Supercompensation: Controlling Volume

You wake up on a Tuesday morning, coming off of a big down week. Today is your regular workout day and everyone in the group text is revving about how excited they are for the workout. Yet, your legs feel like lead. You’re exhausted. You want to crawl back in bed, but you’re disciplined and go anyway. Your effort is up, but your splits seem to be stabilizing at worse times. Coach tells you that it will come just to keep working; it takes time. This cycle has been repeating for months now and your training partners are getting faster. Taylor Swift’s “It’s me, I’m the problem it’s me” play in your head. But are you? According to research, you may not be the problem..

Summary Outline:

• What Is Progressive Overload?
• Place Your Bets: Volume
• Changing Your Odds

Progressing You

In our previous article we talked all about Progressive Overload and the different training variables that can be managed to help increase and decrease training load to make you faster. We also briefly introduced the concept of super compensation and what it means for your training program and why it is the key to mastering an increase in fitness. 

What works for you might not work for your friend on the same training plan; and what works for you today might not work for you tomorrow. But it’s not just about getting faster week over week or season over season; super compensation drives your fitness day over day.  Mastering the balance between your supercompensation curves is one of  the key differences between individuals of equal talent, biometrics, and physiology, winning or losing against one another in a head to head race or even progressing in fitness. 

Place Your Bets: Volume

Coaches often try to manipulate super compensation through a variety of means like we mentioned. Today we’re going to look more closely at the variable of Volume. One of the most common ways in training programs Volume is controlled is through up/maintenance weeks and down weeks. This will often be the easiest to manipulate for managing training load to illicit performance through supercompensation:

Up/Maintenance Weeks -

These are weeks where your training is a bit tougher. You might run longer distances, do more intense workouts, or run at a faster pace. It's like pushing yourself a bit more in your video games to reach a higher level. Your body is being challenged, and this is important for improvement.

Down Weeks -

‍This is a lighter week in terms of training. You might run shorter distances or at a slower pace. It's like taking a rest day or playing an easier level in a game. This doesn't mean you stop training; you just take it easier. The purpose is to let your body recover from the hard work it's been doing.

Traditionally, volume is the prominent and easily understood variable to alter with this approach to training and might look something like this on the calendar:

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Week 1: Up/Maintenance

Mileage - 35 (Start Point)

Week 2: Up/Maintenance

Mileage - 40 (+14.3% Volume vs. Previous Week/Start)

Week 3: Up/Maintenance

Mileage - 45 (+12.5% Volume vs. Previous Week; +28.6% Volume vs. Start)

Week 4: Down

Mileage - 30 (-33.3% Volume vs. Previous Week; -16.7% Volume vs. Start)

Week 5: Up/Maintenance

Mileage - 40 (+33.3% Volume vs. Previous Week; +14.3% Volume vs. Start)

Week 6: Up/Maintenance

Mileage - 45 (+12.5% Volume vs. Previous Week; +28.6% Volume vs. Start)

Week 5: Up/Maintenance

Mileage - 50 (+11% Volume vs. Previous Week; +42.9% Volume vs. Start)

Week 8: Down

Mileage: 35 (-30% Volume vs. Previous Week; Equivalent to Start)

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There are a few important things to note about this structure:

1. Progressive Overload - Each week the volume based training load increases except for on down weeks
   
   
2. Targeted Supercompensation - Down weeks decrease the volume based training load at first relative to the Start and previous weeks and eventually progresses to only the previous weeks, assuming adaptations take place.
   
   
3. Controlled Progressions and Reductions - Largest progressions and reductions compared to prior weeks occur following a down week (~30%).

This type of volume progression may work well for some individuals as it is written and it might also prove too much for others which is where a strong relationship between an athlete and coach is necessary to ensure that one athlete is not getting left behind at the expense of the group.

Changing Your Odds

You may be thinking that this should be easy to plan out due to its simplicity, but not everyone responds the same way as the research studies and, possibly you, have shown.

These are the Top 5 Ways I help my athletes manage their Volume without overloading their systems too drastically:

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1. Identify the Best Training Cycles -

Some athletes do great with a 16-week build before a goal race; others may do better with a 12-week build; others still may do best with a 20-week build. How long an athlete is able to handle consistent loading before a larger break impacts how you set up the volume for the training cycle. Ideally each cycle builds off itself.

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2. Rolling 7-Day Weekly Volume -

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While we have not covered Intensity or Frequency this week, taking a day off or a day of lowered volume may look like a dent to the weekly mileage but might actually be keeping Volume over the last 7 days in check.

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3. A Minimum Difference of 2-Miles Volume Per Day -

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If you’re just starting this rule clearly should not be applied. However, in general it’s a good idea to change the Volume you run every day to leave some wiggle room for other variable changes and needs. This may also just be easier mentally for an athlete which is important beyond just having an appropriate plan in place.

4. Be Flexible With The Day Off -

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‍Some coaches do not believe in having a day off. Others have their athletes take a day off 1x a week on the same day every week. Different athletes will have different recovery needs. Just because the calendar works in weeks does not mean every athlete does. We have seen athletes need a day off every 5 days, 6 days, 7 days, 10 days, and 13 days. Off may mean just not running, but few do well with no rest in their system and depending on the tenure of the athlete, this may also change over time. Be perceptive to your needs.

5. Don’t Over Emphasize The Long Run -  

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More and more research is coming out showing that the long run does not need to be a weekly staple. This has been most recently popularized by ultrarunner Camille Heron who runs 2 long runs per training block. Long runs often require increased recovery time, deliver diminishing value the longer they get, and can lead to compromised training and performance when implemented incorrectly. If you have been told you need a 20-miler to run your marathon every training cycle, I implore you to reconsider; your times and body will thank you.