The Most Effective Endurance Training Method - The Science Explained
What training intensity distribution shows better results? This video discusses the current evidence surrounding threshold, polarised, and pyramidal training models commonly used by endurance athletes. The small evidence-base of this topic remains an issue with regards to establishing a confident consensus, and therefore future videos are planed once more evidence emerges.
Disclaimers:
To Know Sport is not a doctor or a medical professional. Before starting any new diet and/or exercise program please check with your doctor. Use of this information (in the video) is strictly at your own risk. Any recommendations made are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The content in the video is for educational and informational purposes regarding the scientific evidence base on exercise and nutritional topics for healthy adults. To Know Sport will not assume any liability for direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from the use of information contained in this video including but not limited to economic loss, injury, illness, or death. Science is frequently based on average results, therefore due to person-to-person variability, individual results are not guaranteed and may vary.
References
Stöggl, T. and Sperlich, B., 2014. Polarized training has greater impact on key endurance variables than threshold, high intensity, or high volume training. Frontiers in physiology, 5, p.33.
Hydren, J.R. and Cohen, B.S., 2015. Current scientific evidence for a polarized cardiovascular endurance training model. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 29(12), pp.3523-3530.
Stöggl, T.L. and Sperlich, B., 2015. The training intensity distribution among well-trained and elite endurance athletes. Frontiers in physiology, 6, p.295.
Gordon, D., Wightman, S., Basevitch, I., Johnstone, J., Espejo-Sanchez, C., Beckford, C., Boal, M., Scruton, A., Ferrandino, M. and Merzbach, V., 2017. Physiological and training characteristics of recreational marathon runners. Open access journal of sports medicine, 8, p.231.
Seiler, S., 2010. What is best practice for training intensity and duration distribution in endurance athletes?. International journal of sports physiology and performance, 5(3), pp.276-291.
Milanović, Z., Sporiš, G. and Weston, M., 2015. Effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIT) and continuous endurance training for VO 2max improvements: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials. Sports medicine, 45(10), pp.1469-1481.
Bacon, A.P., Carter, R.E., Ogle, E.A. and Joyner, M.J., 2013. VO 2 max trainability and high intensity interval training in humans: a meta-analysis. PloS one, 8(9), p.e73182.
Kenneally, M., Casado, A. and Santos-Concejero, J., 2018. The effect of periodization and training intensity distribution on middle-and long-distance running performance: a systematic review. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13(9), pp.1114-1121.
Neal, C.M., 2011. Training intensity distribution, physiological adaptation and immune function in endurance athletes.
Kenneally, M., Casado, A., Gomez-Ezeiza, J. and Santos-Concejero, J., 2020. Training Intensity Distribution analysis by Race Pace vs. Physiological approach in World-Class middle-and long-distance runners. European Journal of Sport Science, (just-accepted), pp.1-23.
Plews, D., Polarised to Pyramidal Training Intensity Distribution: The Principle of Specificity is Key. Available at: www.trizone.com.au/20180314/p...
I recommend the book 80/20 running to anyone trying to know more about the subject-its a quick read
That book got me started. I am about 5 months in. My garmin vo2 went from 40 to 46 so far
Awesome... thanks for the tip
80/20 is stil a lot 😅, also depeands on your Total volume
Can I apply that to indoor cycling? It is not safe in MX to go outside
Who is the author??
After watching your video, I was very convinced that this might actually work, so I tried this out and designed a 1-month training plan based on your explanations. I am not a very experienced runner, I was averaging maybe around 30k/week that time. The high intensity parts (~25%) were in the form of two interval training sessions per week (X times 500m/1000m) and the rest (~75%) was simply slowly jogging. I increased the mileage by 10% every week (30/33/36/40). I ran a half-marathon before and after the 4 weeks of training (one week recovery after the training block). The results are amazing: I could lower my half-marathon pace from 4:54/km to 4:25/km, which I find very impressive. Thanks for your video and for inspiring me! I really loved the scientific approach and after testing it out "in real life", I am even more convinced, that this is a great method! Hope my case can show some people that this is actually worth trying.
can you describe that training planin more detail? I'm trying to make some training plans like that myself (though I've never tried making one for a half marathon). what was each day of training like?
