80/20 Training to Race Faster, with Dr. Stephen Seiler | Extramilest Show #50

Stephen Seiler PhD is a well known Exercise Physiologist, located in Norway. He studied the training habits of many world class endurance athletes and discovered the 80/20 Rule that also applies to endurance training. Meaning performing 80% of your workouts at a low intensity and 20% at a higher intensity. This polarized approach, is now widely accepted by coaches and athletes around the world.
🚨 BIG GIVEAWAY! For this 50th episode of the Extramilest Show, I’m giving away a $150 gift card from PATH projects (www.PATHprojects.com) + a lifetime membership to my Personal Best running coaching program (www.PBprogram.com). To enter, comment below: what was your favorite takeaway, lesson or quote from this episode? 2 winners will be picked at random. 🚨
Chapters
4:45 How did he get involved in exercise science?
8:30 Growth of exercise science
13:40 Alternatives to No Pain No Gain mentality
18:50 Training zone intensities
25:00 How 80/20 training can also benefit the recreational runner.
29:30 How hard to do high intensity training?
35:45 Balancing being a dad and coaching his daughter Siren Seiler
40:40 Male vs female athlete difference
45:25 Being healthy to reach max performance
48:50 His research with rats
52:10 Impact of stress on training adaptations
55:25 Balancing training and personal life
1:01:50 Breathing intensity vs heart rate intensity
1:08:30 Nasal breathing experiences
1:13:35 Entrainment, linking of breathing and movement pattern
1:18:58 Dr Seiler on ResearchGate
1:20:34 Closing thoughts
1:21:35 BIG giveaway contest, leave a comment to enter
#stephenseiler #seiler #8020training
TOOLS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED:
► Seiler’s Hierarchy of Endurance Training needs - bit.ly/33V5MxC
► The Complete Book of Running - amzn.to/3ekODiO
► Harvard Fatigue Laboratory - bit.ly/32xSpmo
► Molly Seiler Olympic performance - • Good Golly Molly! How ...
► Polar OH1 - arm heart rate strap amzn.to/3JaTHV8
► Eliud Kipchoge interview Extramilest Show - • Kipchoge's Advice to R...
► Wim Hof interview Extramilest Show - • Wim Hof, "The Iceman" ...
► Patrick McKeown interview Extramilest Show - • Patrick McKeown on Bre...
FIND DR SEILER HERE:
► Twitter: / stephenseiler
► KZbin: / sportscientist
► Research Gate: www.researchgate.net/profile/...
YOU CAN FIND ME, FLORIS GIERMAN HERE:
► Personal Best Program: www.pbprogram.com
► Website: extramilest.com
► Strava: / strava
► Instagram: / florisgierman
► Podcast: extramilest.com/podcast
ABOUT THE EXTRAMILEST SHOW:
A podcast and KZbin channel where host Floris Gierman interviews world class athletes, coaches and health experts on the topic of how to become a stronger, healthier and happier athlete.
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[@coreyreeder3549]

My favorite part was the discussion of training intensity distribution at around 20 minutes. It was about this time that I realized that Dr Seiler sounds like he should be starring in a sequel to Tombstone.

[@shagoesfar]

I’m a (novice) blind runner & this is deep, I really appreciate the amazing advice.

[@timshearn8203]

Training is building the cake, racing is eating it. Great thinking and my main takeaway. Thanks for another great video Floris.

[@johncole3010]

I’m in trouble. I have a sweet tooth

[@dickieblench5001]

Baking the cake takes ages

[@FlorisGierman]

Great takeaway right there Tim! Congrats on winning our video contest, you won a $150 gift card from PATH projects (www.PATHprojects.com) + a lifetime membership to my Personal Best running coaching program (www.PBprogram.com). Please send me an email via my website, since I don't see an email address on your KZbin bio. Cheers!

[@timshearn8203]

@@FlorisGierman wow, for real? I never win anything!

