Photo: iStock.com/boggy22
Few questions occupy runners more than this one: How many times a week should you train to improve – without overdoing it? The honest answer? There is no magic number that works for everyone. Your ideal training frequency depends on three things: your fitness level, your goals and what your everyday life allows.
As a general guide, here’s how often you should train:
2 to 3 sessions per week: Enough to support your health, fitness and basic endurance – whether you’re running simply for fun or building a solid foundation for future progress. Aim to have at least one rest day between your runs.
3 to 4 sessions per week: This gives you more scope to vary your training, with sessions such as tempo runs, hill runs and a longer run at the weekend. It’s a good training volume if you’re working towards a target time over 10 km or a half marathon.
5 to 6 sessions per week: This allows for more targeted training if you’re aiming for a personal best. At this level, recovery becomes an essential part of your training. Without careful planning of rest days and intensity, increasing your training frequency can quickly lead to overtraining.
How often you train is only part of the equation. How you structure your individual sessions is just as important. The majority of your training should be done at an easy, conversational pace. High-intensity sessions such as tempo runs, intervals and fartlek runs should account for no more than 20 to 25 per cent of your weekly training sessions. Turn this balance on its head and train hard all the time, and you’ll mainly accumulate fatigue rather than build the foundation for genuine progress.
Whatever your starting level, your weekly training volume should never increase by more than 10 per cent. The same applies to your longest training session over the past 30 days. The same principle applies to training frequency: take it slow. Adding one extra session per week every few months is a sensible approach. The reason for this caution is that your tendons, ligaments and bones – your passive structures – adapt to new loads much more slowly than your muscles and cardiovascular system. They therefore need more time to adjust. It’s also worth planning at least one week each month when you reduce both your training volume and intensity.
Training always means exertion AND recovery. It’s during the recovery phase that your body adapts to the training stimulus and becomes stronger and more capable. That’s why every week should include at least one genuine rest day – with no running, strength training or other structured exercise. That doesn’t mean, however, that every day without a run needs to be a complete rest day. On your other non-running days, your body is still ready for activities that support your running performance without interfering with running-specific recovery.
Strength training isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s a must, whatever your level. Schedule strength and cross-training on days that aren’t your complete rest day, or combine them with a running session:
2 to 3 runs per week: two strength sessions, one day of cross-training such as cycling or swimming, and at least one genuine rest day.
4 to 5 runs per week: schedule one genuine rest day, with the remaining days divided between strength and cross-training.
6 or more runs per week: protect your one genuine rest day and add strength exercises directly to a running day instead.
Strength and mobility training build the stability your muscles, tendons and ligaments need to help protect you from overuse injuries – while also helping you become a faster, more efficient runner. When your calendar gets busy, dropping these sessions means missing out on one of the most effective building blocks of long-term running performance.
For runners, three areas are particularly important. First, focus on the major leg muscles and calves. Basic exercises such as squats, lunges and single-leg calf raises help build the strength and tendon stability you need for a powerful push-off. Second, work on your core and hips with exercises such as planks, side leg raises and glute bridges. Strong, stable hips can help prevent common running-related knee and hip injuries. Third, particularly for more experienced runners, include complementary plyometric or single-leg exercises, such as split squat jumps, to directly improve running economy. Ultimately, the exact exercises matter less than doing them consistently week after week.
The best training frequency is ultimately the one that fits your life – and that you can maintain over the long term. Consistency plays a key role in improving performance.
Pay attention to the signals your body is giving you. Persistent fatigue, sleep problems or ongoing muscle soreness are clear signs that it’s time to ease off. Consistency beats ambition. It’s better to run three times a week consistently than plan six sessions and end up missing half of them.
Whether you’re preparing for your first 10 km race or setting your sights on your next half marathon, start by finding a training frequency that fits your everyday life – and stick with it consistently for several weeks. Only then should you make further adjustments.
Until a few years ago, strength training in endurance sports was a voluntary extra session. That has changed. It is increasingly recognized as an indispensable element to be more efficient on the go.
Andrea Salvisberg set a new Swiss record at Ironman Kalmar with a time of 7:28:53 hours – eight minutes faster than the previous best by Ruedi Wild. The result secures him a starting place at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii on October 10 – fulfilling his three major life goals: Olympics, Hawaii, fatherhood.
Strength training can also be simple. With just a few aids, you can complete a quick strength circuit at home that improves strength, posture and even endurance. Here are six simple exercises for your effective weekly boost.
Many athletes’ secret to success is that, alongside training for their main discipline, they also regularly do alternative forms of training. The results speak for themselves – and should motivate you to take a more rounded approach too.