Thanks for the comment, looking forward to give it a try :D
omg!!! I can’t wait to do the same!!! Thanks for the info
Anecdotal example for an intermediate 5k....I ran mostly zone 2 mileage 80% of the time and the remaining 20% was balls to the walls run at my max pace, and I shaved a full minute off my 5k time.... I think the body needs the active recovery and rest. BTW, powerlifters actually train in a similar fashion....most of their training is high volume. They try to hit their PR on the platform.
Great work dude!
Love the way you cover Sports Medicine and Exercise Physiology 👌🏻 I understand you must be busy pursuing your PhD but would really appreciate if you continued making such videos regularly!!
Fantastic that's clear , synthetic, practical and scientific based.. What a work man ! Can't wait for the futurs videos. Cheers from France, and thank you for your amazing work !
Really interesting video. Glad I stumbles across the channelled. Now subbed and off to watch the rest of them!
Been struggling a bit to plan my endurancetraining, this was VERY helpful! Thank you🙏😊
Yo m8, recently discovered your channel. Well presented content, simply explained, keep it up ! I subscribed !
I loved the content and subbed. Keep up the great work, this is precious information.
Thanks for this video, makes alot of sense now.. I feel like I've beeing doing 80% of my runs in level 2 and the times weren't improving.
Man, this really cleared some things up. I'll make a weekly training schedule based on this video, thanks in advance!
Thanks for this, I've seen a lot of videos like this but it's easy to get lost in the numbers. I found your video very clear and very nicely explained. I've always favoured the polorized approach leaning towards a pyramid near to races to it's nice to have that validated and makes a lot of sense, just like your video.
😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😮
This is by far the best "running-training-video" i've ever seen.
I’ve found this video very informative. Thanks for your efforts. Keep up the good work. Wish u All the best 😊
Great video 👍👍👍 A point on race pace %. I do a lot of indoor rowing and a lot of programmes work off race pace for your 2k time. Lots of people report back that they have had good improvements working off this system. I do think I a lot of newer rowers use this program and the more experience (from my experience and talking to others) tend to drift towards doing more zone 1 training and high intensity intervals.
AN EXTREMELY ACCURATE AND WELL-DONE, WELL-DEVELOPED CONTENT AND RESEARCH SUMMARIZE IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES. LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR FUTURE VIDEOS.
Very clear, informative and practical advice that I will be bringing to my training. Thank you.
I was going to comment how good this video was but realised i already did a year ago. Please make more on this topic!
This video provides golden information. Thank you!!
Hey I absolutely loved this video! Did you ever end up posting that video about the relationship between training volume and endurance performance?
Yes I would love to see this!!
One other point to add to this video (great video) for anyone who is looking to follow something similar. This does not take into account in the weekly volume that you will likely (for a 5x 1k workout) need to do a proper warm up and cool down, this should be anywhere between 2-3km (or 10-15min each). One other thing to keep in mind for longer runs on Sundays is that intensity is very important, sometimes HR is not everything. Over time there is something called "cardiac drift" meaning that into the area of 1h30min-2h the heart rate will steadily increase likely due to environmental factors like heat and dehydration. There isn't only one way to do it but being mindful of how your body feels on the day to day is equally as important as training structure. Happy running
For cool downs, there is no substantial body of scientific literature that says it's necessary. It's just a common practice, more like a tradition in the running community, that's been upheld without much question. The best reasoning I heard was after workouts (high intensity) which makes sense. But cool downs after easy runs (i.e. 80/20 method)? Relatively pointless. If anything, I'd argue stretching would be more beneficial after any type of run.
@@TickleMeElmo55 he said after an intense workout. It isn’t necessary for easy runs because they essentially are just a long cooldown. Warming up is definitely important for speed days though
Very correct
🔝🔝💪🏻
@@benanastasoff8980 No, the evidence even says it's not necessary for harder efforts. It's essentialy just extra mileage, so it does have some benefits for endurance based on that, but nothing else.
This is an awesome digestion of the scientific evidence into something we can do - tomorrow. Great job!
