Changes

There is a natural human belief that if some is good, more is better. This idea is all too often false, and can be destructive with training. There's an old adage that "running does not make you a better runnerfitter, it's the rest that follows running that makes you a better runnerfitter". Getting the right balance of running and rest is a critical part of your training.  

It's well accepted that exercise improves is a critical part of improving fitness, and there are many different [[Endurance Adaptations]] that occur. The primary mechanism for these adaptations is that exercise causes damage and this damage is repaired to be stronger than before the exercise. This is seen in the fatigue that occurs after exercise, and the need for rest. The term for this mechanism is [[Supercompensation]], and is a key principle for creating training programs. One way of evaluating a training program is {{TrainingMonotony}} which looks at the variation in daily training stress. Higher values of {{TrainingMonotony}} indicate that each day's training is similar, while lower values indicate greater variations. Higher levels of {{TrainingMonotony}} are associated with reduced benefits and a greater risk of [[Overtraining Syndrome]]. This need to optimize the ratio and timing of exercise and rest has been known for many years. Weight training regimes have exercised particular muscle groups on alternating days and most endurance training programs have used harder days and easier days.  

[[File:Supercompensation-continued-small.png|right|thumb|500px|The correct balance of exercise stress, rest, and the timing of the two is important for achieving improved fitness.]]A common approach to optimizing [[Supercompensation]] and {{TrainingMonotony}} is to have 3 or fewer hard training days combined with a number of easier days. For this approach to work, the easy days need to be sufficiently easy. Carl Foster said "for best results make your hard days very, very hard and your easy days very, very easy". Running on the easy days is often referred to as "junk miles" as the only result of these miles is impaired recovery. If the benefits of training go down as the effort on easy days increases, why train run at all on the easy days? So far I have found no evidence to indicate there is any training benefit from running on the easy days. In fact, all the evidence supports [[Supercompensation]] and {{TrainingMonotony}}, therefore I recommend running only 3-4 times a days of the week for most peopleoptimal results. [[File:Supercompensation-continued-small.png|none|thumb|500px|The correct balance of exercise stress, rest, and the timing of the two is important for achieving improved fitness.]]

* '''3 days/week (RxRxRxx)'''. This is the pattern used by [[FIRST]], which is the only marathon training plan I've found that has performed scientific studies to evaluate its effectiveness. Running 3 days/week requires that every days day is hard, and typically involves a [[Long Run]] and two speedwork days. The ratio of running to rest gives 2 days of rest, and these typically follow the long run.

What about 'active recovery'? This is the idea that low intensity exercise improves recovery from high intensity exercise. In the context of easy exercise on the day after hard exercise, I've only found one scientific study <ref name="neuro"/><ref name="ActiveAndersson-2008"/> and that indicated that active recovery does nothing to help. An analysis of the evidence on active recovery noted that "evidence that active recovery enhances recovery between training sessions is currently lacking"<ref name="Barnett-2006"/>. Note that "Active Recovery" can have other meanings:

<ref name="neuroBarnett-2006">A. Barnett, Using recovery modalities between training sessions in elite athletes: does it help?, Sports Med, volume 36, issue 9, pages 781-96, 2006, PMID [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18202563 http:16937953 16937953]<//wwwref><ref name="Andersson-2008">H. Andersson, T. Raastad, J.ncbiNilsson, G.nlmPaulsen, I.nihGarthe, F.gov/pubmed/18202563 Kadi, Neuromuscular fatigue and recovery in elite female soccer: effects of active recovery., Med Sci Sports Exerc, volume 40, issue 2, pages 372-80, Feb 2008, doi [http://dx.doi.org/10.1249/mss.0b013e31815b8497 10.1249/mss.0b013e31815b8497], PMID [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18202563 18202563]</ref><ref name="ActiveBusso-2002">T. Busso, H. Benoit, R. Bonnefoy, L. Feasson, JR. Lacour, Effects of training frequency on the dynamics of performance response to a single training bout., J Appl Physiol (1985), volume 92, issue 2, pages 572-80, Feb 2002, doi [http://evidencebasedfitnessdx.doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.blogspot00429.com2001 10.1152/2008japplphysiol.00429.2001], PMID [http:/02/rest-vs-active-recoverywww.ncbi.nlm.nih.html Rest v Active Recoverygov/pubmed/11796666 11796666]</ref>