Training Volume

Perhaps a better title for this chapter is “Less Is More.” Meaning that for the average athlete with other responsibilities, less training usually produces better athletic performance than trying to accumulate many miles and hours of training.

While I have worked with many professional athletes in virtually all sports during my career, the majority of the athletes I’ve helped are not professionals. I’ve learned that if you work a full-time job and have a family, a house, and other responsibilities, you can still train and perform at very high levels. But don’t expect to be able to put in the same amount of time and mileage as professional athletes. Nor do you need to for success. In fact, many of these pros put in much less time training than you’d think.

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Most of the time, I find that less rather than more total training hours per week allows for better recovery and less stress. This helps the aerobic system build itself much more efficiently. When your competitive season comes, you’re more refreshed and ready to race.

I had one patient by the name of Carla who was a middle-of-the-pack triathlete in her late thirties with hopes of improving her times. But after her fourth year of diminishing returns, she searched for a better approach. After reading one of my earlier books, she strictly followed the program, except for one thing: her training schedule averaged eighteen hours per week. Unfortunately, Carla really didn’t have the time for that amount of training, but she tried to squeeze in the workouts. She worked part-time and had a family with two young children. As a result, she woke earlier in the morning and stayed up later in the evening to catch up on other work. For Carla, this meant less sleep and inadequate recovery. After some improvements in her MAF during the first few months, she became very fatigued and began feeling physical discomfort in her lower back and knees.

In late fall, Carla came to my clinic for help. My first recommendation was that she reduce her schedule to about twelve hours per week—it was the only training schedule change necessary. Carla was doing everything else right. By next summer’s racing season, eight out of nine races were personal bests for Carla, and she placed in the top five of her age-group in four of those events.