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Ideal Running Performance Weight Ranges

This is adapted from Bob Glover’s The Competitive Runner’s Handbook.¹

While most elite runners are naturally very slim, the rest of us generally need to work on reducing weight and body fat. We need to strive for a light chassis, strong engine, and most of all, good health. Research has shown that being as lean as possible, while staying healthy, makes you less susceptible to major diseases, and that those who weigh the least tend to live the longest. When we have excess weight, it can negatively affect our running because it puts extra stress on the thermoregulatory and cardiorespiratory systems, and also pound the road with more force, which increases the risk of injury. Simply put, you just can’t run as fast.

So, what’s the best weight to optimize our running performance and be at optimal health? Experts have many theories and there is no clear, stable consensus of how much we should weigh. Most weight charts you see are based on what the average North American weighs, not necessarily what he or she should weigh. As such, those charts tend to have higher weight limits than is really optimal for health. But if you feel and look good, you’re probably pretty close to a healthy weight.

Even so, it’s possible to fit in the range of a healthy weight, but not be at one that is best for your running performance. Competitive runners, especially the elites, are often 10 -20% below what are considered to be standard healthy weight ranges. We can’t all be as slender as the elites runners, but we can at least be light. What happens most of the time is that we approach our ideal performance weight just by training properly for our event. As the mileage arrives at a high, consistent level, the body has to arrive at an effective and comfortable weight. As such, if you ask elite runners about their optimal weight for running, most likely they’ll say that they wait until they’re in shape, and then weigh themselves.

When we’re overweight, we can really slow down our race times. Indeed, up to a certain point, your race times will get better as you lose weight: generally, there is a 1 percent increase in running speed capacity for every 1 percent of total body weight lost. Look at your training diary to see what you weighed when you ran your best races.

The best time to weigh yourself is first thing in the morning after you’ve visited the washroom; don’t step on the scales after you’ve had a run and have lost fluids. Glover recommends weighing yourself every day to avoid gradually gaining or losing weight that you otherwise wouldn’t notice.

The following charts are a list for competitive runners of recommended performance weights. For men, the target weight formula is this: two times your height in inches (which is the average weight for those scrawny elites) plus 10%. For women, the formula for the target weight is this: start at 5’6, 120 pounds; for every inch above this height, add 3 pounds, and subtract 3 from every inch below that. The range is from 10% below to 10% above that target weight for optimal racing. Most runners will find that their best performance weight is at the target weight or slightly below it. For me personally, I was approaching the higher end of the following chart for my height when I had my best races. As the cross-country season progressed, I gradually lost some weight due to increasing training loads, but had my worst races at the end of the season when I was lightest. At the beginning of the season, even though I had a few pounds on the girls lined up beside me, I ran the best I could and ended up winning most of my races (the last couple races of the season I was closer to the target weight, but wasn’t racing as well as I was before.) So, you can use the charts as a general guide, but allow for individual differences and body types. Glover notes that weight gain above, or loss below, the ranges indicated on the charts could mean a loss of both running performance and health. The charts are based on statistics and are only estimated guidelines; they don’t account for individual differences. Depending on your frame size, you may be a little less or more than the charts.

Performance Weight Chart for Male Runners

Performance Weight Chart for Female Runners

¹Bob Glover and Shelly-lynn Florence Glover, The Competitive Runner's Handbook, Revised 3rd Edition, Penguin Group, 1999, p. 437-440.