Training Tip: Win More Workouts Than You Lose

I recently listened to a great episode of the On Coaching podcast where Steve Magness highlighted the importance of “winning more workouts than you lose.” I happen to be going through a tough VO2 max training block as well, so this idea seems especially relevant at the moment. 

Your best results in training will come from stringing together week after week and month after month of successful workouts. Some of these will be quite challenging, but most should be very manageable and well within your abilities so you can wake up tomorrow and do it all again, and feel confident about where things are heading. Nothing breeds self doubt in yourself and your training plan than missing reps in the gym or feeling like garbage during a set of intervals and failing a workout.

The framework below is a good way to make sure your training is sustainable and you are winning more workouts than you lose:

First, your workouts generally fall into one of three categories: You thrived, survived, or died. 

Thrived - You comfortably completed the workout. It might not have been easy, but it also didn’t take too much out of you and you felt like you had a little more in the tank afterwards. You could do it again tomorrow. Less than 8/10 RPE for the workout.

Survived - You got through it, but it took more out of you than you expected. You were struggling to hit the paces/targets by the end and had little to nothing left in the tank afterwards. Definitely took something out of you, but you’ll bounce back after a couple of easy days. Little/no disruption to scheduled training. 9-10/10 RPE for the workout.

Died - The workout kicked your butt and was beyond what you were capable of. You couldn’t get through it and were falling off the paces/targets early. Emotionally and physically spent afterwards, with training disrupted for several days afterwards. 11/10 RPE for the workout.

Color code each workout afterwards (the overall emotional and physical toll it took on you):

Green = thrived

Yellow = survived 

Red = died

When you look over your last few months of training, you should see mostly greens (thrived), some yellows (survived), and little to no reds (died). 

You still need to include hard days in your training to give your body a reason to improve. They probably shouldn’t be the majority though, at least for very long. 

Likewise, those hard “see God” -type workouts certainly have a place and can be helpful for preparing the body and mind for what they might experience during races, but they should be employed strategically and sparingly. 

If you see the balance is starting to shift to mostly yellows and reds, then you need to proceed with caution, because you are walking on thin ice.