Training Volume
What exactly is Training Volume? Training Volume is the “how much” portion of the training. Often, the biggest mistake in measuring volume is by measuring it by time, not work performed (or more commonly, distance traveled). We have all seen or been a part of training sessions that went for hours, but (either by design or not) there was a lot of standing around or not many reps taken. But also, we have seen the other side of it, where the training session was shorter, but felt a lot more difficult because there was a lot of sprinting or hard work put in without a lot of rest. That is why measuring training volume based on distance traveled, or work performed, is important.
Training volume can also be broken down into two categories, cardio and strength. If you are only training cardio without and strength, you are going to gradually lose your strength. If you only strength train and don’t do cardio, you are gradually going to lose your cardio. How quickly you lose your cardio or strength fitness varies from person to person, but the average is that it takes about 2 weeks to start noticing losses. This is one reason why it is important to maintain training both cardio and strength during the season. If you only train strength before the season, by the end of the season you will have lost most of the strength you gained during the hard work of the off-season, and the end of the season is usually when it matters most.
So what does training volume help with? Training volume is the biggest determinant of whether you are in shape or not. If you have too little volume (not enough exercise), you will be under-prepared for your competition. If you have too much training volume, (aka too much exercise), you will increase your risk of injury. Additionally, you run the risk of carrying residual fatigue into your competition which can affect your performance negatively.
This leads us to the million dollar question, how much is just right?
As is the case with most big questions, the answer is, it depends. But a few good rules of thumb are:
1. Increase your volume gradually and over time to a point where the competitions are equal to or less than the hardest training days.
2. Vary your training volume when possible. For example, if you go on a run, don’t run the same loop every time. Try to run longer distances sometimes, and try to run shorter distances sometimes.
3. Listen to your body. If it feels like too little or too much, it probably is.
4. Find time to get a little bit of strength training during your season.
*As little as one strength training session every other week has been scientifically shown to minimize strength losses.
Here, at Architech Sports, we have designed our programs and classes to help you maintain peak fitness and health. We are constantly striving to learn new techniques to help you better yourself and meet your athletic goals. If you have any questions about anything in this article, we will be more than happy to help you find answers.