03/05/2021 Polarized Training | Runner's World

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Polarized Training Is the Fastest Way to

Build Endurance Without Burning Out
Forget those comfy moderate-intensity runs; prioritizing only easy and hard runs will
take your training further.

BY AS H L E Y M AT E O MAR 17, 2021

DAVID JAEWON OH

M
ost runners run too hard. We log the majority of our miles at
moderate- and high-intensity speeds, barely deigning to hit the low-
intensity paces that are so essential to building an aerobic base. Yes,
running slow takes longer. Yes, you may not feel quite as
accomplished postrun. But go too hard too often and instead of seeing
performance benets, you’re more likely to burn out.

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Take the case of two groups of recreational runners who were tested in a 2013
study published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance:
One group spent 77 percent of their time doing low-intensity workouts, 3 percent
doing moderate-intensity workouts, and 20 percent doing high-intensity workouts,
a method called polarized training. The other group spent 46 percent of their time
doing low-intensity workouts, 35 percent doing moderate-intensity workouts, and
19 percent doing high-intensity workouts. After 10 weeks, both groups improved
their 10K times, but the polarized training group improved by nearly double the
amount of time, shaving about 41 seconds off the total time.

And when endurance athletes followed high-volume training, threshold training,

high-intensity interval training, or polarized training protocols, it was the last
group who showed the most improvements in VO2 max, time to exhaustion, and
peak velocity and power, a 2014 study in the journal Frontiers in Physiology found.

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Polarized training is proof that more isn’t always better. Instead, balancing high-
intensity efforts that will make you faster with low-intensity efforts that allow for

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recovery and increased cardio and muscular strength will take you far in the long
run.

From training plans to specially-designed workouts, get everything you need to

improve your training with Runner’s World+!

So, What Exactly Is Polarized Training?

Polarized training is all about scaling down (or completely ditching) moderate-
intensity running to focus on easy and hard efforts.

“Polarized training can be dened on a macro and micro scale,” says Jason Karp,
Ph.D., an exercise physiologist, coach, and author of the upcoming book
Periodization for Runners: Training Theories to Run Faster. “First, overall training is
separated into low-intensity and high-intensity zones, with very little training done
in the middle; second, individual easy runs are very easy and hard runs are very
hard.”

R E L AT E D S T O R Y

In Defense of Low-Intensity, Steady-State Cardio

The polarized training model blocks training intensity into one of three zones,
explains Greg Grosicki, Ph.D., an assistant professor and director of the exercise
physiology laboratory at Georgia Southern University: low (zone 1), moderate
(zone 2), and high (zone 3) intensity. There should be a heavy emphasis on zone 1
training (below the lactate threshold—the intensity of exercise at which lactate
begins to accumulate in the blood at a faster rate than it can be removed, and the
physiological transition point between aerobic and anaerobic exercise); a lesser
amount of zone 3 training (above the lactate threshold); and very little zone 2
training (at or very near lactate threshold; think: tempo runs), says Karp.

But that minimal emphasis on zone 2 (moderate-intensity training) is key. “The

biggest problem with these moderate-intensity efforts is that they do not allow us

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to truly train hard when the time comes,” explains Grosicki—which makes it
harder to optimize your training adaptation. “Yet, most recreational athletes spend
upwards of 50 percent of their total training time at a moderate intensity,” he
adds. “Not only does this leave these individuals too fatigued to push hard during
[hard] workouts, but it also greatly increases their susceptibility to injury.”

The benet of a high-low focus like this is that the “low” work helps you develop
your aerobic system to a very high capacity—increasing mitochondrial volume,
capillary density, and total volume—while still allowing for high-intensity work
that stimulates training adaptations, like improving VO2max by focusing on the
heart’s capacity to pump blood and oxygen and improving anaerobic metabolism
to improve speed, without burning you out, explains Karp.

How to Maximize Your Easy and Hard Runs

Committing to polarized training means leaving that moderate-intensity zone

(a.k.a. the comfort zone for most runners) behind and really dialing in your high-
and low-intensity efforts.

