Ep. #1159: Dr. Stephen Seiler on the Right (and Wrong) Ways to Improve Endurance

Muscle for Life with Mike Matthews

What’s the best way to boost your endurance without overtraining or getting injured?

Should you try to “hack” your physiology with hard intervals, Tabata workouts, and HIIT?

Should you mimic the training methods of famous athletes?

Or something else entirely?

In this episode, I chat with Dr. Stephen Seiler, an exercise physiologist renowned for his work studying and documenting the training practices of elite endurance athletes, including cross-country skiers, cyclists, rowers, swimmers, runners, skaters, and others, and for extracting the key principles from these training programs and adapting them for recreational athletes.

In this episode, you’ll learn . . .

The importance of endurance training for overall health and fitness How to use optimize your endurance workouts with the “three-zone model” The best intensity for improving your cardiovascular fitness over time How to effectively balance the frequency, duration, and intensity of your workouts Practical tips for setting and achieving fitness goals, such as running a 5k or 10k race The scientific reasons for rest days How to set up your training program for long-term enjoyment and success

And more . . .

So, whether you're aiming to enhance your cardiovascular health, set PRs in your endurance sport of choice, or simply get more out of your existing cardio routine, you want to listen to this episode.

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Timestamps:

(06:13) What are the benefits of endurance and cardiovascular training?

(11:24) How to properly balance the frequency, duration, and intensity of your endurance workouts

(15:33) The importance of cardiovascular training for young people

(25:01) What is the 3-zone model?

(32:13) What is polarized training?

(40:15) What does programming for a 5k look like?

(45:34) Is one interval day per week sufficient?

(46:25) What does progression look like after one year of endurance training?

(49:14) What is the sweet spot for marathon training?

(54:04) A scientific argument for rest days

(58:56) What is a suitable timeframe for someone starting endurance training to prepare for a marathon?

(01:04:29) Why is intrinsic motivation important? How can we optimize our training plan for this?

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Mentioned on the Show:

Bigger Leaner Stronger

Thinner Leaner Stronger

Muscle for Life

Phoenix

Legion Diet Quiz

Stephen Seiler Google Scholar

Stephen Seiler YouTube