Great explanation of a complicated subject. This is really cool for breaking down training sessions and what type of training and each chapter of season
This is the right type of channel.
This channel needs more subs
As he kind of outlined, it all depends on the race distance you are training for and where in the season you are (ie months from goal race). But either way, a middle distance runner would do less mileage and more intensity than a marathoner so even though training for both has similarities, the different demands of these disciplines require markedly different training. I'm a big believer in heart rate training mainly because it is ideal for keeping you within a range of exertion so that you don't over cook your training and are much less likely to get injured. Of course, you would not use HR if you were going on a race pace run or intervals but for all the rest of your training - easy, long, and tempo runs - HR is a great way to keep you from going too hard and wrecking your training plan. It's never about one specific session, it's about the training program as a whole. If you miss two full weeks through injury in the middle of a 12 week program to go for a PB then you might as well forget about it and regroup for another race. Often, an injury during an interval session or race pace run has its roots in needlessly overcooking the lesser intense runs on a regular basis - it all adds up to push you over the edge. HR training to temper your intensity on those slower runs (especially when you are feeling great!) can save you from this heartache.
I like the music in the background. It calms me down, while listening to you. Very well chosen :)
Love this! Thanks for explaining and giving a practical example of it.
Excellent video. Great scientific info delivered succinctly without fluff. Thanks!!
clear and straight forward, i'm glad i got recommended this video. thanks a bunch !
Very high quality video 🙌, especially for a young channel
Aerobic training is crucial, I didn't train my aerobic most of time as weren't paying attention and just running too hard (170bpm) so I was always training anaerobic as my anaerobic threshold is 159. I now started running between 139-149bpm to train my aerobics, it's so bad I have to almost walk to keep my heart rate this low, quite eye opening. So most people just running for health probably aren't training their aerobic health. I do slow easy runs now up to 8 miles most days, and then one harder threshold run/intervals.
So if you run so its actually a challenge it doesn’t boost any stats? Tf do I have a body for then if it can’t even supercompensate in any meaningful way!?
Good video with facts, research and beeing well-spoken.
Analysis of the routines followed by professional athletes would make for a great watch.
You and most of us cannot and will not train like this extreme group people constantly try to compare themselves to..
I enjoyed the insight and found this video enjoyable...I will review and give some thought regarding strategic training....even as just an older age group runner-helpful info! Thnx.
Commenting to help you with the algo. This is a great video and thanks for making it!
Very good video. Interesting was the distribution of the running pace (04:53) as a maybe better training principle. This is basicly a training by power (Watt) which is widly used in cycling ....
I love the piano background music and great information too
Thank you for this, fantastic content and explanation. Could you do a video about training blocks?
Thanks a ton for the clear and detailed and SCIENTIFIC explainations, loved it !
There's so much more to training than volume of intensity distribution. But for the purpose of volume of intensity distribution, this is still an interesting video. Thank you for this video.
Thanks for the clarity and quality of this video
Excellent video! Very well explained and great visuals. What age would you say this is aimed at?
Incredibly well explained. Thanks very much!
Great video!!! Question for you during the base season... shouldn't I just on what you call Z1 ...so I can build a better aerobic capacity and then start the polarized ? Thanks again
Many thanks for this amazing video! Informative and out of assumptions. Purely based on research!
Clear and concise, not like many other videos on the subject. Thanks!
Wrong...
Off session polarised training, on season pyramid, great video, 👏
Loved this info! Thanks mate!
I always love rewatching this video, it video really helped me a lot!
Thank you for your hard work, really helpful
Really liked this video. I was on a hunt for actual evidence-based information on heart rates, instead of people just saying "MAF says" or coaches asserting things, and it took a while to find this one.
Congratulations on getting past MAF, many people waste a lot of good training time in that cult
Subbed. More of this, please
Great video, I’d be interested to see this applied to rowing. I’m a lightweight rower and looking to improve my 2k. Fingers crossed you can do a rowing related video in the future.