You don’t need complex and expensive laboratory equipment to determine your
lactate threshold to dene these zones, says Grosicki; techniques like heart rate
monitoring or even perception of effort can be equally as effective.

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“If monitoring heart rate, aim for a heart rate of well below 80 percent of your
maximum heart rate on your easy days; generally something around 70 percent of
your max heart rate is a good rule of thumb,” he says. [Here’s a quick guide on
estimating your max HR.] If you’re someone who gets too caught up in data and

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prefers not to wear a heart rate monitor, you can go by your rate of perceived
exertion (RPE), too: On easy days, listen to your body and try to keep your effort
at a 4 or below on a scale of 1 to 10.

R E L AT E D S T O R Y

How to Use Heart Rate Training to Get Faster

“Low-intensity training may be the most optimal intensity at which to adapt

because it comes with the least stressful work,” says Karp. “You could get equal or
even greater adaptation with higher-intensity work, but that comes at the price of
a lot of fatigue and physiological stress, with [risk of] hormonal disturbances and
reduced activity of the sympathetic nervous system.” When too much of your
training is high intensity, it can be too demanding and lead to overtraining in as
little as two to three weeks.

But if approximately 80 percent of your running is easy, as in the polarized training

studies, the other 20 percent of your training has to be hard—like, really hard.
“Runners can maximize their high-intensity efforts by running at or very near to
their VO2max pace,” says Karp—that corresponds to around 90 percent of your
max heart rate, says Grosicki, or a perceived effort of 7 or greater on that 1 to 10
scale. If the interval is long, you’ll work in the lower end (around 90 percent MHR,
or 7 to 8 out of 10 effort); if the interval is short, aim for the higher end (95
percent MHR, or 9 to 10 out of 10 effort).

R E L AT E D S T O R Y

Why Slowing Down Can Help You Get Faster (Really!)

During high-intensity efforts, Grosicki recommends aiming for interval efforts

lasting somewhere between 30 seconds and 10 minutes. Four sets of ve-minute
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hard efforts with two-and-a-half minutes of rest in between is a protocol that was
used by many of the early training studies in the exercise physiology literature, he
says.

Try it:

- Warm up with an easy jog and dynamic drills

- Run 4 x 5 minutes hard (7 or 8 out of 10 effort)

- Jog easy for 2:30 to recover between each interval

- Cool down

Interestingly, a recent study on elite cyclists found that this conventional four by
ve-minute workout was inferior to incorporating shorter-duration Tabata-style
intervals (three rounds of 13 by 30 seconds hard followed by 15 seconds easy or
rest).

Try it:

- Warm up with an easy jog and dynamic drills

- Run 13 x 30 seconds hard (9 to 10 out of 10 effort)

- Recover for 15 seconds between each interval

- Repeat the set 3 times total

- Cool down

“With this in mind, a fun and easy workout to follow would be something like ve
by one minute hard followed by ve by 30 seconds hard, with an equal amount or
half of the rest time,” Grosicki says.

Try it:

- Warm up with an easy jog and dynamic drills

- Run 5 x 1-minute hard (8 to 9 out of 10 effort)

- Recover for 1 minute between each interval

- Run 5 x 30 seconds hard (9 to 10 out of 10 effort)

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- Recover for 30 seconds between each interval

- Cool down

The best way to optimize your hard sessions, though, is by making sure you’re
ready, physically and mentally, for the work you’re about to perform, says Grosicki.
“Most recreational athletes will train somewhere between four and six times a
week. Targeting one to two hard sessions on days when you know you’ll be
sufficiently rested and will have the most energy is a good goal.” And by going
easy enough on those other days, you should be chomping at the bit and ready to
push yourself to the limit.

AS H L E Y M AT E O
AS H L E Y M AT E O IS A W R IT E R , E D ITO R , A N D U E SC A -C E RT I F I E D R U N N I N G C O AC H W H O H AS C O NT R I B UT E D
TO R U N N E R ’ S WO R L D , B IC Y C L I N G , WO M E N ' S H E A LT H , H E A LT H , S H A P E , S E L F, A N D M O R E .

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