Unlocking Endurance: The Real Science Behind Effective Training

[@SteveMagness]

Thanks for watching. I'm just getting started on this youtube journey, so I'll improve and make adjustments as I figure it out. If you'd like to go more in-depth, I write a weekly newsletter on performance. You can find it here: thegrowtheq.com/newsletters/geq/

[@mikevaldez7684]

@@SteveMagness is it free?

[@adayexpired6370]

Hi, Steve. Been binge watching your vids since watching your mileage debate: running volume for performance vid yesterday. Just wanted to convey my appreciation for the clarity in your vids. 👍. You have a talent for teaching this stuff for sure. All your vids seem super salient and each chock full of helpful tips, and no BS. Really appreciate how you go into the reasoning behind your theories/subjects, so I can decide how to implement the advice myself and for not talking down or dogmatically(usually to sell something)like other YT running channels tend to do. Just felt like giving you a big thumbs 👍 up. Super helpful for a beginner runner like me, far above and beyond any other YT running channels I’ve seen. Please don’t stop and keep up the good work.

[@BenHummel]

This video is refreshing compared to most of the fitness content out there. Thanks for speaking to the majority of us (with real research) rather than just to the few elite athletes out there.

[@coatax]

i completely agree. i started running 3 months ago, and as a beginner, no matter what i do, i'm in the zone 4-5. i watched a lot of beginner running videos but they are all talking about zones and stuff. so the reality if you're starting out is that the technicalities doesnt matter in the beginning. for 2 months, just start running and test yourself. try fast try slow. eventually you'll realize the pace you're comfortable with and the pace you can run longer. don't pressure yourself, walking is normal for beginners. 3 months ago, i can't even run 1 minute straight. now i can run for 1 hour and 10 minutes straight without stopping at a slow pace. so just start running. that's it. then when you're comfortable, just then you move on to upgrading your runs with more technicalities.

[@tomyang714]

I have been going to the gym doing resistence training for two years. When I first started running this March, I quickly realised how poor my endurance is. With all the zones so closely together and quickly running into zone three and four. It took me a while to accept that my zone 2 at current state will be a mix of slow run and quick walk. Once the ego is out the door, I finally get to enjoy how refreshing an easy run or recovery run can be.

[@deanmilne6744]

Getting back into running, and the best thing I've done is ditch the watch and run to feel. With a watch, every run becomes a test of fitness in some way or other, rather than a training session. My running form has massively improved, and im now running at appropriate intensities.

[@Ben-yw8be]

I work in the hospital. Yeah Steve nailed it regarding lactate. I took care of a patient once and his lactate was a 9 and they were just in bed.

[@jordanrundell9962]

20 minute video and no mention of double threshold training days?! I kid, I kid. Great info here Steve! I think so many people get caught up in what the "trend" is in exercise training, and what the really need to do is volume, low intensity, and preparing the body to run fast.

[@amyeb8362]

Saving this because I often need this reminder. It’s hard to ignore all the bs on social media

[@maxmaxi7236]

Cool video and very interesting and refreshing take. But, the video was really hard to follow for me as a dyslexic because of the subtitles that I could not switch off, so I had to literally switch off my monitor to make it easier for me to focus on what you were saying.

[@mikevaldez7684]

Slow running did very little for me. 😢 After a very short time I needed to regularly use very intense intervals. Then suddenly my speed & endurance improved phenomenally😮

[@calamityoblivion301]

Same, my coach always said „run slower to run faster“ but that poisons everyone’s minds into thinking that workouts didn’t matter that much

[@daniel.agoston]

Such a refreshing take! Finally someone said it like it is

[@Good13man]

Totally! Doubling was MAGIC for me in HS in the '90s!!!!!

[@edwin5419]

Please don't embed captions. They're often wrong in this video and they're very distracting. If people want them, youtube has that functionality

[@jemeadows19]

You can zoom in to crop them out. Very distracting when wrong.

[@MICHAELOLSON-x9s]

I've been a coach (xc and track) for a long time and always try to improve my craft. We also use the talk test but your thoughts on how the zones are compressed for a beginner is quite insightful. You have sparked some ideas that I will use for my 'never-evers(run before)'. Thanks!

[@stevenschuster]

Just when I finally getting around to examining Zone training and implementing it in my own training.... this video shows up. Thanks Steve! Great name by the way

[@Edvenchers]

You know KZbin has a captions function that viewers can turn on/off. The software you used had many errors.

