July 28, 2025 • 17 mins
While Kyle is out of town, The Back of the Pack Podcast hands the mic to one of our favorite guest hosts — Karin Velez from the Just Grow Something Podcast. This week, Karin brings her science-based expertise and Marine Corps mindset to explore the power of novel stimulus in your running routine. She explains how runners often hit a plateau — mentally and physically — due to a concept called General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). When your training becomes predictable, your body stops responding. Enter the SAID principle — Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands — which explains why changing things up is key to unlocking progress. Karin shares how to keep your runs interesting without overtraining, burnouts, or breakdowns, using real-world tactics and military discipline. If you’ve been stuck in a rut, this episode is your blueprint for shaking things up and sparking new growth — without losing your back-of-the-pack spirit.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Greetings and salutations. Welcome back to the Back of the
Pack podcast. I am your guest host this week, Karen Bealez.
If you are new here, welcome to the show. Your
usual host, Kyle Walker is off this week. I have
stepped in to talk to you about a concept from
exercise science that might just breathe new life into your
(00:33):
running routine. It's called novel stimulus, and it's how we
can use small, very intentional changes in our training to
break through plateaus and spark progress and just basically keep
things interesting without burning out or overtraining. So, if you
have ever felt like you were stuck in your running right,
(00:57):
so like your pace isn't improving, or your long runs
feel harder than they used to, or you're basically just
not enjoying your runs the way that you once did,
this episode is all about you, baby. Okay, let's talk
about why this happens, what's going on under the hood,
and how we can shake things up in a smart
(01:17):
and safe way. Now, when I was in the Marine Corps,
I knew guys who would run the exact same route
every single day, day in and day out, Monday through Friday,
three mile loop, same direction, every single day. First of all,
from a security standpoint, especially you ladies, please don't do this. Okay,
(01:39):
that is the easiest way for somebody to be able
to track your movements. If you are running the exact
same route every single day, that is not a good
idea just for safety purposes.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Okay, it makes it really easy for somebody to stock you.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
But the reason these guys were doing this is because
we had our physical fitness test, and our physical fitness
test involved running wait for it, three miles, you guessed it.
So they figured, just like we all used to, that
if you just did the same thing over and over again,
you would get better at it. But they didn't get better,
and sometimes they actually slowed down. Exercise science hadn't really
(02:17):
caught up to most of us at that point, so
we didn't know that running slower or varying our pace
that actually made more progress and it actually made you faster.
But that's a whole other episode. Basically, these guys were
in a plateau. They weren't getting any better because they
were doing the same thing over and over again. So
let's talk about a plateau. What is it If you
(02:40):
have been running consistently for a while, you likely have
experienced this at some point. If you are a brand
new runner, you probably.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Have not experienced a plateau yet.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
But if you continue training in the same manner that
you are and now you likely are going to experience it.
So let's maybe save you some of that trouble. Okay, Basically,
what this looks like is you're putting in the time,
you're logging your mild, but your body just kind of
stalls out. There aren't any new gains in speed, the
distance feels harder, and even just mentally, you're not as
(03:17):
excited to head out the door and get your run in.
This can happen whether you are training for a specific
distance or you are trying to gain speed, or if
you just simply run because it makes you feel good,
or you're just trying to maintain your fitness, or you're
trying to kind of maintain your mental clarity, or it's
(03:38):
just like a breather for you, right it gives you
a break for the day. A plateau can happen no
matter what your goals are. This is totally normal, and
it's actually a sign that your body has adapted to
the training you've been giving it. And yes, if you
are just going out for a run every single day
for three miles or whatever. It is, just get some
(04:00):
fresh air and some mental clarity. You are still training.
Your body doesn't know the difference, right. The thing is
that our bodies are absolutely amazing at adapting to stress,
physical stress in particular. But if that stress doesn't change,
then those adaptations stop. And this is called general adaptation syndrome.
(04:26):
We can call it GAS for short if you want.
This was first described by a physiologist way back in
the nineteen thirties, and it explains how the body responds
to any kind of stress, and that includes exercise. Exercise
is a stress, and our bodies don't recognize different types
(04:46):
of stress. It is all the same to us physiologically. Okay,
So if it's a good stress, like exercise or being
really excited for planning a major event or something, our
body views that stress the same way it does being
stressed out about how you're going to pay your bills
or that you're arguing with your partner or whatever. Okay,
So stress is stress is stress. There are three phases
(05:11):
that go along with this general adaptation syndrome. The first
one is the alarm phase, and this is when you
introduce that new stressor. So if you've taken a break
from running, this is like your first week back after
a break.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Your body goes woo, Okay, what are we doing here? Right?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
This could be introducing a new stressor in terms of
you've never been a runner before and you suddenly go
out and first run your first mile. Okay, this could
be any type of a new stress. The second phase
is the resistance phase, and this is where that adaptation
starts to happen. Your body adjusts, you get stronger, you
become more efficient, your body is better at handling that stress.