Maybe of interest to have a look at Rowalong. Great programs to follow along for specific distance. He is a very good coach and funny too. All free. The basic protocol is similar to what is suggested here. I am not convinced by the zone 2 though; for me it’s about zone 1 (80%), zone 3 (20%) and in the lead up to your 2k some goal pace work. And rest especially after the zone 3. Hope that is useful.
You should look at the German kayak program. Our races are half the length and do 78-80 percent z1 training. You should be doing that at least.
Just found this account and it’s amazing
Wacthing from brazil. Great explanation!!
Excellent presentation of training zones.
This was super interesting. Would love to see more like it.
High quality contents! 👍
Percentage of time vs percentage of distance is an important distinction that I don't see made a lot. In zone 3 you'll obviously run significantly more kilometers in the same amount of time than in zone 1. It'd be interesting to see how % of distance and % of time compare.
Seiler actually based his percentages on days -- so if today's run included any high-intensity running at all it was a high-intensity day. I believe I heard a podcast where he was a guest where he stated that by time division it would be more like a 90/10 split.
@@runknerd You "believe", or you KNOW? WHICH IS IT CRETIN? 🤣👌
This is why cyclist train by time and power. 100 flat miles vs 100 all downhill miles vs 100 uphill miles are radically different training loads.
I didn't search for your channel but got a recommendation from KZhead. The generic training plan you used as the example is coincidentally very similar to my own 1/2 marathon training plans I've used over the years. At first I didn't know why my plan had 50km/week, but it worked. As the years went on and I've moved to marathon then ultra distances, my first training experience was special. By the way...my Garmin has 5 different heart rate intensity zones. I prefer training by effort rather than pace - another reason I enjoyed watching this video.
How do you measure effort?
@@cultjunky Heart rate zones. Garmin sports watches have that ability built-in.
Great video! I like how you simplified the whole thing. Around 2 months back I heard about the 80/20 easy runs split and HR training method. I tried it and it's working magic for me. Infact all my life I was told that easy runs was for old people and those who can't run so I actually never ran an easy run. I'm not a complete beginner but I've been very inconsistent. Only recently, I finally decided to be Consistent, fking Consistent! coz I got tired of sucking at it I guess ;) But I simply started without any research, mostly to avoid procrastinating again. Was a mess as I ran based on my mood from zone 2 to maxing out. Barely managed 4-6km and had to rest every other day due to burnout. When I finally tried out the so called easy runs that supposedly every elite endurance runner does, my distance increased to 8km immediately. That run was life changing as I never felt so nice after a run. I didn't even need to rest so I went the whole week, then the next week too. Ran a half marathon the 3rd week for the first time in my life. After a day of rest got back to 8km for another week and then 14km for the next. Found that I was pushing myself so dropped to 12km. And now, I'm comfortably doing 12 everyday without rest. My warm up and cool down session is strict so that might be what helped me adapt so quickly to my distance pretty much tripling in 2 months. That said, it's just easy runs currently as I want to build my aerobic base and get my body used to running daily. Not to mention, my progress is probably too fast so don't want to burden myself with anything else. After about 3 months which should be my 6th month of consistent running, I'm planning to incorporate some zone 3 again, likely going with the polarised split. Well, just wanted to say Thank you. There are many people who live under a rock their whole lives, some like myself are still in some prehistoric iceberg. So accidently coming across videos like these can often be life altering. Those that are well-researched and explained in simple terms, even moreso.
Almost word for word what I experienced. Had severe injury issues for forever and was able to run 30min to 1h per week. Then finally went for an actual easy(10min/km) run with heart rate in zones 2-3 instead of 4-5 and two weeks in I ran my first ever half marathon. In total 5h 30min week. On my third week now and did 9k easy and some shorter runs already. I'll take 4th week a little easier just in case.
Bro, its like the same situation with me. I could barely run 5k and the day after i would feel so beaten but easy runs saved me from very bad shin splints and it band syndrom. Easy runs are the foundation to long distance running
Would love to see that video on training volume, intrigued by the non-linear relationship
Thank you good sir for this valuable information. I would love to see a video on how this would apply to a combat sports athlete.
Great content explained very well, will make my new plan based on the info.
Thank you for this video. It was helpful.