[@FlorisGierman]

@@timshearn8203 today is your lucky day! yes you really did win!

[@jt.8144]

1:03:52. Thank you for Dr. Seiler. This hits home. Often enough the most overlooked Vital Sign when it comes to everyone's preoccupation in meeting their PRs.

[@bananaGirL13]

“Training is about finding a sustainable pattern” is definitely my key takeaway. Thank you for an awesome interview!

[@FlorisGierman]

Spot on! Thank you Suphachol

[@edithgruber2125]

Thank you for the great interview. My favourite quote was from Kipchoge, when he wanted to finish his workouts still smiling. I'm going to remember that the next time I do intervals.

[@FlorisGierman]

Exactly Edith, all about finding that fine line to put in the time and effort, but not overdo it either to show up the next day again! 👍

[@vytasffbismarck7001]

i think we misunderstand Kipchoge - his smile is probably very masochistic, considering the paces he is training at. some people take pleasure from suffering and marathon runners of that pace is probably as masochistic of an example as humanly possible XD

[@FlorisGierman]

Congrats on winning our contest Edith Gruber, you won a $150 gift card from PATH projects (www.PATHprojects.com) + a lifetime membership to my Personal Best running coaching program (www.PBprogram.com). Please send me an email via my website, since I don't see an email address on your KZbin bio. Cheers!

[@Landauian]

Great conversation! Favorite quote: "It becomes an optimization problem. It's not a maximization problem." This is key for me to remember. More miles aren't better if they're chipping away at my abaility to adapt to the training.

[@fredrossi1070]

I think the best takeaway from this video is that no one workout is the perfect workout, there is no perfect pace or time or effort it is a culmination of all of it that gets you to the finish line.

[@bobdepradines1773]

Great interview, thank you for building it . The light bulb moment for me was “ get healthy first then train , otherwise the best case scenario is nothing happens!” All the best for 2022! Bob

[@michaelrea1926]

Excellent episode! My favorite take away: “it’s not the epic workout, it’s the body of work.”

[@Onthetrailwithjim]

Great episode ! 🙌 I’m running just 5 years now, 41 years old and have 15 years atritis…Ran a lot of marathons and trail ultra’s… Had no sport history or knowlegde but the best progression i made is to train a lot not hard… 👌 a lot of people are always pushing to hard on training… 🙈

[@liljemark1]

I love listening to Steven! Thanks so much for both of you, and especially you Floris for taking the time to create and share this! What a treat for the holidays and I'm sure I'll relisten to this in 2022.

[@chrisscastaneda]

favorite take away: the body needs to be in a healthy state in order to absorb training. health first then train. makes so much sense when you frame it that way. overall stress management is so important

[@FlorisGierman]

Such an important one and something I have noticed first hand in myself and other athletes around me as well. Great takeaway, well said Christopher!

[@jonwaal1444]

@ 46:44 he refers to the Norwegian word ´overskudd´ which directly translated means to be at surplus. As you write that isn´t only being in positive balance from physical training.

[@DingDong-fq2mo]

Congratulations on the 50th episode, Floris. Great content, as always.

[@scotchandsalmonroll5337]

needed this, hitting a massive rut in my marathon training. thank you

[@aetnarvas]

Enjoyed it! I have always thought I continue running as long as it brings a smile on my face. Some new interesting thoughts I found here were about very specific examples how stress influences training. And just overall history of exercise science and how Stephen feels about his career. Very inspiring.

[@59carambar]

Great interview ! Many thanks, this casts such a different and sensible approach to training. I have immediately changed the way I am doing my workouts. I am convinced this will be useful.

[@Lumpydog]

First off, I love to listen to Dr. Seiler speak. Something about his voice, cadence and speech pattern is nice. Thank you for hosting the interview. I find myself chasing squirrels all the time. Everybody is faster than I and my friends typically run the shorter races/sessions. I'm the dummy that gets stuck chasing them all the time. That's my fault and not theirs. I'm currently on the comeback trail yet again. Trying to build base and then will try to stick to 80/20 with lots of uphill hiking. It's hard not to chase training PBs, especially when tracking all the training data. Thanks again for the interview. Cheers.

