Shot putter Joe Kovacs squats 870 for 4 reps.

150lb armchair lifting experts giving their 2 cents on Kovac's squats.

I'm sure he knows what he's doing without help from Runnerboy.

i doubt that true most can probably get at least around 1.25-1.5x most are between 125-160 so it would be shocking if a 130 lbs distance guy couldnt squat 130

think firster wrote:

Coe is squatting 90-95kg in that photo, that would make 1.5-1.75x bodyweight.

Also most of you here are talking about half squats, while I'm talking about full squats. Some runners even do quarter squats (Makhloufi).

If I had a do-over I think I'd experiment more with quarter squats. The running motion doesn't require anything more than that.

I think I'd try one day per week heavy (for max strength) and then really frequent sessions (almost daily?) of lighter work where I'm trying to grease the groove, build that strength through light but constant work like you get with a cyclist or farmer.

I wonder if it would work.

That’s great, some serious weight👍. He’s a shot-putter, not a powerlifter.

Just to handle that much is phenomenal. I remember doing big (for me) stuff, and learning to “handle” 4 plates was a big deal, because that’s when bar-bending time starts.

Huge weight!

Sprintgeezer wrote:

That’s great, some serious weight👍. He’s a shot-putter, not a powerlifter.

Just to handle that much is phenomenal. I remember doing big (for me) stuff, and learning to “handle” 4 plates was a big deal, because that’s when bar-bending time starts.

Huge weight!

Yes, huge weight and he's not a powerlifter. Perfectly reasonable for his application.

The angle is poor for assessing depth, but he is doing roughly a half-squat with knee wraps.

The difference to full depth is huge, and more so if you don't train to depth.

My scrawny 132 lb class friend could hit about 430 for a single to depth. Annoyed by bodybuilders doing half squats, he put 505 on the bar and easily did 10 half reps...

Powergeezer wrote:

Yes, huge weight and he's not a powerlifter. Perfectly reasonable for his application.

The angle is poor for assessing depth, but he is doing roughly a half-squat with knee wraps.

The difference to full depth is huge, and more so if you don't train to depth.

My scrawny 132 lb class friend could hit about 430 for a single to depth. Annoyed by bodybuilders doing half squats, he put 505 on the bar and easily did 10 half reps...

Goes down even deeper in this one:

I thought the latest trend for strength the legs in runners were lunges because they isolate the actual running muscles and work one leg at a time.

i feel like none of these guys have ever been to a gym. I'm 5'10 145 and i squatted 225 the first time i ever went to the gym (i'm 19 and don't run much anymore). my hs prs were 57/206/440/10:00/16:50.

lurker 10000 wrote:

i feel like none of these guys have ever been to a gym. I'm 5'10 145 and i squatted 225 the first time i ever went to the gym (i'm 19 and don't run much anymore). my hs prs were 57/206/440/10:00/16:50.

Sounds like you were in the wrong sport with all that natural lifting talent but trash running PRs.

Powergeezer wrote:

Sprintgeezer wrote:

That’s great, some serious weight👍. He’s a shot-putter, not a powerlifter.

Just to handle that much is phenomenal. I remember doing big (for me) stuff, and learning to “handle” 4 plates was a big deal, because that’s when bar-bending time starts.

Huge weight!

Yes, huge weight and he's not a powerlifter. Perfectly reasonable for his application.

The angle is poor for assessing depth, but he is doing roughly a half-squat with knee wraps.

The difference to full depth is huge, and more so if you don't train to depth.

My scrawny 132 lb class friend could hit about 430 for a single to depth. Annoyed by bodybuilders doing half squats, he put 505 on the bar and easily did 10 half reps...

Lolol same thing happened to me, by a guy who went maybe 150. I was doing 4-plate quarters, as sprinters sometimes do—he humphed, got under the bar, and cranked out 5 perfect full squats! LMAO we had a good laugh over it when he found out that I was in a quarter-only session as dictated by a training plan. Even though I outweighed him by 35-40 lbs, his squat was better than mine, 5 plates to 4-1/2.

Good guy, I think he was a powerlifter from Quebec.

JMysterio wrote:

I thought the latest trend for strength the legs in runners were lunges because they isolate the actual running muscles and work one leg at a time.

That’s what I’m doing now, I have dropped big squats. Still do some leg press and DL, but those lunges are interesting. Huge strength that comes from big squats is now gone, though.

That's incredible weight.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

JMysterio wrote:

I thought the latest trend for strength the legs in runners were lunges because they isolate the actual running muscles and work one leg at a time.

That’s what I’m doing now, I have dropped big squats. Still do some leg press and DL, but those lunges are interesting. Huge strength that comes from big squats is now gone, though.

My own opinion is squats are for younger guys. As you get older the stress on knees, piled on years of sports is just too much at that stage. Lunges are done with little or no weights and work calves, hams, hip flexors and quads. Also stretch the muscles at the same time. You can do them stationary or walking. Hey, chicks love them so they can't be all bad.

I don’t have that problem, yet.

I stopped because:

1) my wife ordered me to after she saw me gutting some out she thought I would rupture some blood vessels; and

2) i reduced LP to below 1000 when I saw a YT vid on guys’ legs breaking—search for it, it’s freaky.

Now I do lunges with dumbbells, lower LP, squats, and DL, and cleans from the floor.

But check out those YT vids. Jeezus

Impressive. I expect as much from most of these guys tho. How tall is he?

Is they weren’t Olympic shot putters they’d be competing in strongmen events or in the wwe. Lol

Weighted lunges have always been great. They absolutely kill you. Lunges are a main stay in any S&C program for fb anyway. But they’re usually done with squats as well. There’s nothing really better for leg strength than squats and dead lifts. But all other kinds of exercises thrown in there. Better to walk with your lunges rather than staying in one place. It just helps with core stability and balance.

Leg press machine definitely helps take a lot of stress off of the back for sure. Shouldn’t really do much for your knees unless you’re kind of rolling up and lifting your butt up when the weight comes down. Thus not really bending your legs as much and kinda crapping on the whole point of the lift.

paris2024hawk wrote:

That's some serious weight, he did this last month and he hit 705 for 10 last year.

Wow big deal.

All of the reps were 4 to 5 inches above parallel. That's why they took the video from that angle so you couldn't see how high they were.

Then not only that he's like what 280 pounds body weight or something ? I haven't looked up his exact weight.

Then yeah mass moves mass so this is basically the equivalent of doing a 1100 pound leg press. Big deal.

Then not only that but his back angle is basically straight up and down from the bottom of the high squat to the top of the high squat. So leverage plays a factor in getting that amount of weight up.

This is also sort of like the equivalent of watching 190 pound twinks like deadlifting Panda on instagram(

........deadlift 900 pounds because his back angle from the bottom of the deadlift to the top of the deadlift is straight up and down and he uses all leverage with his long arms.

WOW so strong. So tough. It's all leverage. It's called leverage lifting. This is why his bench press is still only like 390.. And why overall he just looks like a 190 pound 5 foot 7 twink.

If he was strong then he would be benching 600 naturally at the same time as deadlifting 900.

Sprintgeezer wrote:

That’s great, some serious weight👍. He’s a shot-putter, not a powerlifter.

Just to handle that much is phenomenal. I remember doing big (for me) stuff, and learning to “handle” 4 plates was a big deal, because that’s when bar-bending time starts.

Huge weight!

Go find your 1957 video camera and see if you can get some of those videos for us of you lifting.

Where do you think you put it?

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Excellent!