Air squats to improve performance? Or what else?

1600 is a mind-boggling number of air squats!

I'm guessing that if you went to your local 5k and randomly picked finishers who were 30 minutes or slower, 50% could not do three sets of 10 air squats.

Yeah, I know. 1600 is a lot. I actually did 2000 once, but I decided that that was too freakin' boring. Gave up the big numbers when the weather got better and it was easier to just go on a run. Now I just do a few sets of 300 on any 'off' days. I'm just a hobby jogger old guy and have chicken legs. Don't know why it seems so easy for me.

Everyone in the DGR fam-uh-lee knows that air squats only work if you’re above 14000’

I've been working in sports medicine, injury prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation for over a decade.

Banded glute bridges and variations. Core. Eccentric swiss ball hamstring curls (nordic hamstring curls for advanced/stronger athletes)

As much as everyone think all you need to do or should do is run, I think these things are extremely helpful. You can get away without doing these things for many years, but weaknesses will show and you likely won’t be the best you could be.

In order of benefit, with most beneficial first:

Burpees

Split Jumps

Pistol Squats

Wall sit

Trust me, these work and have the benefit of being complex exercises involving multiple muscle groups as well as balance and coordination and neurological component in coordination of motor functions. There is some nice cardio benefit in the Burpees and Split Jumps.

Goal is to get as much firing as possible, and these exercises do just that.

I have a similar set for targeting core, but that's not what you asked.

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Thanks. This is very good constructive feedback. I like the idea of turning air squats into jump squats as a progression and the skater squats are a great idea. I do pistol squats, but I'll be switching to skater squats because from what I've read since you posted this, skater squats are safer and closer to the running motion. Again, thanks.

I bolded your last paragraph because it's highlights a common writer's dilemma. Something that you and I as veteran runners take for granted might be almost revolutionary to a novice, but how does a writer write about it without turning off the more knowledgeable reader? What might be an 'everybody knows that' moment for you and I could be an 'aha' moment for someone else.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two books that dramatically changed how I train and had a very positive effect on my running career. But years later, when I read these books again, I discovered that there were sections that I already knew, sections that were boring, sections that didn't apply to me, and in one book in particular, several sections that I disagreed with.

Yet those books are priceless to me because they had that one section that created the 'aha' moment that significantly changed how I trained and how I run.

One of the reasons I keep coming back to let's run is that in spite of the trolls and juvenile comments, about 1 in 20 posts has something useful to me. This thread has already far surpassed that. Your comment, "Make it seem heavier by doing it on one leg" is really good prose. I've read similar comments in other articles. The fact itself is almost intuitively obvious, yet it's phrased and highlighted in such a way as to make the significance of the advice stand out.

I made a mistake in how I wrote this topic and how I titled this thread. Obviously, bodyweight squats aren't the missing Holy Grail in training programs. In fact, it's not about squats at all. It's about stopping what you're doing right now and doing somethingright now in 30-60 seconds. Do that a few times throughout the day and the benefits will add up. It could be air squats, jump squats, lunges, step ups, Bulgarian squats, RDLs with dumbbells, etc. Now, if you're a runner in an organized program and have dedicated session on drills and weightlifting, this wouldn't apply.

The exercises I have been given by physios over the years that have helped have mainly focused on glutes and Glute Medius as that is my weaknesses.

Bulgarian split squats

Lunges

Reverse lunges

standard step ups with only pushing using your leg on the step

Stepping sideways onto a step

Glute bridges both and single leg

Various resistant band work for glutes and Glute Medius like monster walk, stepping sideways and donkey kicks as well as knee drives with a resistance band for hip flexors.

Box jumps

Squat jumps

Sumo squat jumps

Then various other body weight exercises for general conditioning and core like

Plank

Various types of sit ups

Press ups

pull ups

calf raises / heel drops

Walking on tip toes can also do with some dumb bells in either hand

From what I have seen there is limited but growing research into strength training for endurance athletes and it is pretty inconclusive. There does seem to be a growing consensus it can help prevent injury though and it seems to work for me.

I've been doing 150-200 air squats 3 days a week for the last 6 months or so. Haven't raced since before covid so I couldn't say if it's made me any faster but I definitely feel like it's made me stronger and less injury prone.

57 yrs old, 40-50 mpw.

A few good comments and lists of helpful exercises that can be done at home.