[@FlorisGierman]

You are surely not alone with chasing the squirrels Lumpydog! It helps to step back, Zoom out and leaving the ego at the door. Once you're aerobically further developed, it becomes easier to train at lower intensity as well. All the best on your training and racing journey!

[@mattiabianuccitrainer]

The cadence of good professors, the ones who give away passion 😉👍

[@carolinebarre9223]

This was a very interesting episode and the humility of Dr Seiler stood out. Thank you for finding amazing guest speakers!

[@markoknezevic9672]

Awesome episode! Thanks! My favorite quote: "I want to still be smiling when i finish the workout so that i can wakeup and train the next day". This is so true! Personally i enjoy this feeling! :-)

[@igorzingllc7344]

Thank you Floris. Amazing interview like always. Best lesson I really think are: stay happy, enjoy in process, push 100% only at race !

[@gohtailinaloysius1691]

I like how you both spoke about various stress factors impacting the quality of training. Hope that stuff like family, career and studies can spur us on to keep running and vice versa! :)

[@trampo-swingocean7043]

Thanks Floris for the great interview. I had been watching your earier videos and gained so much new insight in running training. I particularly like this video, because it really touches several very important topics which I learned from several of your earlier videos. Such as MAF (of course), 80/20, nose breathing. I am currently applying all the lessons i learned from your interviews (and the big yellow book, which i immediately bought after first time seeing your video). Already looking forward to your future interviews!

[@rickfox4710]

Great interview, really enjoyed that Loved the "Eating the cake" analogy, makes a lot of sense as you don't want to waste your race in a training session.

[@berrypickers]

Great show as usual Floris. I like hearing the thoughts and views of your guests who use a broad base of information and resources to inform their own opinions and views on training. My takeaway is - don't chase the squirrels on easy days and keep on smiling

[@albztron]

Thank you for this helpful and important post. I enjoyed learning about how important adaptations occur in running two hours at 65% VO2 max and have applied this more carefully to my own training as a non elite endurance runner/enthusiast.

[@martinclement5553]

Thanks Floris, a great podcast once again ! My favourite quote is the one talking about honesty between an athlete (his daughter) and a coach. If you are not honest with yourself, it will impair your training in next days. Thus, the key is the optimization of your training, not maximization. Not to be too strict about a training program, but listen to our physical condition...

[@amfmharle]

Absolutely loved and intrigued by the observation of an athlete's inflammatory status and decision to not train at intensity!

[@MrKoolJazz]

I love the point he makes about being able to smile at the end of your workouts and also making a PR

[@kevinboyd8384]

Thanks for the great interview. I really found the history of academic sports science intriguing. Keep ‘em coming

[@Callieskanaal]

“It’s our ego’s that get us in trouble”, love it (beside all other comments below: they all resonate…). Thank you so much!

[@stepan1968]

The key phrase that resonated in me like a revelation. "What is your deep motivation?" WoW! One of your best podcast Floris.

[@giovanbattistafichera8439]

Thank you for bringing one of my heroes on your podcast! My favourite quote of his is "you don't have to be a world-class athlete to help people find the balance in their training"

[@tomgreentree6721]

Thanks for this great interview. What I found especially helpful was Seiler's emphasis on keeping it simple and focusing on what really matters -- all the tech is helpful, to a point, but we must never lose sight of the simple basics. I find that I sometimes can get caught up in "doing it exactly right" but the way Seiler reminded us that it's the "body of work" that matters far more than each individual workout done exactly right. Run with a smile and finish with one, too!

