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It's time to REVOLUTIONIZE your performance!
In the competitive sphere of high school running, where young athletes often push boundaries to chase personal bests and team victories, the prevailing myth that "more is always better" in training load can lead to counterproductive outcomes.
This Week's Tuesday Topic debunks the notion that ramping up training volume and intensity, also called training load, invariably enhances performance. We'll delve into the science revealing why excessive load can hinder gains, key insights for high school runners, practical strategies to balance training, real-world case studies of overtraining pitfalls and recoveries, and approaches to overcome cultural and psychological challenges, empowering HS athletes to train smarter not harder!
The Science: Debunking the "More Is Better" Myth
The assumption that increased training load directly correlates with improved performance is a common fallacy, often leading to overreaching, bioenergetic deficit, and poor performances. When athletes chronically put out more energy (training volume and intensity) than they are putting in (fuel, recovery, and rest) it often results in a state where excessive stress overwhelms recovery, resulting in stalled or declining results.
Low, moderate, and high training loads can boost physiology and performance, optimal training load response requires adequate fuel, rest, and recovery. While increased training volume and intensity is necessary for development and adaptation, gains only happen when the athlete is balancing ENERGY IN (fuel, rest, recovery) and ENERGY OUT (training load).
All training loads can lead to fatigue, elevated resting heart rate, and performance plateaus without ENERGY IN. If an athlete is taking in as much or more energy than they are putting out, training adaptations will be optimal, resulting in improved performances. If the ENERGY OUT chronically exceeds the ENERGY IN, it can trigger maladaptations like hormonal imbalances and immune suppression.
For HS runners, whose developing bodies are prone to 50% overuse injuries, more isn't always better, it's about balancing quality training load aligned with balancing ENERGY IN and ENERGY OUT.
Key Insights for High School Runners
For HS athletes, blindly escalating training load overlooks growth-related vulnerabilities, leading to performance plateaus in up to 13% of athletes. Instead, balancing ENERGY IN and ENERGY OUT fosters:
Optimized Training Adaptations Without Overload: Slowly adding training volume and intensity by no more than 10% per training block (4-6 weeks) will improve physiological and biomechanical adaptations while reducing risk of injury, performance plateaus, and fatigue
Better Recovery and Longevity: Incorporating regular rest days (1 to 2 per week) and rest weeks (1 week between seasons, 2-4 weeks between yearly cycle) throughout the year will ensure better recovery and sustained running career rest prevents persistent soreness and sleep issues, enhancing mental coping as Grady notes in Chapter 10.
Practical Strategies on How to Monitor For A "Balanced" Training Load
High school athletes and coaches can easily monitor physiological profile (energy) status using the MyBya app. Performing regular lactate and/or heart rate profile tests provide objective metrics that will directly indicate whether the athlete has a balanced training load or ENERGY IN and ENERGY OUT.
Regularly performing a lactate or heart rate profile test in between each season, (10-12 weeks), will provide insights as to whether or not an athlete has accumulated an energy deficit during the previous season. This data enables coaches and athletes to evaluate training load using data-driven insights. Lactate and heart rate profile data will ensure progressive but sustainable training load increases:
Addressing Psychological and Practical Challenges
The "grind culture" often pressures HS runners to overdo it. Be sure to prioritize quality of training over quantity of training. Balance builds champions!
As our series progresses, we hope to empower you to train smarter, not harder. Download the MyBya mobile app www.mybya.com to access individualized training zones and target and register for Coach Hazel Clark's camps and clinics www.hazelclark.org.