On Training... · EnduranceworX

On Training...

Here we are at the end of January and, if you’re anything like me, you’re still getting bombarded on social media with messages from coaches who promise to help you smash your 2026 goals. Every one of them seems to have the secret to coaching and training me across a range of sports and events. But they don’t…

This got me thinking about ‘what is training?. I’m pretty certain that if I asked 100 people that question; what is training? I’d get 100 different answers. Most would be around sets and reps, and sessions and maybe microcyles and mesocyles. Some might even talk about zone 2 and mitochondria and the Norwegian method and lactate testing.

That’s fine, but that’s mostly how they train and not what is training?. Here I’m more interested in the process of training and what, generally, happens to our bodies when we go through that process.

Very simply training is change; whatever we do starts a process of stimulation and adaptation which leads eventually (hopefully) to an improvement in performance. With regard to endurance adaptations we are talking about actual structural change. Capillary beds have to be created, the walls of the heart become stronger, there will be changes in our lungs which allow us to take in more oxygen, arteries and veins become wider and more elastic, muscle fibres may change type.

That’s just the physiology side (although there’s no such thing as just physiology). By exercising our muscles and movements become more synchronised and coordinated thus making the above processes more efficient and effective.

And the most amazing thing is that these processes start on your very first session.

Our instagram coaches will tell us that only they have the secret way for you to train and they will have a system or a hack that’s better than anyone else. However, the truth is that there is a timeline for each and all of the above changes. There is a rhythm of working and recovering, stimulus and adaptation ,so whatever you do to shortcut the process your body will ignore it and quietly get on with whatever it was going to do in the first place. This is slightly different for everyone but we know that eg ligaments and bones take far longer to adapt than your lungs. Just be aware that achieving deep aerobic fitness is a multi year process.

So there it is and it is truly incredible. There are no secrets and no hacks. It needs patience and someone help guide you through the peaks and troughs of when your body and mind are having disagreements about exercising and the timelines of the changes.

Next time we’ll look at repetition and consistency, and why training is boring and complex at the same time.

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