[@CashMoneyMoore]

Great interview, my cool takeaway was that horses follow 80/20 training too! In the most controlled environment, with big money on the line, and every incentive to push the animal to it's literal limits, we must still respect the underlying physiology

[@hotrod3856]

Thank you for this episode,Dr Seiler has a way of coming across that's understandable to the layman

[@fredbaptista]

Thanks for the interview! It was amazing to hear Stephen Seiler and my favourite part was the one as the 80/20 approach works even better for elite athletes. And the comparison to formula one racing, and that the technology used in formula one cars scales down to normal cars some years later. If you measure high performance athletes and understand how they improve slightly , then you can transpose that to regular athletes and have big improvements.

[@superstrada6847]

I have followed this for the last 2 years; I have never been faster! Train slower! Thank you SS!

[@chrisdodd8273]

Thanks Floris, always enjoy your guests insights - thanks for bringing so many interesting and helpful perspectives into the reach, so appreciated. There were so many takeaways, but the best for me was the way Stephen explained that a body under stress, whatever the source of that stress, prioritises physiological resources to protect the body and mind and so we benefit much less in the way exercise induced adaption. Interesting to hear about the Norwegian athletes who were altitude training but didn’t workout at altitude if they were fighting infections. Thanks again for all the top quality content

[@sarreyna]

I loved his phrase “you are building the cake but racing is eating the cake.” That is such a good reminder, especially in base building. Part of training is making a great cake!

[@jarekbatkowski9039]

One of my favourite videos of yours. Well done Floris.

[@scottnielson7202]

Another great podcast Floris. Thank you. So many good take aways but I really like "the epic workout is not what leads to individual performance gains its the sum of the all the workouts. Its the process and sustainable of the process."

[@namkim54]

Optimization, Intensity discipline, and Sustainability. Great interview Floris!

[@breathe.move.perform.health]

So awesome! Love Dr. Seiler

[@tevinkittoe]

Thank you for the very informative discussion, loved this episode! My favourite quote would have to be 'Humans can't train hard everyday, the human will break down'. I started running at the start of the pandemic to keep fit and have had quite a few injuries. I think I've found the reason why lol

[@jenniferhoban8863]

YES!!!!!!! Another voice with such great explanation. Shared this to my group that I coach because I routinely have trouble getting athletes to wrap their heads around my frequent mantra, "let your fast be really fast and your slow be slow." Sustainability and Optimization.

[@acankr]

Thank you! Great interview! I guess the best moment is about emotional resiliency for re-creational athlete when comparing: teenager and Kipchoge

[@seektruth4432]

This is amazing content. I’m learning so much on this channel to hopefully take my performance to the next level.

[@beverleychapman4993]

There are so many great takeaways from this excellent interview, but I was most hooked by the information on breathing rate providing a useful measure of experienced intensity.

[@christophechouteau918]

Great interview Floris … it’s always a pleasure to listen to Stéphen. My key take a way is to link Pace / Power with Duration. I look forward to listening on Breathing fréquency. Cheers

[@richardverrier7970]

Great interview Floris! My takeaways: “Great endurance athletes have intensity discipline.” As a recreational runner, I need to park my ego aside. “Training is about finding a sustainable pattern of loading. Learn how to ease up on easy days and figure out what easy means.“. I realize my runs are too often in the so called no man’s land (Z3), not slow enough, not hard enough. “Health first - so that my body is in a state that is receptive for the stress of training”. This is another area I need to pay closer attention to. Life pressures, diet and sleep are all factors that contribute to the effectiveness of my training. And finally a couple of questions: What is your motivation? Are you having fun? Are you smiling at the end of a workout? Merry Christmas and Happy holidays!

[@RicardoRodrigues08]

Excellent. I'm training this way and it's being amazing. Thank you for this episode

[@dualranger]

I had so many takeaways but one that stood out was that general life stresses can have a real tangible impact on training impact and that we, as lifestyle runners, need to take this in to account. Smile at the end of these workouts. 😁😁😁

[@uphillrunner]

Thank you for another great episode. Favorite takeaway: Why it is so easy and so common to train in the yellow zone.

