On Tuesday, in Methods of Endurance Training Part 2: Miles Build Champions, I discussed what is probably the most traditional and common of endurance development methods, to whit “pissing around” at fairly low intensities of perhaps 130-150 hear rate for hours at a time and doing it almost daily.
The Problem with Miles Build Champions in the Real World
There is no doubt that this method of training “works” and “has worked” for decades in terms of developing the aerobic engine. It has certain advantages and, like all training methods, certain disadvantages. Perhaps the biggest disadvantage for real humans being the enormous time commitment required. With weekly training volumes of 20-40 weeks, that’s still 2.5-6.5 hours per day (depending on the sport) if someone trains 6 days/week.
Realistically only full-time athletes can do that. At most the average citizen racer might get in several shorter workouts during the week and devote more time on the weekends. … Keep Reading