Thanks one of the best presentations
This can only be done when you have decent weekly mileage. For someone just starting out and has never run let's say a 5k before, it won't work. My zone2 pace in the very beginning was 9:41min/km(15min/mile). There's no way someone can jog that slow with horrible form and not get injured. Get your mileage up at first without worrying about all this and just run. Once your 5k pace drops to sub 8min/km or 7min/km start incorporating this. Saying this from my personal experience. Maybe it'll help somebody. Also, your heart rate will spike very high when you starting running after a long time/break. It's totally normal. Just keep at it you can do it!
Interesting and informative content, thankyou. Probably a separate discussion but do you think the returns from doing speed work week in week out are limited? I tend to incorporate high intensity work 8 weeks out from a race. Following that I may just focus 100% on low intensity for a block of time (Perhaps increasing volume) until the next target race block. Mainly because my legs are old! 😄
Great question - I hope someone can answer it...
I love this! Thank you very much :)
It was very interesting, I am glad to know a bit more about the running zones and to know the importance of moving in the zone 1 for building endurance and stamina ,thanks for the información
This is gold
great content! subbed, thanks!
This recommendation just popped up on my feed, and looking through all of your video topics, with the music, I am MOIST with excitement. Looks like a cool channel sir!
This is very good advice! Great video. One thing: When in doubt, do less. Consistency is key, if you over do it and get injured, the consistency is gone and so are the results. I repeat, when in doubt, do less. I found this out the hard way, many times, sadly. It took a few years of ultra running and too many injuries to jog the brain into some sense.
Thanks. I really needed to read this after dealing with so many injuries from overuse.
Thanks so much this was very informative. Please keep this kind of videos flowing !
Interesting. Very helpful!
I've always been an advocate of Dr Michael Greger's quote "what does the say". That's where you know what's effective and what's not. ✌️
Very informative.Thanks
excilent summary of basic parameter for anaerobic training beginners
Polarized training really helps make sure you stay in love with the sport. Once you get bored with long slow distances, you have crazy hard intervals to look forward to and maybe a group ride to try and break away from, but won’t get too burned out by not doing it more than two or three times a week.
Thanks for the info! Does it work for someone who is willing to do a physical test (~2,5km in 12 minutes goal) in about 4 months? It seems that this strategy is more for people who run A LOT more than that.
well explained! thank you!
Loving the soundtrack in the background 😅
Appreciate this video! Great info
Great coverage! Does the time spent in each zone have to be segregated? Would it be different if in the same session you spend time in zone one and then come to a hill and charge up the hill at zone 3 effort and then flip back to zone one effort, for example? Your heart might not go all the way back down but is it heart rate or effort that matters? The totally segregated schedules seem a bit synthetic.
The body doesn't know distance it only knows time and intensity. That said distance can still be a good measurement as well. Good video👍
Great content. First of all it should be noticed that we know 3, 5 and also 7 Zone systems. You used 3 zones, great. But many others use Z1-Z5.
That is a good point. I use the 1-5 just because that’s what garmin uses. I saw the thumbnail photo and thought, “no zone 4-5!”, but obviously just a different system
I was wondering why he only had 3 zones instead of 5.
Very good video! I habe a question regarding TID: Shouldn't distribution be measured in training time instead of km? Anyway - well explained(: keep it up👍
Volume is measured both ways by different programs. I’ve tried both and haven’t really seen a benefit to one versus the other. It’s all a matter of personal preference
Very Clean, Thank you!
Very good, thanks, gracias from Costa Rica
I would be interested in a video on running form, should I try to bring my knee as high as possible or should I try to bring my feet high as possible, and how to get faster
it is so informative , thank you
Bro that video is fire 🎉
Can you do a video on top-down training design? To go in-depth about starting with a sport goal and the importance of designing a training program around said goal ... A video on sport specificity more generally would be cool. Lol
uphill athlete also covers this and is another great resource
very well done video!
I found that content interesting. I have many recommendations
Great Video!
Great presentation
For polarised training, some advocate that it's better to train at very high intensity rather than at high intensity. A lot of research have been done on this by a French trainer/athlete based in Reunion Island.