The interplay between Intensity and Volume within your training plans, is one of the key variables that enables athletes to improve on key fitness and performance markers.
Volume is the cumulative measurement of both the duration of each individual session, as well as the frequency of the sessions. For example, training for a total of 10hours a week, which is spread over 7 sessions. It is usually a hotly debated topic amongst athletes and sometimes can be a bit of a golden chalice with some, who ensure that their desired volume is achieved every time. We all know of at least one person (we may even be that person) that will complete a run in 57mins and yet will continue running small laps near their home just to round off the time to 60mins cause that’s what on the schedule (you’re smiling now aren’t you?!?
Intensity is usually measured in terms of percentages of certain physiological parameters, such as FTP, HR, VO2 max etc, and it is also more difficult to provide a cumulative weekly measurement of it. Each high intensity session is designed with a specific goal in mind (e.g., peak power, FTP etc) and structured accordingly. Intensity is an equally hotly debated topic amongst athletes. We all know of at least one athlete, and yes again, we may even be that athlete, that sets out on an EASY ride, and somehow ends up focusing on power numbers or racing others (even if they don’t know that you are racing them) and never really doing any sessions easy. Go Hard or Go home! No Pain, no gain! Whilst these are true to an extent, intensity is a wide spectrum, from easy to hard and there is a time and place for sessions along the entire continuum.
The debate on which of the two is more important has been going on for decades, with traditionally, favouring greater volume over intensity for endurance athletes. That said, as advancements have been made in sport and coaching science, the arguments for intensity as well, have also been forthcoming. It’s very difficult to provide a definitive answer either way. The reality in fairness, lies in the careful and considered interaction of both these factors, that enables an athlete to work to their abilities, experience, background, goals, and indeed the time available to them to train.
In the case of new and inexperienced athletes, who are at the beginning of their training journey, volume alone would in fact yield some benefits. Starting from a low volume base, any increase almost irrespective of intensity, would bring about some benefits almost. As athletes progress and become fitter and stronger, volume alone will not induce major training effects.
Before we continue to explore the concepts of volume and intensity within triathlon training, we have to consider how volume is experienced as strain and load on the body. Running for example has a far greater load on the body than cycling, as it is completely weight bearing, whereas cycling the athletes weight is supported by the bicycle. So 200kms of running will have a far greater load than the equivalent 200kms of cycling. So specificity is key. Different sports, same volume in hours or mileage means different things. A 200km running week for example, could easily lead to running injuries! And staying healthy and injury free is also a key consideration in our training. For that, even beyond volume and intensity, Consistency is of utmost importance. The training stimulus needs to be consistent to primarily maximise the training adaptations and see the improvements we seek; but its also to help avoid any injuries.
In further exploring volume and intensity we also need to consider their effect at a more basic cellular level, and in the case of endurance training, or training in general, we look towards our muscle cells. The powerhouse of these muscles, is the mitochondria. This is where energy is produced within our muscle cells. And understanding how these are stimulated and developed by volume and intensity of training is key.
· Volume effect on mitochondria: Total training volume increases the amount of mitochondria that we have and therefore are available for energy production. So if we train more, we have more mitochondria!
· Intensity effect on mitochondria: Training intensity works more at the individual mitochondria level, and enhances mitochondrial protein function. So intensity makes them more efficient.
So to improve and get stronger, and faster, we need to increase our number of mini-powerhouses and make our engine bigger (so we need volume), but we also need to make sure this engine is working properly and efficiently (so we need intensity).
Staying briefly at this molecular level, in order to maximise the training adaptations and make the most of our sessions, we also need to consider another factor, closely tied into consistency and that is frequency of our sessions. So how we space them out to get the most out of the work we put in. Looking at our muscle cells, exercise induced adaptations peak at about 2-4 hours after a session, and they stay raised up to about 6 hours after the session. After that, they begin to drop, and they return to normal pre-session levels after about 24hrs. To maximise the benefits, if we offered our muscles an additional stimulus around the 6-8 hour mark after a session, we would elicit adaptations from a higher starting point. For this reason, (and of course assuming your schedule allows) its better to train twice a day. Just as those adaptations begin to return to baseline figures in the afternoon, following a morning sessions, you add another training stimulus thereby maximising the benefits. This is also why, active recovery days are better than complete rest days because they maintain the training stimulus.
However, going back to intensity, the average recovery time varies greatly depending on intensity level. Lower intensity workouts, below the aerobic threshold, only really take on average 24hrs. Sessions at anaerobic threshold can take up to 48hrs to recover and higher intensity VO2 max type sessions can take more than 3 days. So it's not always go hard or go home! It's sometimes, go hard first, go home rest, go easy and then come back!!
So remember:
· Get your frequency sorted first, before you focus on volume and intensity. 2x45mins sessions spaced 6-8 hours apart, may give a better effect than one single 90minutes session.
· If you cant do a long set, but have time for half of it, or even less than that, still do it. Best to do shorter sessions more frequently, than longer ones infrequently.
· Plan, plan and plan. Be proactive and not reactive with your training. Your coaches are here to help with that.
· Don’t forget Recovery! There’s place for easy sessions too. Sleep well, eat well, so you don’t undo your hard work!
References
P.B. Laursen (2010)
“Training for Intense Exercise Performance: high intensity or high volume training? “
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports Vol. 20. issue s2
D. Plews (2020) Fundamentals of Long Distance Triathlon Training (course notes)
Granata, C., et al (2018)
“Training-Induced Changes in Mitochondrial Content and Respiratory Function in Human Skeletal Muscle”
Sports Medicine Vol 48. issue 8
Seiler, S. (2010)
“What Is Best Practice for Training Intensity and Duration Distribution in Endurance Athletes?”
International Journal of Sports Physiology Performance
Some athletes believe that they are born with a talent! They are just good swimmers or fast runners. I believe that this is false! No doubt that sometimes genes give you an advantage but not a massive one. A great source for debunking the “talent theory” is Mathew Sayed’s book “Bounce” which I highly recommend you read before thinking that the athlete swimming next to you in the pool is faster because he is talented. In addition, labelling athletes by the word talent robes them of their hard work. Which brings me back to our mindset.
