Athletic Training Program: Fill & Download for Free

Walking a marathon is not difficult. If you can keep up a gentle walking pace of about 3.5 miles per hour, you can do it in about 8 hours. It’s tedious, but not really all that hard for a reasonably healthy person.A number of training programs, like Jeff Galloway, uses both running and walking. It’s far less strain than just running, and lots of people who wouldn’t be thought of as “athletic” can use them to complete marathons in reasonably good times.If you want to actually run a marathon… that’s gonna hurt, no matter what. It’s a lot easier if you’re properly trained, but the biochemistry and biomechanics of running will cause you to reach a point where your body says “WE STOP RUNNING NOW!” If you were willing to run the first 20, and walk the second half*, you’d be pretty unhappy at the end but not in the kind of excruciating pain that makes a marathoner a marathoner.I’d say that if you’re interested, you should pick a training program (any program) and do it. Let it take time: start in spring and plan to do it it 4–5 days a week. (Any program will incorporate rest days.) It’s hard, but the marathon pushes the limits of a basically healthy human body without going over it. It’s a good way to say, “Yeah, I’ve seen the limits, and I know I can go there.”* A marathon really begins at mile 20. Marathon runners say that it’s a 10k race with a 20 mile warmup.

Is that a thing?Never heard of that.My first instinct is to say HELL NO…but then again I live in South China where the summer is so hot and humid that I start sweating on the 5 minute walk to the metro. I’ve lost 4kg during a workout before.It’s what the plants crave.If you live in a more reasonable place, I guess this could work.I presume that they use lower rep sets with longer recovery…actually that’s exactly how most strength athletes train. Studies have shown that MORE recovery time is actually BETTER for muscle and strength increases.I’ve lost track of how many times someone showed me a program that they got from some “guru” that had 1 minute rest times.It happens very often-actually the most recent was exactly…43 minutes ago.Sorry for blowing up your spot, bro! :)It doesn’t matter if you are trying to “shred”. You just need more time to recover…and the data shows that it’s better for hypertrophy and strength.How much better?Quite a bit.How much time should you take?As much as you need. This isn’t cardio. Quality is crucial.So, actually a no-sweat workout might be a decent way to gauge that.Especially if you are in a cold gym…if you are sweating your ass off…it’s probably not really strength training.Just because something FEELS harder doesn’t mean it’ll be more effective.Follow me on Instagram for daily diet and training tips!

When creating a training program, a lot of factors people usually don’t consider come into play.The face you make when anticipating all them future gains.Some people are tall.Some are short.Some have elbows made of steel, some have knees made of glass.Some are allergic to cashews.Kobe Bryant famously slept only 6 hours per night.If I tried to do that I would last a week at most.To illustrate, this is a (pretty delicious looking) cake.Low-carbers, come at me.You can make this cake.Sure, ingredients vary a bit from place to place, so it may taste/look a bit different depending on where you are and the cooking skills you possess.But all in all, most people following the recipe behind it (which is here, if you were wondering) will get a cake that both taste and look pretty similar.The problem with following a pre-made training program is that it doesn’t take all the ingredients into question.It doesn’t consider you.You’re not a bag of flour or a bowl of raspberries.You are a pretty specific fucking human being.Your history, athletic prowess, lifestyle and personality differs from that of other people.Your life, stress, and routines are pretty specific to you.A training program is not a recipe.You don’t put stuff in a bowl and get the same results every time.To make something which will get you the results you’re looking for, we have to consider your:Goals.Degree of motivation.Injury history.Training experience.Work capacity.Strength and muscle imbalances.Genetics.Biomechanical factors like the length of your various limbs, muscle insertions etc.Nutrition.Stress, sleep and other lifestyle factors that affect recovery ability.Equipement availability.And most importantly - enjoyment.Humans simply respond to different things in different ways.One specific program may be great for person A but horrible to person B.Are there ready-made programs out there that aren’t totally horrible?Yes. Definitely.Starting Strength is decent. I highly recommend you to customise it a bit though, because it isn’t that great straight out of the box.Greg Nuckols at StrongerbyScience has a Training Toolkit which only costs 10$. When it comes to cookie and cutter programs, it’s as good as it gets.But you’re a pretty special being and cookie-cutter will never be cutting edge.And if you’re shooting for progress and results that are better than average, if you’re truly motivated to actually reach your goals, you should know.The best program for you is simply on that is customised to you, your goals, wants and needs.