(05:54):
This sounds like a really good thing, but what happens
is this could lead into the third phase, and that
is the exhaustion phase. So if you never change the
stimulus and you just keep doing the same thing over
and over and over again, your body stops responding.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
That is the plateau.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
And in some cases, if we continue in this exhaustion phase,
you can actually end up leading to a regression.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
So you may have been able to run a.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Specific distance at a specific pace very easily, but suddenly
trying to do that feels so much harder, or you
can't hit that pace. That would be a regression or
you can cause injury. So that sweet spot is the
resistance phase.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That is where we kind of want to live.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
And the key to staying in that phase is giving
your body just enough new stimulus at the right time.
So this ties into another principle that we use in
exercise science, and that is called the said principle said,
and that stands for specific adaptation to imposed demands. Okay,
(07:09):
it is exactly what it sounds like, specific adaptation to
imposed demands. Basically, your body is going to get better
at exactly what you ask it to do and not
much more than that. So if you always run the
same pace on the same flat surface for the same
(07:32):
distance in the same direction, your body gets efficient at
that specific thing. But if you want to improve, whether
it's getting faster, or you want to build more endurance,
or even you're just trying to avoid injury, then you
need to introduce different demands and that is where novel
(07:52):
stimulus comes in. So a novel stimulus is any new
or different type of challenge that you can give to
your body that it has not already adapted to. This
doesn't have to be dramatic, it just needs to be
different enough to create a little bit of stress right,
(08:13):
just enough to trigger a new adaptation.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
And the really cool.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Part about this is it doesn't necessarily have to apply
to just our muscles. It affects your nervous system.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Your brain, and even your motivation.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
So there is research that shows that novelty activates the
reward centers in the brain. It actually makes exercise more enjoyable,
and it keeps us engaged. And this is where neuroplasticity
comes in. It's this brain's ability to form new pathways.
When you do something new, your brain kind of lights
up in a different way, and that can have a
(08:51):
ripple effect on everything from your stride efficiency to your
physical stamina and your mental stamina. So let's give you
five easy ways that you can use to introduce novel
stimulus into your running routine, starting immediately. These aren't things
that are like super life changing, right, they're very small changes.
(09:14):
The first one is exactly what we talked about at
the beginning. Just change your route right, This is really simple.
Take a left in where you normally would go right,
Explore a different neighborhood or a different trail. Run on
some new terrain, especially softer or more uneven services. This
is going to engage those stabilizer muscles and it's going
to help improve your foot and ankle strength. But most importantly,
(09:37):
it's going to introduce that novel stimulus and that's going
to trigger those adaptations. The second is just kind of
playing around with your pace a little bit, so we
can use fartleks in this.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
In this case, fart lick is a Swedish word.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
I want to say, it just means speed play.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
So during your runs, throw in some pickups.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Okay, maybe sprint to the next stop sign and then
just job to recover. And it's an unstructured interval training
that is great for cardiovascular fitness and for mental stimulation,
but it can also trigger some of these adaptive effects
that we want to see. The third would be to
mix up the terrain. So run on hills if you've
(10:20):
been avoiding them, and yes you do need to run
your hills. If you're always on pavement, try going on
a trail, or try grass or even just a gravel.
You know, rail trail, rails, trail right trails will force
you to adjust your stride and your posture, and so
that's going to build you a little bit more balance
(10:40):
and agility along the way in addition to introducing that
novel stimulus. And then of course number four would be
adding strength training.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
This one is huge. This is one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And it doesn't have to be a ton you know,
we did an episode about this a few episodes back.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
You can go look that up.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Just two short sessions a week, so body weight, squats, lunges, planks,
resistance bands, any of these things can improve your running
economy and reduce the injury risk. And it also is
going to trigger that adaptation because this is something that
you're not usually doing. And when we talk about these routines, right,
(11:21):
it doesn't necessarily even have to be that you are
running the exact same route every single day, or you
are doing the exact same distance or whatever. Even you know,
a plateau can also be caused by keeping the same
training schedule. You know, if you routinely like, okay, Monday
(11:41):
is your speed workout, and then Tuesday is an easy
recovery run, and then Wednesday is some light resistance training,
and then Thursday is you know, your tempo run or whatever,
and then Friday is a shakeout, and then Saturday is
your long run. And if you do that same routine
every single week, That too can create a plateau, so
(12:06):
you even have to change that up just a little
bit and adding some additional types of strength training. If
you just have that one day where you're doing some
resistance training, switch that up a little bit, change up
the type of resistance training that you're doing or strength
training that you're doing. Right, studies show that you know,
runners who strength train do become more efficient, and that
(12:28):
means that you're using the less less energy to go
the same pace when you're actually out on your runs.
