There’s a pyramid of success when it comes to training that, once mastered, can help you achieve your athletic goals.
Want to run faster?
Want to go farther?
Want to get stronger?
Follow the pyramid.
I know… I sound like Nicolas Cage in that National Treasure movie…
But true all the same.
Follow the pyramid and you’ll improve your training.
It’s a perfect example of “simple, not easy.”
The base of the pyramid is “enough.”
Are you able to train enough to get the volume required to achieve your goals?
If you only have three hours per week to train, then right now is probably not the time to run a 100-miler.
It’s probably not even the time to run a marathon.
You have to have a base level of volume to hit these goals, and if you aren’t able to hit that volume, then we either need to adjust our priorities or pursue different goals.
And for the record, you can’t give up all the things that help you recover in order to do your training.
If anything, you’ll likely have to sleep and eat more if you want to recover well.
So throw out the idea that you’re just gonna sleep four hours per night and skip lunch to do your training.
You’ll have to find the time elsewhere – unless you really love getting injured.
Our next block up the pyramid is “harmony.”
Most people lack a sense of harmony in their training.
They see some new workout on Instagram or hear about a new training method on a podcast and go all in on that new thing and ignore all their past training.
As a result, they end up just playing training whack-a-mole.
To some degree, this is just part of training. Certain things gain or lose importance depending on the time of year.
But we should never let something entirely fall off and it shouldn’t be chaos.
Which brings me to the next part of the pyramid – “structure.”
If you do a strength session the day before your speed workout, then you’re probably not going to get the full benefit of that workout.
Take me as an example.
Yesterday was a leg-focused lifting day.
Today, my glutes are wrecked.
If I had to do speed work or a long run today, then that training session would suffer, and I wouldn’t really get all of the benefits.
Which is why I did my speed session yesterday (Mondays are a rough day for the legs…)
Training has to have structure if you really want to get the benefits.
But that doesn’t mean it has to be perfect.
Because the next step up the period is “flexibility.”
Training has to fit your life.
Not the other way around.
Let’s say your training plan has a 2-hour run every Sunday… But you work a 12-hour shift.
Then that’s not going to work.
Or what happens when your dog gets sick?
Or your parent needs help?
Or your kid has a soccer game?
Are you going to miss all of those things and ignore your family?
I’d hope not.
If we’re going to hit our goals and actually enjoy the work, then there has to be some level of flexibility.
And finally, at the very top of the pyramid, we have “complicated stuff.”
These are the 1% strategies that capture everyone’s focus.
The supplements and the saunas and the cold plunges and all the other things people love to talk about.
These don’t do a lot for your progress and very honestly, you shouldn’t worry about them at all until you’ve mastered everything else.
Anyway, that’s it.
Simple, but not easy.
Follow the pyramid.
Pursue your goals.
And if you need help implementing or aren’t quite sure what to do, then you know where to find me.