Fisky, I want to push back a little against part of the spirit of what you suggest. I don't think it's always going to be better to do more. A good plan has workouts and needed recovery. A series of PT style exercises at home can be part of that, but I don't think we should hop up at random and blast through 100s of extra squats.

Studies have shown that plyometrics improve running performance by improving running economy. You are improving the contractile properties of the muscles used in running.

Squat Jumps

Split Jumps

Box Jumps

Single Leg Bounds

It's not about the reps. It's about power.

Alan

Yeah, what triggered this idea was buying a new smartwatch that would alert me every hour if I hadn't moved. I'd get up, move around, and maybe do a few dumbbell curls, and sit back down again. Studies show that avoiding prolonged sitting is good for you.

After doing this a few times, it occurred to me that instead of just moving around, this could be formalized into doing a running specific drill at every notification! Since almost all runners would lack the time or motivation to do an entire workout at every "move" alert, I limited the exercises to running specific exercises that could be done in 60 seconds or less.

While there are lots of decent exercises to choose from, I chose air squats because you literally don't even have to move away from your desk. All you have to do is stand up push your chair back and squat. The chair seat can even help beginners from going too low.

Experienced runners could do a more advanced exercise, of course. The idea is to carry the "get up and move" alert to the next level, which is do a running specific exercise that can be done in 60 seconds or less a few times a day.

Once runners reach a level that's good for them, they could just stay at that level and add other exercises.

For 95% of runners at your local 5K or half marathon, the big limiting factor on their running performance is time and motivation. This "at the 'move" alert, do a running drill" takes almost no time and there is a psychological/motivational benefit to just doing something proactive a few times a day.

Good list, Alan. Do you agree that strength and stability training need to come before power moves? Sure, the posters here could go straight to this, but not everyone can do a split jump starting from scratch. If bodyweight squats are Move 1.0, plyos would be Move 2.0 or 3.0.

I love box jumps! But I don't do them near anything I could fall into. I've fallen doing box jumps and wound up 15 feet away from the box!

What plyometrics would you suggest that most people could do inside their homes? Squat jumps are good... what else? Maybe something could be done while holding a table or counter top for balance?

Now I get you. I work at a desk at home and my PT says to get up and do something several times per day. The worst tightness comes to the hip flexors and quads. A compound of step-through lunges with rdl takes care of it nicely.

1. running specific, easy, low impact, safe, indoors -> poweroff treadmill

very much like using a sled alternating forwards and backwards

I do these thru out the day , even a few minutes gets a good result.

2. back and legs ->trapeze bar with a ladder and a ramp

lean a quality ladder under a hanging tapeze bar with a wooden ramp from the ground up to the first step. You can safely do all kinds of movements with this setup.

3. Need to warmup for this one poweron treadmill hills 4x30 seconds with 4 minutes rest

Started doing these a 3 years ago, current age 66. I can still do the same workout of 10mph at 10 percent grade . Not safe also requires some athletic ability good balance fast reactions. Also requires a careful to warmup .

Old school?:
To quote McDougal:
W.S. George’s “100-Up,” and I’d been doing the exercise regularly. In George’s essay, he says he invented the 100-Up in 1874, when he was a 16-year-old chemist’s apprentice in England and could train only during his lunch hour. By Year 2 of his experiment, the overworked lab assistant was the fastest amateur miler in England. By Year 5, he held world records in everything from the half-mile to 10 miles.

Regarding plyometrics at home, unlike air squats you'll need a proper warm up before most plyo exercises. The easiest would be skipping and 1 legged rear foot elevated hops in place.

Regarding box jumps I place a Reebok type box a couple of inches in front of the wall and jump onto it. Placing it in front of the wall prevents it from moving and it forces me to land properly. I still do box jumps once a week, not as a plyo exercise but as a warm up for power exercises and for teaching my body to soften the forces of landing.

More details please. Do you have a video or some photos?

In terms of strength training:

Power before Strength before Higher Reps.

Box Jumps: Make sure it is actually a box jump and not just how high you can bring your legs up. 18-24in is just fine for a box jump.

Depth Jump: Step off a box. Land. Jump up!

Single leg variations: Very difficult. Box should be low. 6-12in is more than enough.

Jay Johnson actually had some videos that showed a lot of nice plyos and specific strength exercises like a loaded quarter squat done very quickly. This was maybe 10-15 years ago? I have the DVDs somewhere...

Alan