Thread by @stevemagness

Developing endurance is simple, yet difficult.

How do you get fitter aerobically? What should I worry about to get better? I get asked this question all the time. So here's the answer

From beginner to Olympian, here’s what to worry about when it comes to endurance development:

1. Consistency trumps all else.

Good, solid consistent work stacked month after month, year after year is what leads to better performance.

You can’t skip steps. It takes time. What’s that mean?

Do whatever you can while being healthy with over the long haul

2. Most go too hard on easy days and too easy on hard days

You need to create enough stimulus to embarrass the body. This is relatively hard, about a 7/8 out of 10.

You need to recover to absorb that training so you adapt. Go easy: 2/3 out of 10

Don't get caught in the middle

3. Most obsess over whatever we can measure. So be intentional.

Miles per week, Heart Rate Variability, Watts… whatever we measure, we get attached to it and start changing our training to point towards that.

That’s why you need to be intentional about what you measure.

4. Learn to listen to your body

Your body is constantly giving you feedback. Are you listening? Can you speak the language?

Do you know what 5min mile pace should feel like for you? How about 5:15? 5:30?

You should be able to dial into that based on breathing, movement, effort

That’s the level of precision needed.

Do you know the difference between pain and injury?

Learn the different signals, from breathing to feelings to subtle variations in movement.

5. Most overtraining is actually under-recovering.

You jam pack too much work in back to back to back. You get stuck on a 7 day cycle, without allowing space to recover.

Add more space. Let your body absorb the work.

6. There are no magical training paces or workouts.

Everything works. And doesn’t. It’s about the right stress in the right amount at the right time.

What are you trying to improve?

There are many roads to Rome. All training is an experiment of 1.

What we know about training is more rules of thumb than laws. Start with what seems to work for the majority. Then explore from there.

7. Balance opposing forces.

I like to think of it as a seesaw with speed and endurance on opposing sides.

The pivot point shifts with the athlete and the race.

What you’re trying to do is find the right balance of speed and endurance for that pivot point at the right time.

8. Take the next logical step

Don’t go there until you need to go there. Progress when your body has absorbed the training. Don't skip steps.

Instead of trying to force our way into big breakthroughs, take the next logical step.

9. Win more workouts than you lose

For the majority of the hard workouts, they should challenge you, but you should walk away feeling good.

If you start 'losing' workouts, it's a sign you need to back off.

But, Steve this is philosophical what should I really do?!

Look, we can get complicated but the simple fact is: nail the basics.

Frank Shorter said it best:
2 hard workouts and a long run, plus as much volume as you can handle. Do that for years.

Or as @DrMJoyner writes, follow the running haiku:

Run a lot of miles
Some of them very very fast
Rest once in a while

For workouts: It depends on the race and your strengths/weaknesses.

But cycle through ones targeted at the nuance of intensities.

A rule of thumb:
1. Focus on the Extremes first- Lots of easy stuff. And non-fatiguing fast work (i.e. 100m) learning to run fast and relaxed.

2. Then work towards the middle. Keeping the easy stuff. Never forget what you developed.

Cycling through a variety of intensities and ways to get the same adaptation.

But, Steve what about HIIT, Lactate Threshold, Critical Power, VO2max….

Look, those things are interesting. But… there’s nuance… each intensity from pure sprinting to joggings has a different stimulus. Running a 60 second 400 has a different effect than 63… nuance!

Don’t get lost in the labels.

100m repeats with short rest can give you the same effect as a 5-mile steady tempo run

It’s about learning how to manipulate the workout variables to get the desired stimuli for the adaptation you’re after

Ask what you’re after. Then get creative

So what?
Nail the basics for a very long time and you'll get 99% of the way there.

Most people get lost in the details before they need to. Save that for a coach.

We've talked about endurance development, but the same principles hold true for getting better at just about anything.

I could talk all day about this stuff, but hopefully, you gleaned some valuable insights.

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