The 80/-10/+10 Principle for Strength and Endurance Training
I first learned about 80/-10/+10 when I started strength training over 10 years ago, but I think the principle applies to endurance training as well. I’ve personally found it very helpful for managing the emotional highs and lows that come with training and not getting too fixated on individual workouts, both the good and the bad. Put simply, the principle states that about 10% of your training sessions will be kind of awful, 10% will be awesome, and 80% will be pretty average.
-10% sessions: These are the days you struggle to even get out the door. Your heart rate and effort were much higher than usual on your easy run. Your warm-up sets of deadlifts felt glued to the floor. You had to scrap the planned interval workout because the target wattage was impossible to hold. You had to hike up that hill you can usually just jog up. It was so bad in fact that you consider making this activity private on Strava lest your followers wonder what’s wrong with you.
+10% sessions: These are the days you feel invincible. You set a new rep PR on deadlifts. You became the KOM of every segment during your run without even trying. The power targets felt almost too easy during your interval workout. You felt like you were floating over the trails and could have won the 7 Sisters (why couldn’t the race be today!).
80% sessions: These are not particularly noteworthy, just run-of-the-mill. You showed up, felt pretty good overall, and completed the run or workout as intended. You’ll probably forget the details of it tomorrow. It was so mundane that you couldn’t think of a clever name for this activity on Strava, so you just leave it as “Morning Run/Ride.”
Here are some thoughts about each:
-10% sessions are inevitable. Remember, progress isn’t always linear. A single -10% session by itself is no reason to overreact if progress has otherwise been oncoming and steady. Try to figure out what went wrong (poor sleep or nutrition? Stress at home or work? Or was it just extra hot and humid?) and address the issue for next time if possible. However, if -10% sessions start happening more often, or you experience several in a row, then it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate your training and recovery. LISTEN to your body when you feel awful or something just doesn’t seem right. Trying to push through and complete one of these sessions as you originally planned is a recipe for frustration or even injury. Adjust (or even scrap) the workout if necessary, and move on.
+10% sessions are what we live for and how we wish we felt every training session. However, it’s important not to get too elated and carried away on these days. It’s easy when you’re feeling good and training is going well to do way more than you are capable of recovering from and set yourself back. Just because you could grind out one more mile or complete an extra interval doesn’t mean you should. Enjoy and be grateful for these 10% sessions when they come and know when/how to take advantage of them, but keep the big picture in mind.
80% sessions, while not very remarkable, are actually the most important and where the magic happens. 80% sessions might not get you a ton of Kudos on Strava, but stringing together months and seasons of 80% sessions (with the occasional +10% and -10% session here and there as well) is how long-term, sustainable progress is made and breakthrough performances occur.
Try not to get too worked up about workouts that fall on either end of the spectrum. A single +10% or -10% session isn’t going to impact that upcoming race too much or your long-term growth and development as a runner or cyclist, but a calendar filled with “good enough” 80% sessions will.
Accept and move on from the -10%, appreciate the +10%, and accumulate the 80%.