[@arumandkun]

Thanks for the video, which has broadened my perspective of running and exercise in general. For me, my favorite takeaway is the importance of breathing and how it can be used along cadence to measure when somebody is reaching the threshold, which can help athletes make the right decision during their performance.

[@colingoodman6018]

My favorite takeaway from this episode was the emphasis on balancing high and low intensity training. I recently completed my first half (October 2021) and full marathon (December 2021) this year and had no idea how to balance my training. I ran every run at the same hard pace, and ended up injuring my leg during peak week for the marathon. I then biked and swam the remaining 3 weeks to recover, but was able to complete my first race in a little over 4 hours. Floris has gotten me interested in maffetone training and Dr. Seiler's wisdom about going easier for longevity and enjoying running will stick with me for my next marathon. Thanks for the episode!

[@Kazovation]

Great interview, learned a lot. My favorite takeaway was the explanation of lactate turnpoint as the transition point.

[@richardgarro7742]

There were so many great quotes and fundamental concepts from this conversation that It is hard to pick one...but I will. For me, as we end a tough year and get ready to welcome 2022 where I have several ultras on my calendar, the concept of ‘having fun’ every day that I get out there summarizes what we all should strive to do. In New England it is the tough time of the year and there are days that weather becomes a huge challenge. Thinking that I am going out to ‘play’ already makes me smile and knowing that I can still do this, makes me thankful. This was one of the best episodes so far and one that I will listen to again in my run this morning. Very enriching. Thanks for inviting people like dr Seiler. Happy Holidays everyone

[@angistone-macdonald6283]

This was a great interview. I have recently been learning more about 80/20 training and knew about running easy most of the time and that I should feel good, but also that hard intervals and days don’t need to be super hard and making it brutal. I liked the analogy of building the cake and eating the cake.

[@FlorisGierman]

Glad you enjoyed it Angi. That cake analogy was indeed spot on!

[@michielvanboxelaere9190]

For me it's 'training is an optimization between stress and recovery, not maximization, but optimization. Finding a flow and making sure it's sustainable over time and most of all fun!' Some great insights on running, which also could be applied on life in general. Really enjoyed the interview, thanks a lot Floris 👌

[@CnCstrengthperformance]

Love it. Subscribed and watched full video!

[@jamesaylward681]

Thank you Floris for yet another informative Extramilest episode with Dr Seiler, so much insight in this interview I would have to transcribe the entire episode 🤓. The main takeaway 🔑 from this interview for me is “Intensity Discipline “ where the great endurance athletes have ego resilience 🏃🏻‍♂️ 🧠 👍

[@karenhoch5836]

I repeatedly tell my running clients to smile and enjoy the process, so naturally I loved the reference to Kipchoge...finish every run with a smile!

[@charleshees8000]

Thank you for this interview. I appreciate the concept that you have to start with a foundation of health and the importance of managing stress to be able to grow from training. "Am I able to smile at the end of these workouts?"

[@psychiatrypsychotherapy6939]

Truly excellent interview - wonderful :) you pulled out some key info!

[@melaniefeldman4614]

Really helpful. I love your podcasts with the scientists. No matter how much we learn these experts not only have lots more to teach but via the podcasts they communicate it so well. Always helps me. Take home point for me… “there’s no such thing as the steady state…. First hour is not the same as the second hour”. I’m coming back from an injury and this has helped me reflect more intelligently on how I got injured and how to interpret my HR/effort better on the long runs. Thanks

[@melijov]

Being able to be happy and smiling during training and racing, and at same time being able to conquer new personal bests are the two sides of the same coin. This was a true eye opener to me! Thanks!

