Hi, and welcome to The Running Channel. I'm Rick and today alongside
Anna we're going to be looking at 80 20 running - what it is,
how it works and whether you should be applying it to your training.
That's right. Maybe you've heard it mentioned before,
and you're not quite sure what it means,
or maybe you're wondering how you can apply it to your training and if it will
be beneficial? Well,
we will be answering all of these questions as well as giving you some top
training tips throughout this video. So don't skip.
We'll dive in in a sec,
but first hit subscribe and tap on that bell icon if you've not already.
So you get notified when we upload new videos all about running.
It really does help us keep doing what we're doing.
The best place to start is what we mean when we say 80 20 running.
So, there are two key metrics when it comes to your running and that's
volume, so how much you're running and intensity or how hard you're running.
80 20 Running is a technique that's been around for a while,
and the most simple explanation is that it's running 80% of your weekly
runs at an easy pace and the remaining 20% for the harder, faster stuff.
Matt Fitzgerald's written a book all about 80 20 running and in it,
it looks at studies that look at the training volumes of elite runners.
And what they found is that the majority spend 80% of their training below
what's called the ventilatory threshold or in simpler terms,
a pace where you're able to sustain a conversation.
So for every one hard run that elite runners do,
they will do four easy runs.
The ventilatory threshold is the point where you switch from your aerobic metabolism,
where your body uses oxygen to fuel your muscles, to your anaerobic
metabolism, where there isn't enough oxygen left to use as fuel.
We know it can be difficult for some runners to get their head around the fact
that in order to run faster, you need to run slower, for some of your runs at least.
It just sounds contradictory. So now we're going to take a look at why.
So now we know the basics of 80 20 running,
we're going to get a bit sciency and look at the ins and outs of it.
A research paper in 2010, looked in depth at this type of training,
including world-class skiers, rowers, runners, swimmers, and triathletes.
If you want to know more about that study,
we've linked to it in the description.
In short to summarise that study, when looking at internationally competitive
endurance athletes who were training on average 10 to 13 times per week,
they favored 80% of that training to be done at a low
intensity of around two millimoles of blood lactate.
So you would expect blood lactate levels of around one to two millimoles at
rest or during moderate exercise.
20% of their training was dominated by high intensity work,
such as interval training at approximately 90% of their VO2 Max.
Elite athletes train at a very high volume
and so it's only natural for us to question whether the same
ratio is optimal when it's applied to non elite runners or whether
we should be doing more at higher intensities to make up for training
less volume. Well a follow-up study was done looking at exactly that.
This study followed 30 runners who ran under 40 miles a week and had
a 10k time of just under 40 minutes. Half the runners followed the 80
20 rule. And the others maintained a 50 50 split.
After 10 weeks,
the group in the 50 50 training group and lowered their 10k
times by an average of three and a half percent.
Whereas those who were training in the 80 20 split,
they improve their times by 5%.
Now this seemingly small difference in percentage translates to
35 seconds on the clock.
Studies show among recreational runners, there is a tendency to run too many runs,
too hard. In fact,
as much as 50% of those runs are done at a medium to high intensity
leaving the other 50% at a low intensity.
Many runners are under the impression that you have to run at or near your goal
pace for every run that you do otherwise you're not pushing yourself hard
enough. This is absolutely not the case.
When you run harder and faster miles,
you're putting your body through extra strain and therefore increasing your risk
of injury.
The body can only handle so many high or moderate intensive miles.
It can, biomechanics allowing them, handle many more low intensity miles.
Just take a look at the likes of ultra runners and the amount of miles they're covering.
Low efforts facilitate mitochondria growth,
and that improves your stamina. Harder efforts,
well they improve your speed and your lactate threshold too,
or lactate turn point improvements.
So striking the balance between the two is key to overall improvements.
So how do you apply this all to your own training? Well,
one of the key things to know is there isn't a specific pace you should be running at,
as that all comes down to the individual and how experienced they are.
This is especially the case when it comes to running your easy runs.
So a pace that might feel really easy on one day could feel really hard on
another. And this can be down to a whole host of things; your training volume,
how well you slept, something you've eaten.
It could be a number of different factors.
So instead focus on running your easy runs at a perceived effort level.
So mark it out of 10, or you could even base it on heart rate zones.
If you want to use a heart rate monitor.
To make sure you're running slow enough on your easy runs, pay attention
to both your breath and your heart rate.
If you're able to speak in complete sentences,
then you're probably at about the right speed.
It's about zone one or two on heart rate monitors.
So to give you an idea of that kind of pace,
think about elite runners who will run a sub five minute mile across a
marathon distance.
Their easy runs are done somewhere between seven and eight minutes per mile.
For the fastest stuff,
consider adding in some speed intervals or fartlek sessions to add in
some harder running interspersed with easy recovery.
The next step is to plan your weekly mileage.
That way you won't find yourself accidentally doing too much.
So we're going to give you an example of what your week might look like.
And this can be applied across any training that you're doing,
no matter what your mileage is,
We'll be laying out in time rather than distance.
If you run for five hours a week, that's 300 minutes,
80% of 300 is 240 or four hours.
Here's how a five-hour week with one hour of moderate or high intensity
training might look. With Monday off, you go to Tuesday,
15 minutes of low intensity, 30 minutes of moderate,
15 minutes of low. On Wednesday it's 45 minutes of low.
Thursday is 45 minutes of low. Friday is 10 minutes of low
and then 6 times 5 minutes of high,
2:30 of medium and 5 minutes of low. Saturday is 30 minutes of
low and Sunday, 90 minutes of low intensity.
So as you can see,
you've still got your long run in there, you've got intervals and a rest day,
but it's all carved up to give you an 80 20 balance between low,
moderate and high intensity training.
Hopefully that's given you a bit more of an insight into 80 20 running and how
you can apply it to your training. Got any questions?
Leave them in the comments below.
Or maybe you've already tried the 80 20 method. How did it go for you?
Let us know in the comments below and we'll see you next time on The Running Channel.
And while you're here, why not check out some of our other videos?