break records in either one individually. I love running and I love a good leg day that you can barely walk out the door and driving a manual transmission back home afterwards is just comical. Cardio and leg strength training are equally important to me. I put a 2 day buffer between my leg day and running. So I do: run, rest, run, rest, rest, leg day, rest, rest. Yes there's 8 days in a week for me. But there's still back, bi, chest, tri days on my run/rest days. :drinker:

If running distance / marathons is important for you, I would think differently about how you train. In-season, focus on two-day upperbody / lower body splits and keep it simple because the focus is really on your running. Something as simple as...

Day 1
a1. Squat @ 80% - 85% 1RM for 5 sets of 5 reps
a2. Box Jumps 2-3 reps (following each workset) Doesn't have to be a max effort jump, challenging but not max
b1. Bench Press / Incline Press (same loading as Squat)
b2. Lat work super-setted with press work, pull-ups if you can otherwise lat-pulldowns
- some core work couldn't hurt

Day 2
a1. Squat @ 65% to 70% (maybe 75%) for 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps
a2. Jumps as indicated above (judge for yourself how you're recovering, may limit jumps to just the Day 1 session)
b1. Standing Press / Push Press same programming as Day 1 pressing
b2. DB or BB Rowing 3sets of 10-15 reps
- back raises 3 x 15

Past that, focus on your training for your race or goal. You can do more strength training in the off-season, but for in-season keep it simple.

Edit: For Day 2, some Power Cleans wouldn't be a bad idea either. IF so, you can scrap the jumps for Day 2.

I like lifting weights. I try to lift in the 3-6 rep range. But I just hurt my shoulder, sidelining me for a while. So I decided to get onto a short squat program. But at the same time I want to start training for a 10k in 3 weeks. But I don't want to stop lifting. can't I do both?

3 weeks for a 10k is really little time i would say to take it easy with the squats, i know you need strenght but if it's your first one endurance is much important so rest...