So it's gonna have a benefit no matter what you do.
But the fifth one of this is simply just shifting
your training schedule, change when you run. This can also
create that novelty that we're looking for. If you're a
morning runner, try an evening run. If you normally do
(12:50):
your long runs on Saturday, try one on Sunday and
then maybe do back to back long runs. Do a shorter,
you know, long run type of a thing on Monday
instead of doing speedwork, and then Tuesday your break. Like,
change things up a little bit. Your body responds differently
at different times of the day, so your stride, your
heart rate, your energy levels all shift slightly, and this
(13:12):
can extend, especially for women, throughout the entire week. You know,
but men and women both their hormones change during the month.
They change during the week, and changing up our training
so that our training doesn't happen at those same times
during the week or during the month can actually give
(13:33):
our body something new to adapt to. And that's all
we're going for here. It doesn't have to be major, right.
You do not have to overhaul your entire training plan
to benefit from a novel stimulus. In fact, if you
do try to do that, that can actually backfire. So
you basically just want to start with one change at
(13:55):
a time. Add one thing new like a weekly he'll
run or one session. Okay, stick that out for a
couple of weeks, and then maybe layer on another change.
We generally talk about a ten percent rule, especially in running,
and so when you are increasing your total training load,
(14:17):
and that is whether it's a distance or the intensity
or the amount of time on feet, we want to
do this by no more than ten percent per week. Now,
there is some give and take there depending on how
much you already train. If you are brand new, increasing
by ten percent, you know, might seem a little you know, daunting.
It might not seem enough if you are running huge,
(14:40):
huge miles. You running eighty miles weeks, then adding an
additional eight miles, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's bigger than what you probably want to be doing.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So you know, keep that in mind when you when
you hear about this ten percent rule. But you just
want to do it gradually increase your total training load.
We're not just talking about one thing here. We're not
just talking about just your running or just your speed
or just your intensity.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
It's all of it. Okay. You also want to keep.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Recovery a priority. Novel stimulus is a form of stress.
So without adequate recovery and that is sleep, that is nutrition,
and that is rest days, your body won't adapt positively.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
The adaptations may be a negative adaptation, which again is
when we start to lead to injuries, and we don't
want that.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
You do want to listen to your body. So if
you have soreness, or if.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Fatigue lingers longer than usual, then that's probably a sign
that maybe you want to pull it back a little bit.
This adaptation should feel challenging, but it shouldn't feel like
a crushing weight on your training plan. Okay, plateaus happen
because our bodies are efficient, right, They are really good
at this adaptation, and that is a good thing. But
(15:54):
when we're training, when we're athletes, and I don't care
what intensity you run, you are an athlete, we want
that adaptation to continue. So you just need a little
bit of variety, a novel stimulus that can reignite your progress.
It can improve your performance, and you know, if you've
kind of gotten the blaws lately about continuing your running routine,
(16:17):
it might help you kind of fall back in love
with your running. You don't have to be an elite
runner to train smart. This stuff works for all of us.
It's about staying curious and you know, staying consistent, but
being willing to mix.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Things up a little bit.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
So just pick one way to add novelty to your
routine this week.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Just one try a new routine, Throw in a ten
minute strength session, run at a different time of day,
change up your runs during the week, just throw in
some playful pace changes. Choose whatever feels fun or interesting
to you and just give it a try once this week, Okay,
and if it feels awkward or uncomfortable, that's what we're
(16:56):
going for.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
That is a good thing.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
This means that you're doing something that you're body hasn't
adapted to yet, and that is exactly how growth begins. Okay,
thank you so much for joining me. Kyle should be
back next episode. Until then, see you on the run.
Greetings and salutations. Welcome back to the Back of the
Pack podcast. I am your guest host this week, Karen Bealez.
If you are new here, welcome to the show. Your
usual host, Kyle Walker is off this week. I have
stepped in to talk to you about a concept from
exercise science that might just breathe new life into your
(00:33):
running routine. It's called novel stimulus, and it's how we
can use small, very intentional changes in our training to
break through plateaus and spark progress and just basically keep
things interesting without burning out or overtraining. So, if you
have ever felt like you were stuck in your running right,
(00:57):
so like your pace isn't improving, or your long runs
feel harder than they used to, or you're basically just
not enjoying your runs the way that you once did,
this episode is all about you, baby. Okay, let's talk
about why this happens, what's going on under the hood,
and how we can shake things up in a smart
(01:17):
and safe way. Now, when I was in the Marine Corps,
I knew guys who would run the exact same route
every single day, day in and day out, Monday through Friday,
three mile loop, same direction, every single day. First of all,
from a security standpoint, especially you ladies, please don't do this. Okay,
(01:39):
that is the easiest way for somebody to be able
to track your movements. If you are running the exact
same route every single day, that is not a good
idea just for safety purposes.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
Okay, it makes it really easy for somebody to stock you.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
But the reason these guys were doing this is because
we had our physical fitness test, and our physical fitness
test involved running wait for it, three miles, you guessed it.