[@ChadMSU07]

Great video, I appreciate your knowledgeable and practical approach. As someone who is relatively new to running all the different type of workouts and programs are overwhelming

[@deanjackson3097]

Being aware of heart rate ones is a great way monitoring your body and aiding in not overtraining. It helps me back off or gear down when the body is under too much stress.

[@batstv5107]

Same here. Used the HR to back down so i could get a little more miles and not fatiguing. It also shows me that my BPM improve a little by little on every session. Consistency is key

[@henkbarnard8070]

Great video. What you say makes perfect sense and is refreshing compared to a lot of youtube content.

[@evanhadkins5532]

Many thanks. This is what I've been looking for. I don't have ambitions to be an athlete, I just want to be fairly fit.

[@SteveMagness]

Best of luck!

[@evanhadkins5532]

@@SteveMagness Thanks!

[@erlandekheden9588]

For us living with the metric system, perhaps you can add corresponding paces in min/km as a text in the video when you talk about mile paces? That would be very helpful.

[@rameses2460]

I’ve been running for a year and it is still very hard to control the heart rate zones. When I run for longer than an hour, my heart rate just shoots up and wont stay in zone 2 anymore. I have to walk just to drop the heart rate which I try not to do because its hard for me to get back the rythm of getting the right gait cycle. Thank you for explaining it in simpler terms. You get a sub!

[@bh...]

Great video. Informative, no bs. Thx

[@franslangitan6334]

it's clear and excellent, thanks Steve

[@jaymills1720]

This is excellent Steve ! Love this content ❤

[@SteveMagness]

Glad you enjoy it! Thanks so much!

[@Good13man]

Your sound cut out quite a bit and the captions were hilarious.

[@adrenalinejunkie4788]

Love your work, Steve.

[@SteveMagness]

Thanks so much. Glad you enjoy it!

[@batstv5107]

Loved this. What a refresher. Subscibed 😉

[@LeoShoSilva]

Which is why newbies have to walk when they start running and walk ,then run then walk .It's probably the best training they'll do .But then they get fitter and can run for longer and harder and they get injured ......

[@bobgreen5842]

Great! I love this

[@mikevaldez7684]

@LeoShoSilva, Really? And you know this how? I started running 2 years ago & have yet to have an injury & I went from barely being able to run to the corner to being among the most competitive in my age group in the region! Never speak in absolutes, we are all different & unique 😢🥺🙋🙏

[@LeoShoSilva]

@@mikevaldez7684 Yes ,I meant to say apart from Mike Valdez ,he won't get injured .

[@mikevaldez7684]

@@LeoShoSilva Right, & about 40% of the other recreational runners as well. Your info is way skewed & not fact based😁👍🙏

[@dplindt]

Hi Steve. Good info as always and I fully enjoy your videos and really think you do stand out from the rest out there. One thing though, IMO, will make your videos even better is to invest in a sturdier desk, or use hand gestures that are less excessive so that your desk, and thus your camera don't tremble as much. Just my 2 cents...

[@nikolaskatsipis2381]

Nice video. May I kindly suggest a few improvements on your shooting, as stabilizing your camera and do some checking on the subtitles - some words were identified falsely (i.e. Aerobically - > A Robotically 😂)

[@lestontonsplongeurs1038]

Well said Steve, thank’s!

[@strm5622]

Thank you for this valuable video. The discussions about HR can become so frustrating to follow. As if one bpm difference would make or break the value of your work-out. I really try to "feel" my run - do i feel really comfortable, can I chat with a friend on the phone during the run or do I start focusing on breathing. For me, this correlates on most days with a HR in the 130s, up to 145 or so - from then on I start to notice that talking becomes harder and more of the "three sentences but then I need a breather" kind of type. Now, this HR does not really "fit" perfectly in any of the typical calculations. 70% of my HR max would leave me at 130.5 - that would be really low. MAF would be 142 - reasonably but I'd say 143 or 144 are still within that range. Rest HR (which my coros watch uses) gives me a zone 2 of 134-151 - now 151 does not feel like totally relaxed to me anymore. So yea - i definitely like the idea to rather focus on how it actually feels.

[@strm5622]

Btw I often use my long runs (i) for a longer chat with a friend who runs with or (ii) for a long phone call with a family member. So I really know it is conversational:)

[@shaylorcyclingwahoo]

hey, love your stuff on Twitter and just found this. Agree with all of this but that bit at the end about VO2 Max not being a test of longevity, are you sure about what you said about running? I thought most of that research was in geriatrics who likely couldn't run at all?

