When I started coaching athletes nearly 30 yrs ago, I literally knew next to nothing about the best ways to train. The first athlete programs I put together were so basic & so simple that one might be hard-pressed to classify them as “training” programs. My triathlon training advice primarily consisted of swim 3x per week, bike 3x per week & run 3x per week. And maybe…just maybe…do some of those back-to-back. As the years went by, I learned more, got a bit smarter, new training gadgets came out &, as a result, the training programs I created about 15-20 yrs ago became much more complicated. I encouraged athletes to lactate threshold test (or do comparable field tests) & then used that data to create detailed interval workouts ranging from Level 1 to Level 5c intensities. Then, about 5-10 yrs ago, I came full circle back to the basics. Over the years, what I’ve seen time & time again is that the ONE thing that matters most, the ONE thing that makes athletes better is consistency…you just gotta do the workouts! All the fancy workouts in the world won’t make you any fitter, faster, stronger…if you don’t do them. And frankly, the more complicated the workout, the more mental barriers there are because you need to understand it, figure it out, integrate it just right into the entirety of the training program. It should be no surprise that all of those barriers can make it less likely that it’ll get completed. So, here I am 30 yrs later going back to training basics & prescribing super simple workouts.
How to Simplify Your Workouts
Step 1: Go EASY most of the time.
The majority of your workouts should be easy…and I mean EASY. Forget heart rates, paces, wattage. I now use a very simple way to ensure that athletes go easy enough – nose breathing. If you can’t breathe in & out of your nose while doing your activity…you’re going too hard. Pretty simple, eh?!
Step 2: Go HARD a small amount of the time.
High intensity training is one of the best ways to improve fitness…especially among aerobic athletes & older populations. I used to prescribe 05-15min repeated intervals thinking that this was “high intensity” training. Unfortunately, no. What I was encouraging my athletes to do was to go just hard enough to make those intervals FEEL difficult, but not so hard that they couldn’t complete all repetitions. Essentially, I trained them to pace themselves….which is not high intensity training. Now I have them do much shorter 10-30sec intervals with lots of rest in between. And, instead of telling them to do a certain number of reps, they repeat until the distance covered in that interval time decreases. Then they’re done! (A Tip: If an athlete completes more than 8-10 of these, I know that they’re not going all-out. Our goal is to do LESS reps rather than more.)
Step 3: Cut the volume down to bare minimum.
The days of doing huge volumes to prepare for events is quickly coming to an end. Thankfully. In recent years we’ve learned that lots of volume:
- Creates excessive amounts of microtrauma
- Overstresses the ligaments & tendons
- Increases stress hormones
- Breaks down muscle mass
- Prevents the body from rebuilding & healing
When I look back on the volumes I used to prescribe for athletes…I cringe. I hate to think about how all that volume kept my athletes in a tired, fatigued state by never allowing them time to fully recover. By cutting the volume back we get better results from our training primarily because we’re better rested & recovered. It’s the old adage of less is more!
Step 4: Enjoy NOT training!
Yep, you read that correctly! Enjoy the time you spend NOT training. This is a tough one for athletes to accept because we’ve often become “addicted” to training. I’ve been there, I know exactly what this feels like. I LOVE exercise & frankly, I would love to do it every day. I’ve also used the justification that exercise is “good for me” & so therefore, more is better. I’ve used it as way to relax, a way to destress & a way to get through highly emotional & difficult times. A counselor once told me that regularly using exercise to avoid situations, emotions, feelings was just as much an addiction as using alcohol, drugs, etc. Certainly not as immediately dangerous…but an addiction nonetheless. Now I encourage my athletes to work on life balance. I encourage them to:
- Find other hobbies/activities that bring them joy
- To identify themselves in more ways than as “a marathoner” or “a triathlete”
- To find friends who are non-athletes
So, there you have it! These are a few ways that you can go back to basics & simplify your training. And who knows…you just might find that your training is more consistent & more effective which, of course, will lead to better results.
Happy Training!
Coach Michelle
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