best weight for a distance runner

Lose some weight fat ass! Just kidding. I'm 6'0, 144ish. But I can't seem to keep this weight. I eat more and more and lose more and more weight.

127lbs

I'd say the ideal weight for a 5'10 guy wuold be around 125-130 if you want to be elite. I believe Dathan is 5'7 and 115 pounds or something. Not every 5'10 guy is capable of that though while eating healthy depending on your make up.

A list of all the top 10k guys and their weights would give you a good general idea. I'm guessing most of them are lighter then you want to be.

I think your thinking or Ritz'z highschool weight. I believe he weighs like 120- 125 now?

125-130 at 5 ft. 10 huh... thanks for encouraging anorexia.

Chris Solinsky-big: heading towards Sub 13:30

Alan Webb-fairly big: 3:48 mile, Gonna be sub 13 soon

Steve Jones(marathon WR holder for GB)-fairly big

Steve Jones had like 20 or 30 pounds on Seb Coe, and the marathon its far more important than an 8. size and weight don't matter at all, unless its in a fight.

Remember-

It doesn't matter how big you are as long as it's YOUR ideal weight, not someone else's. Besides its nice if your ideal weight is 150 or something, so if some lil 120 dude wants to start something you can throw him across the room and sit on him, like what should happen to all lil dudes in addition to them never getting laid. PEACE.

Let me be even more clear about what I mean by ideal, your natural body weight on a natural/healthy diet is this:

A) less than 5% body fat

B) Don't do any heavy lifting anywhere (in the Abs its ok)

The state you progress to as you stop lifting and loose fat while eating healthy food (with moderate but essential reb meats and proteins, etc.) should be your ideal body weight. Remember you also have to run alot if you want to be good, not just weigh nothing.

Proof size doesn't hinder performance.

thanks for the good reply. too many people think that you should basically be as light as possible for your height, which just isn't true.

during cross in college (a few years ago), I got down to ~140-143, and I'm just under 6 feet. It was just way too light for me personally, and it contributed to my shitty performances. I think I was unhealthy and weak. for my last season of track, in particular, I said f*** it to the stupid dieting...got up to about ~153-155 lbs, and ran a regional qualifier in the 5k along with a couple other good performances (all conference, etc...) considering my progression from high school. I also believe the more extensive lifting I was doing while I ran better helped me out.

most of the guys who are super light are that way without too much effort. Don't believe the "well Dathan weighs this, so you should too" stuff.

eat healthy, make sure to get your weekly beer intake (that is, relax and have fun however you see fit), and work your ass off when it comes to workout time.

im 5'11 170, and feel good.

5'7" and 114lb, feeling good as well.Even if I ate like pig and didn't run as much, I wouldn't weight more than 125-130lbs.

Let us know when Dathan is healthy, then we can weigh him.

mrr82 wrote:

I'd say the ideal weight for a 5'10 guy wuold be around 125-130 if you want to be elite. I believe Dathan is 5'7 and 115 pounds or something. Not every 5'10 guy is capable of that though while eating healthy depending on your make up.

128 lbs

The sad reality is that ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL being lighter is better.

There is no arguement with this no matter how much we want to hide/cloak the issue with one-off examples or tales of anorexia.

The problem is that the flip side of lower weight is lower immunity - i.e all else is not equal and there is a trade off at a certain weight. Dipping under this indefinitely will produce illness. At a lower level again there is a risk of loss of muscle strength resulting in injury.

BUT, you will run better at a lower weight if you manage the weight loss correctly over time and don't go too far.

There are too many examples of very lean athletes performing at an elite level to counter this argument. Many of the kenyans racing in the wx y'day were circa 100lbs.

The track and field news rankings from last year list heights and weights for the top-ten ranked athletes. The ranked athletes at 10000m range from 5-3 to 5-7.75 in height and 106 - 132 in weight (tallest guy is not the heaviest). The ranked athletes at 5000m range from 5-3 to 6-2 in height and 115 - 159 in weight (Mottram is the tallest guy and is the heaviest by over 20 lbs).

Generally, 2lbs for every inch of height. So, for you, that's 140lbs.

This is a great question for Mr. Chest.

post of the day

It doesn't matter what your weight is. It's BODY FAT %. Get someone who is experienced check you with calipers at the local gym or school, or you can buy a quality scale that measures % fat through electrical impedence. Neither method is 100% accurate but will give you a ballpark figure. 5-7% is what you want. During heavy training a little more fat will give you a buffer from illness. When peaking try to be closer to 5%, the lighter training won't be so hard on your immune system.