[@FlorisGierman]

Spot on VRGM 👌

[@Johnnyutah001]

Great episode gentleman! The section where you talk about training while sick or compromised really hit home. I contracted Covid 19 last December and was very sick for about 3 weeks. I was determined to not let it set me back but it was apparent that my heart rate was running at a higher level. Over the year of '21 I completed 6 marathons and 2 half marathons. My first marathon back was a 3:30 (at a much higher heart rate than I was expecting) and my final marathon CIM was a PB of 3:13. I definitely could not have done this without the MAF method and pure determination. My next goal is to break the 3 hour barrier. This is all thanks to finding this channel 3.5 years ago. Thanks Floris!

[@TheLeTueb]

I learned so much, thank you!

[@RD-bs6xe]

Great information! I love the ‘make the cake in training, eat the cake in the race’ - Great analogy ✅

[@nickpetersen1242]

Thanks, Floris! This is a great interview! My favorite takeaway is at 58:10 where he says it’s not about the epic workout, but about the sum of it all. It’s about having the health to sustain the daily grind. The one consistent theme I find in your channel is to be consistent in training! 🤣 Fantastic content!!

[@dimplez1a]

Firstly, thank you for this extremely insightful interview which I knew I definitely needed to watch as soon as it popped up, but saved it for when I have no distractions. Definitely learned a lot but at the same time needed reminders of the things we know but don’t always practice. Among the many takeaways, the 2 that stood out was ‘we building the cake but racing is eating the cake and you got to balance that because if we eat too much of the cake then we in trouble’. Also ‘if you don’t have health, then you don’t have that overshoot or extra energy to put into the process of developing your body in a different/demanding way. No health= no performance, health first or the adaptations don’t happen’. I will still watch it again(maybe a few more times lol) for the bits that I might have missed. Thanks again

[@joeevans2950]

"The human will break down." I may be an example...I'm now 62 and have run since I was 15. Needless to say over that time span I've tried a lot of different training. Last year I was training for a marathon with a plan that included two fairly hard days a week along with easy runs and this worked out ot be more than 80/20. After a few months I developed some health issues. 80/20 makes a whole lot more sense.

[@davidporter2828]

I'm 60 and have found fixed training plans to be rather less useful as I have become an ageing athlete. Not only does recovery take longer, it's also way more uneven and unpredictable. I need a lot more flexibility and want the ability to say (for example) I feel like I could use two full rest days this week.

[@thiepnguyen1698]

I like this episode because I have been plateau for much longer than I wanted because I train in the middle ground for too long. I have been listening to you shows regular since I found your channel.

[@spdlee]

My take away is "Are you having fun? what's your motivation to train?" which is exactly same as what I tell my runners.. since we do forget why we started running... Great interview again. Thanks Floris!

[@cprice5897]

Interested in the quote ‘you can go from untrained to trained without a problem but then things start to go wrong. This is my problem with injuries. Very interesting interview. Will def be following this advice

[@jordanstubbs8107]

In studying Sports and Exercise Science I absolutely resonate with this quote from Dr. Seiler: “My thesis has always been that developments in the sports, in training, have not emerged from scientists, with very few exceptions. They have emerged from the laboratory of the forest, and the roads, and the water, where people are training, and coaches are watching.” The benefit of science is that it’s robust and well researched, the drawback though is that takes time! If we want to be on the cutting edge of best practices, most of the time it’s best to look at the elites and learn from their experience in the trenches 🙏

[@aminsalmani5572]

Great episode, thanks! My favorite part was comparison of F1 and endurance training strategy.

[@erinhinton613]

Wow, nice interview Floris! I remember reading some of SS’s work when I studied ex phys in college back in the day! my biggest takeaway was the lack of adaptation if the body is under stress whether emotional or physical. Not sure if I should ever actually work out using that metric though :) I can’t believe how well some humans handle stress…

[@barkleyhunt3227]

Thank you Floris - new to running and will be signing up with your pb program

[@justinbrown471]

Thanks for sharing this information. Always welcome and greatly appreciated. I completed my first hundred miles race this year Cotswolds Way. I remember watching your 100 mile video 2 years ago. I can recall you having the time to respond to my questions. I will never forget the valuable knowledge you explained. Have a great Christmas break👍

[@FlorisGierman]

Good to hear from you again Justin and well done on running your first 100 miler this year. You will surely always remember your first race of any distance, in particular when it comes to the marathons and ultras! You have a great Christmas break as well! Cheers

[@javierb3218]

Hi Floris! Finish the intervals wihout being exhausted. That's a good one. Also, the "body of work" is what matters most.

