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10% rule (Read 963 times)

Wing


Joggaholic

    Just wondering what your thoughts are on this? The article is from last year, my apology if this is a repost...


    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/health/nutrition/21best.html

    DoppleBock


      I guess what is your question?

       

      If a person was starting to run for the 1st time ever how does he or she pick the starting point?  10% of 0 = 0.

       

      But I will say the 1st time you achieve more mileage per week or your longest long run it is the hardest ~

       

      For new runners and runners of pretty low mileage it might make a lot of sense to follow a 10% rule.  For a runner that has run 10 years at 60 Miles per week and wants to hit 80 - It would be much easier on them then someone who has run 6 months and only the last 1 month at 60 MPW.

       

      Or someone that has run 120 mile weeks for years and gets injured ~ Ramping up from 40-80-120 has much less risk.

       

      I am not much about rules - It is better to learn to listen to your body - But for people who do not understand how to listent o their body these types are rules can serve a purpose.

      Long dead ... But my stench lingers !

       

       

      Wing


      Joggaholic

        I guess what is your question?

         

        Your explanation is kind of what I was looking for. I'm just naturally curious about how the rule came about (which I failed to find) and the validity of the arguments on both sides, that's all.

         

        Thanks

        vegefrog


          I think it's just a good general rule that's easy for new runners to remember. Most new runners aren't going to download a training plan or search the internet for a plan. They are just going to go out and run, and this gives them a little guidance.

           

          I increased mileage by about 25% per month, since I started running in September. I have remained injury free and never felt exhausted or over trained.

           

          I think for someone who has never, ever run before this just helps them ease into running, like you would do with anything.

          For someone who has always been a runner, but maybe stopped for a few months, they wouldn't necessarily have to follow this rule.

           

          I think a lot depends on the individual and what sort of running they are doing. Ramping up 10% of easy run miles is way different then adding 10% of speed work  miles.


          Feeling the growl again

            Maybe Daniels or someone like that coined it?

             

            It's conveniently round, so you can be pretty sure there's no science behind it and someone picked it out of thin air to tell new runners "build up slowly and don't be too aggressive startin out."

             

            As has been pointed out, it does not apply well to experienced runners rebuilding to mileage levels with which they already have experience.

             

            It also does not work well for higher mileage runners going to a new level.  Say someone already runs 70 mpw.  So they build at 10% per week...77, 85, 93, 102...in only a month they go from 70 to 100+, which is very likely to be too much and cause issues.  Not at all the same as 15, 17, 19, 21....

            "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

             

            I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

             

            jEfFgObLuE


            I've got a fever...

              It seems like 10% makes the most sense in mid-range miles, say 30 to 50mpw.  

               

              At 10 mpw, you're only going from 10 to 11 miles.  Even a beginner should be able to handle that.  So the 10% rule is too small at the low end.

               

              But once you're up around 60 to 70 mpw, you can start to increase a little too rapidly, as Spaniel mentioned.  

               

              I seem to remember that Daniels recommended that rather than go 10%, you add one mile for each day that your run per week.  For example, if you run 4 days a week, you can increase by 4 miles per week.  So if you ran 10mpw over 4 days, you can jump to 14 the next week.  

              On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.

              AmoresPerros


              Options,Account, Forums

                Maybe people running 70+mpw don't use rules of thumb like that anymore.

                It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

                  Maybe people running 70+mpw don't use rules of thumb like that anymore.

                   there are rules? Damn I knew I was missing something

                  Your toughness is made up of equal parts persistence and experience. You don't so much outrun your opponents as outlast and outsmart them, and the toughest opponent of all is the one inside your head." - Joe Henderson

                    Your explanation is kind of what I was looking for. I'm just naturally curious about how the rule came about (which I failed to find) and the validity of the arguments on both sides, that's all.

                     

                    Thanks

                    It was back in the 1970s when Runner's World's Bob Anderson was asking Arthur Lydiard how one should increase weekly mileage.  Lydiard never liked to give such "rules" but Bob was quite persistent.  "How about increasing it by 10% each week?" he asked.  "That sounds about right," Lydiard answered.  From then on, this "10% rule" started to spread like a gospel.  Of course Lydiard never said anything like; "You shall increase weekly mileage by 10%..."  Bob put that into his mouth and he simply agreed with it as "sounds about right..."  

                     

                    Moral of the story; it's nothing more than just "kinda, sorta..."  Never take it as a "rule" or a "formula". 


                    Marquess of Utopia

                      I'll have to try it for my next training program:

                       

                      wk1 - 110

                      wk2 - 121

                      wk3 - 133

                      wk4 - 146

                      wk5 - 160

                      wk6 - 176

                      wk7 - 193

                      wk8 - 212

                      Clown


                      an amazing likeness

                        One of the folks in the Masters forum just logged 200 miles running in January, with 108 of them in one run....

                        Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

                        kcam


                          It was back in the 1970s when Runner's World's Bob Anderson was asking Arthur Lydiard how one should increase weekly mileage.  Lydiard never liked to give such "rules" but Bob was quite persistent.  "How about increasing it by 10% each week?" he asked.  "That sounds about right," Lydiard answered.  From then on, this "10% rule" started to spread like a gospel.  Of course Lydiard never said anything like; "You shall increase weekly mileage by 10%..."  Bob put that into his mouth and he simply agreed with it as "sounds about right..."  

                           

                          Moral of the story; it's nothing more than just "kinda, sorta..."  Never take it as a "rule" or a "formula". 

                           

                          Wow,  I've known Bob Anderson for a few years from talking to him at Nor Cal road races.  He's a top AG competitor in 60-69.  I only know him from chit chat before and after races but, until you posted this Nobby, I never knew that he started Runner's World or about his other accomplishments.   Nicest guy you could meet and, apparently, very humble as I would have been  (and am) quite impressed with his life's work.