Forums >General Running>The Less is More approach - does it work?
Feeling the growl again
People who advocate "less is more", from my experience, are really just people who don't want to put in the time to train properly.
"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
It would be an interesting study to take two evenly experienced groups and put them into a FIRST type program and a more traditional program. From looking around at training programs online I see that many of them suggest cross-training as a part of the overall plan, so I am not sure the differences are as stark as they are made out to be. Sounds like most folks have learned through experience what works for them. Isn't that much more fun than being given the right answer?
"You NEED to do this" - Shara
Unless the experiment lasted over a long term (like more than a year and maybe more like 24-36 months) the high intensity training would look like it was the better way to go because that group would likely show some immediate improvement where the more tradiational group would show little to no short term improvement. This is the exact reason why programs like this keep getting so much good press - they work - in the short term. Most of these "training studies" last 6-8 weeks at most and shoving a bunch of high intensity type training at a person will cause some short term improvement, but without laying down a good base that improvement will stop and will have a high likelihood of causing injury and/or burnout. Over the long term a more traditional approach will win out every time
Hawt and sexy
I'm touching your pants.
Runners run
It would be an interesting study to take two evenly experienced groups and put them into a FIRST type program and a more traditional program...
Well, the FIRST "studies" took their subjects through an entire training cycle for the marathon, not 6-8 weeks. quote> A single marathon training cycle, 12-16 weeks, IS short term. Any runner truly planning on long term improvement is thinking in terms much longer than that.
You get stronger when you rest, not when you exercise. Unless you do massive volume I really believe quality of runs is more important than volume. If you are running 100mpw quality probably doesn't matter as much. Most of us however are not meant to run that kind of volume. I do believe though if you are working a lower volume plan, quality is very very important. All plans incorporate speed, tempo, and Long run. The difference is what you do on the other days. If you are able to get a more intense work out by cross training those other days, it may be very beneficial for you. Also you should incorporate some sort of periodization into your training plan. Training has different goals in different seasons. A competitive runner should focus on base building a couple times a year which would include large volumes of low intensity work. When preparing to race, he/she should probably reduce volume and up intensity.
Well, the FIRST "studies" took their subjects through an entire training cycle for the marathon, not 6-8 weeks. I think in the one I read from their website, 21 out of 25 stayed with training and completed the race. I'm not sure whether that is comparable to "traditional" training. I agree that it would give you more data points to use larger numbers and watch them over multiple cycles.
...In February I was sidelined due to a knee instability issue... I started back slowly in March with no issues. In May I became a streaker. I have now run 44 days in a row, one of those days included a half marathon. I have had no knee issues... I don't know what your issues are with your knee, but if I had listened to my doctors I would not be running every day. Or even back to back days...
You get stronger when you rest, not when you exercise
My Hero
It's better to run again (more stimulus) and provoke more adaptation. Too much rest and you'll regress. Even a day can be too much depending on your conditioning level and training phase.
So that means forget the taper for the Marathon? Run full tilt right up to the big day? You mean if I take the day off before a marathon I'll regress?