[@b.scottsimmons2156]

Definitely one of your most informative guests. I will have to listen to the podcast again in a week to process all the information. Optimization vs Maximization is a concept that should be intuitive but is harder to achieve in practice.

[@FlorisGierman]

Glad you enjoyed it. Yes while editing I listened to it several times and each times found different nuggets again. Optimization vs Maximization is indeed a good one to focus on.

[@ericchevalley]

For me, his recommendation of having a balanced optimization approach to training sums it up. Things I learned this time is that adaptation may be compromised because of higher priority adaptations occuring in the body. In retrospect, I can relate to that, whether it be because of compromised metabolism, immunity, or injury. Why run 2-3h while under the weather or power through a niggle? I have experienced a clear slow down and poorer HR efficiency when my kinetic chain was off balance and needed to back off running. I believe it pays off to listen to the physiological signals and adjust training, before, during and after running. I'm glad he is exploring other areas of sport research. Looking forward to his findings. Thanks for having the legendary Stephen Seiler on the Extramilest show. It's epic and well deserved. Congratulation Floris!

[@FlorisGierman]

Very well said Eric, thank you 🙏 🙌

[@bduzan]

Thank you for a great episode with Stephen Seller. My takeaway: The best results are not about maximization, but optimization of our efforts. “Great endurance athletes have intensity discipline.” It's about leaving the ego at home!

[@lgyes2]

Great episode as always Floris. My takeaway was around how being healthy is a foundation for better adaptation during the training cycle - with his example of the Norwegian training camps and being turned away at any hint of an illness/poor immune system. Keep up the good work 🤙

[@FlorisGierman]

Those examples he shared were eye opening for me as well. The way he put it makes total sense that our body will prioritize health over training progress. Thanks Ed!

[@qvdouce]

Floris. I have been working with low heart rate training for years now, thanks to one of your early videos. I have been running since the early 1970s and wish I knew then what I know now. I used to run in no mans land all the time. I would have had better times with less effort. The more research I see, the more constant the answer is. Dr. Seiler is so right. The 80/20 and polarized training is the way to go. Also, we can do what the elite runners do...just at our paces.

[@FlorisGierman]

Hi John, glad that you, me and many others in the endurance community are now more aware of a lower intensity training approach / polarized training / 80-20. I feel most athletes first have to experience several challenges in their training, before looking into alternative approaches to optimize their training, racing and health in the long term.

[@yalifu7456]

Excellent interview, very informative and making sense based on my personal experience as an endurance enthusiast. Many take aways, such as balancing stress, health and training. Key take aways: Not the epic of a workout, but the sustainable process of loading; zoom out, not zoomed in on a particular workout, make intensity workout at 90%"

[@tejasvi]

Thank you for the interview. There were many good takeaways, and as I read the comment section here and on your FB group after watching the video they come back to mind. I want to quote a couple from a segment - “Easy is easy, hard is even harder, miisrepresents reality” and how he goes into saying “Work hard but not so hard it’s not manageable” and him using Eliud’s quote “want to be still smiling when I wake up the next day and be able to go for a run. It’s not the epic workout but the body of work that counts” drove the point well about intensity of hard workouts. As a relatively new runner (2 full years) that is conscious about keeping it easy thanks to extramilest, I am still ending my year with an injury (again, like last year) after (likely) pushing it hard on track intervals. The 90% rule that Stephen brought up has sunk in already.

