Understanding the ‘flywheel’ effect
As I jump into my training I think it’s appropriate to consider for a moment the training effect. Basically what the training effect refers to is your body’s reaction to hard training. The caution I want to share is that it is nonlinear. Meaning you don’t just get step-wise stronger after each hard workout.
This is very natural. It is the way all natural systems work. But for some reason we humans with our over-sized brains expect a more binary and immediate connection between cause and effect.
I think you know the basics of training theory. First you do the workout. The workout stresses and breaks down your body. Then your body rebounds in recovery coming back stronger. Very simple – in theory…
Reality is that the time between A and B, between workout and recovery is not the consistent and the amount of recovery and gain is not consistent. Your body, your age, your diet, your health any number of external and internal factors will impact the amount and time of the training effect.
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In reality the training effect can be calculated but it is not a simple addition or line. You can’t say “I did 2 units of work so I get 2 units of recovery. That’s not how it works. You can’t really calculate the precise impact of the training effect but you can understand the shape of the training effect curve.
What happens when you go through a training campaign for a marathon for example is that over the course of let’s say 18 weeks you move your body’s ability from a starting state of ability or fitness to an ending state of fitness or ability.
This journey from state A to state B is not a straight line. It is a series of workouts that increase in magnitude (intensity and load) over time. This creates nonlinear waves of push and response. Your coach knows this. That’s why he or she doesn’t just give you a 10% increase every day. All good plans will have these waves of effort and recovery.
Each effort will initially cause a loss in ability as the body is broken down. Then the body will get stronger eventually stabilizing at a higher level of fitness.
If you were to stop working out the body would reverse this curve and degrade to the original resting state. If you maintain the level of consistent effort over periods of months or years the body will begin to systematically adapt to a new, fitter baseline. That is the endurance lifestyle.
One might ask the question “Why not just start with a 26.2 mile tempo run?” theoretically this would push your system to adapt the fastest. Indeed if you think you could survive the process it might. The problem with this is obviously there is a point where the body can’t adapt and just breaks.
The art to a good coach and a training plan is finding that razor’s edge of effort and adaptation that give your system the largest, fastest gains without pushing you over the edge into injury and burnout.
Why do you care? Because even though you can’t calculate the training effect curve, you can understand its basic shape and knowing that you can tease out the following talking points:
- There is no way to get fitter without doing the work and stressing the system.
- Stressing the system is what makes you stronger.
- The harder you work the faster you’ll get in shape, unless, of course, you break yourself.
- Once you push beyond the breaking point either in terms of volume or intensity the body loses its ability to recover effectively.
- Things will be harder before they get easier – expect a fall off in ability initially as the body adapts.
- The body needs to be allowed to recover. Recovery is as important as effort.
- The ‘bounce back’ of the training effect can take weeks and is hard to predict.
- There are three phases to the training effect curve – the initial base training, a period of rapid increase and then a slowing and stabilization as you achieve a new level of stasis.
- There is a top end to the training effect that is limited by your inherited ability – at some point no matter how hard you work out you won’t get any faster or fitter by doing more of the same activity harder.
- The only way to push a stable system out of stasis is to introduce change (do something different).
- Don’t try to out-guess the training effect – follow your coach and your plan and one day you will be surprised.
- Think of training in terms of weeks and months and years not in terms of days.
I was dwelling on this topic last week as I suffered through a less-than-stellar long tempo run in week two of my comeback. But instead of being depressed or worried I recognized it as that trough in the training curve before I get faster.
Learn to love the training effect curve, because you realize when a workout really sucks, that’s when things are about to get better!
Chris Russelllives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy. Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack. Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com. Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.
Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com
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