[@djjemo]

Perfect opener. Ha! :)

[@VerusAthleta]

Hey Steve, great video! I texted you an E-Mail some weeks ago about some phrases of your books, and I would really appreciate an answer! Best wishes

[@bryanvaughan4281]

I do 80 /20 but in reverse. Slow running is great for recovery but it does little for me

[@PerryScanlon]

I've been looking for a good training shortcut. Still haven't found it.

[@mikevaldez7684]

Keep looking 😢

[@PerryScanlon]

@@mikevaldez7684 the closest thing I've found is the Gillen/Gibala 2016 paper, but at my age I can't be doing that 4 times a week.

[@duece619]

More long form content!

[@John.Pdcsta]

I hsve no watch or gadgets i went from couch to half marathon in 6 months at the age of 50 1 long run a week ,1 hills or temp session .and 3 one hour sessions of 10 k that were i do 8 k slow or steady lsst 2 k pick up psce i will do strength traning 2 timed a week ( same days as runs) ..it takes time im slowly becoming better.

[@milosgrujic9118]

So when I work out alone, I can't really talk so again I use zones which is basically the same like zones in talk test that you mentioned just seen differently.

[@SteveMagness]

I run by myself and talk all the time. It's a simple spot check. THe point is that zones are just rough markers. That's it. They are rule of thumb to help guide intensities, but they do NOT represent some magical training adaptation. And the adaptation varies within the low and high end of the zone. Too often, zones are treated as defining laws, which they are not.

[@Jason608]

I think HR zone training is a perfectly valid path for beginners to get fit. What you've done in this video is basically redefined the RPE scale as different levels of ability to talk. RPE is also a useful tool to have, and a perfectly valid path to getting fit, and if I'm understanding this correctly, you seem to prefer RPE over HR because you believe HR is too technical for most people to manage. Some people do like numbers and don't get confused, overwhelmed, or frustrated by HR training, speaking for myself. On the contrary, I found all the RPE scales to be confusing at first because they are extremely subjective. It wasn't until I started correlating how I feel to HR zones that I could calibrate my personal understanding of RPE better. In the end, a runner should practice and utilize HR, RPE, and pace as best appropriate for their situation and I think all you've done in this video is vilified HR.

[@SteveMagness]

No one is against HR, just understand it's limitations...which most beginners do not. For instance, the HR 'zones" are not hard and fast boundaries. I've seen way too many people freak out when they are a few heart beats over their zone...In addition, they lose value in heat/humidity. If you love heart rate, great! But understand that it's not as precise as you think it is, and is again, like RPE, talk test, lactate, etc. a very rough generalization of where intensity is and what you may be working on.

[@clipwat1511]

Really? This is called a good video? Wow 🙈

[@robertlambert8968]

Finally, the stupidity of zone training slammed! Zones are dumb.

Sound terrible.. otherwise good stuff

[@mhilb]

I like your videos better without the erroneous computer generated voice recognition text on the bottom. It’s distracting. Appreciate the risk of trying something new, but someone of your expertise really doesn’t benefit from it and it makes it feel like a rando tiktoker made it. Love your stuff otherwise!

[@ryankan1]

please delete that app that generates that annoying (often WRONG) transcript

[@JayS.-mm3qr]

Is endurance training bad for you though? Like what's the point, other than competition, which almost no one actually wins? You don't have to be an endurance athlete to have a healthy heart. In fact, extreme endurance training might be bad for it. Endurance training doesn't make you really strong, or flexible. Is it good for your joints? No. So what's it good for? I mean... i guess it gives people a sense that they are chasing a dragon. But when you look at it objectively, I'm not sure that endurance training is even healthy, but people feel like it, so in that sense only maybe, it's good. Like really... what do you need to run for more than an hour for? I mean, I don't mean to diss. I used to do 3 hour aerobics, until I started thinking, I don't think this is even good for me. So why am I doing it? Is there a reason?

[@TheDude2010]

Higher Vo2 max and lower resting HR is directly related to lower mortality rate and death due to heart related diseases

[@SteveMagness]

Just about every study we have shows that endurance performance is the BEST predictor of longevity we have. You can read more here: thegrowtheq.com/longevity-and-vo2max-does-it-matter/

[@aliasgharkhoyee9501]

​@@SteveMagness I haven't seen that link yet but to the OP's question is there a major difference between runs of 1h vs 2h for example?

[@jlchambe77]

Like he said around 16 min in. If you just want to be healthy, then you don’t need to do the extremes. But if you enjoy it and want to do competition then one people might want to take it to the next level. It is like saying “why play soccer?”, is it really healthy for you, you might get an injury. But if someone enjoys soccer, then it is worth play and also is a good way to get into shape.

[@TheDude2010]

@@jlchambe77 where did he say 16 min