[@dsfrye01]

So many wonderful nuggets of information in this one. The takeaway that resonated with me was that nasal breathing is not an indication of performance during activity. You can adapt to become a nasal breather under more high intensity loads.

[@lmoffat6867]

All great information Floris. I love the emphasis on letting kids play vs. structuring their "play" into organized sports and training at young ages. I too observe the "all out sprint" my 6 year old does when she wants to run around the track with me. My "slow down" words of wisdom mean nothing to her and I love it. ;-)

[@joneaton3366]

This is just what we to hear, I'm gonna stop eating the cake and start building it, yes smile at end of a session to enjoy and train the next day. Rhythm and sustainability feel the flow. These are all brilliant. Not the epic workout but the body at work. Top video thank you has given me great insights and inspiration for my next year's running.

[@FlorisGierman]

Happy to hear that Jon, several solid takeaways right there. Good reminders for 2022 and beyond!

[@shashimehta98]

Thanks for such an educative and informative podcast. My takeaway: "Intensity has no meaning if there is no period attached to it." This is so true! Intensity can be measured only when it is for a particular interval and we are able to give our best shot when its for a given interval. If we are asked to perform our best indefinitely...its absurd. Unfortunately many of us have such unrealistic expectations from ourselves. There is no such thing as "steady pace". Rightly said by Dr Stephen Seiler.

[@jasonpara832]

Floris I listen to you and Dr Seiler all the time esp. when I mow the lawn or do things around the house. I liked your interview with Dr S and I most enjoyed you talking about training and having fun with your kids. I twins that are 10 and an 8 yr old and we jog to the park and play tag and basketball for our fitness. I make them run about 100 yards or so away so they build some endurance. I like the cake reference Dr S brought up. Stay healthy was a key point as well. I tried your low heart rate training for a while however I don't have that much time. Please keep up the great content.

[@tashwillcarelse5076]

Great interview Floris, also balanced... So many great nuggets but I really appreciated 'it's an optimisation problem, not a maximisation problem....' referring to finding the optimum balance to get the results.... and to have fun out there too 😉

[@user-rv2ri4gn8g]

I really learned something here! I have always known about 80/20-but as a triathlete we tend to not understand the slow/easy workouts😓🙈 But after listening to this episode and after doing my 5th ultra two weeks ago(and not understanding why my body is still not recovering as it used too here two weeks later)I just realized that Im still recovering and did a 2 hour slow run today-and it felt amazing❤🎉

[@gogob5643]

Hi, Tnx for great & interesting interview. I was amazed from how new all of this knowledge is.

[@nedkelly4003]

Thank you for posting this interview it has been extremely useful and thought provoking. I no longer run but now cycle after medical issues but I still need to train. I had an organ transplant 12 years ago (Im now 62 YO) and it took me the best part of 4 years to get my medication stable and therefore a physiological platform to allow me to train with some normality. The wider points you highlight with Dr Seiler suggest that if I had the insight to utilise these metrics I could have adapted to my new normal quicker and therefore produced more beneficial training results. As my family would no doubt contest I was my own worst enemy after my operations as I made my self ill on more than one occasion. I believe that is also attributed to my age and old training mantra 'No Pain, No gain' as you eluded to. It would make a good medical/sports science paper if it already hasn't 🤔

[@andyrankin6634]

Hi Floris, thanks for a great interview here. It's definitely one to watch again to catch all the nuggets of gold. The Kipchoge reference about finishing a run smiling really hit home, but the reaffirmation to run 80% of the time at conversational pace was very timely. I have FINALLY managed to slow down my 'easy' runs so they are a minute slower than my tempo/half marathon pace runs - previously, there was only about a 30 second difference. All my runs fell into the grey area. I have finally found a way out and now looking to see what the improvements will be.

[@FlorisGierman]

Hi Andy, glad you have found a way to lower the intensity of your easy runs. Looking forward to hearing how things will improve for you in 2022 and beyond!

[@ThomasGaeng]

Liked the explanation of exercise science and how he got started.