I really enjoyed the cardio podcasts. I have questions about the 80/20 guidance given in the podcast. I am referring to your guidance that, for performance, 80% of your program’s cardio time should be spent at lower intensity (RPE 6 or Zone 2) and 20% of your program’s cardio time should be at higher intensity (RPE 8-10, Zone 4,5).
I am in week 6 of the endurance template right now and am finding a lot of success on it and also enjoying it. When I look at the endurance template and consider the 80/20 guidance, it does not appear to have that recommended split. It appears that the low intensity volume falls far short of 80%.
Am I misunderstanding the 80/20 guidance?
Have I miscalculated the cardio volumes in the endurance program?
If the endurance template does not meet the 80/20 guidance, do you plan to update the template?
Thanks for the message. The Endurance 1 Template is closer to 60/40 between z2 and z3+. I would like to program MORE endurance volume in this template, but at the time it was created (and updated), that would not have been appropriate for the vast majority of the people who would’ve purchased it, even if it would’ve been more in line with what I wanted.
Things have changed over the years and I will be updating the template soon, as well as finishing up the endurance 2 template. I do like the way the endurance 1 template and the way it’s programmed for someone who is coming from a strength-focused background, assuming they don’t want to/can’t do TONS of z1/z2 volume due to time constraints.
It might have, though I can’t swear to that. In general, I don’t think singles at 8 is a great use of training time for someone not going to a PL meet outside of short intensification blocks. In the context of prioritizing endurance development, I think there are better ways to train.