So they figured, just like we all used to, that
if you just did the same thing over and over again,
you would get better at it. But they didn't get better,
and sometimes they actually slowed down. Exercise science hadn't really
(02:17):
caught up to most of us at that point, so
we didn't know that running slower or varying our pace
that actually made more progress and it actually made you faster.
But that's a whole other episode. Basically, these guys were
in a plateau. They weren't getting any better because they
were doing the same thing over and over again. So
let's talk about a plateau. What is it If you
(02:40):
have been running consistently for a while, you likely have
experienced this at some point. If you are a brand
new runner, you probably.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Have not experienced a plateau yet.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
But if you continue training in the same manner that
you are and now you likely are going to experience it.
So let's maybe save you some of that trouble. Okay, Basically,
what this looks like is you're putting in the time,
you're logging your mild, but your body just kind of
stalls out. There aren't any new gains in speed, the
distance feels harder, and even just mentally, you're not as
(03:17):
excited to head out the door and get your run in.
This can happen whether you are training for a specific
distance or you are trying to gain speed, or if
you just simply run because it makes you feel good,
or you're just trying to maintain your fitness, or you're
trying to kind of maintain your mental clarity, or it's
(03:38):
just like a breather for you, right it gives you
a break for the day. A plateau can happen no
matter what your goals are. This is totally normal, and
it's actually a sign that your body has adapted to
the training you've been giving it. And yes, if you
are just going out for a run every single day
for three miles or whatever. It is, just get some
(04:00):
fresh air and some mental clarity. You are still training.
Your body doesn't know the difference, right. The thing is
that our bodies are absolutely amazing at adapting to stress,
physical stress in particular. But if that stress doesn't change,
then those adaptations stop. And this is called general adaptation syndrome.
(04:26):
We can call it GAS for short if you want.
This was first described by a physiologist way back in
the nineteen thirties, and it explains how the body responds
to any kind of stress, and that includes exercise. Exercise
is a stress, and our bodies don't recognize different types
(04:46):
of stress. It is all the same to us physiologically. Okay,
So if it's a good stress, like exercise or being
really excited for planning a major event or something, our
body views that stress the same way it does being
stressed out about how you're going to pay your bills
or that you're arguing with your partner or whatever. Okay,
So stress is stress is stress. There are three phases
(05:11):
that go along with this general adaptation syndrome. The first
one is the alarm phase, and this is when you
introduce that new stressor. So if you've taken a break
from running, this is like your first week back after
a break.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Your body goes woo, Okay, what are we doing here? Right?
Speaker 1 (05:29):
This could be introducing a new stressor in terms of
you've never been a runner before and you suddenly go
out and first run your first mile. Okay, this could
be any type of a new stress. The second phase
is the resistance phase, and this is where that adaptation
starts to happen. Your body adjusts, you get stronger, you
become more efficient, your body is better at handling that stress.
(05:54):
This sounds like a really good thing, but what happens
is this could lead into the third phase, and that
is the exhaustion phase. So if you never change the
stimulus and you just keep doing the same thing over
and over and over again, your body stops responding.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
That is the plateau.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
And in some cases, if we continue in this exhaustion phase,
you can actually end up leading to a regression.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
So you may have been able to run a.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Specific distance at a specific pace very easily, but suddenly
trying to do that feels so much harder, or you
can't hit that pace. That would be a regression or
you can cause injury. So that sweet spot is the
resistance phase.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
That is where we kind of want to live.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
And the key to staying in that phase is giving
your body just enough new stimulus at the right time.
So this ties into another principle that we use in
exercise science, and that is called the said principle said,
and that stands for specific adaptation to imposed demands. Okay,
(07:09):
it is exactly what it sounds like, specific adaptation to
imposed demands. Basically, your body is going to get better
at exactly what you ask it to do and not
much more than that. So if you always run the
same pace on the same flat surface for the same
(07:32):
distance in the same direction, your body gets efficient at
that specific thing. But if you want to improve, whether
it's getting faster, or you want to build more endurance,
or even you're just trying to avoid injury, then you
need to introduce different demands and that is where novel
(07:52):
stimulus comes in. So a novel stimulus is any new
or different type of challenge that you can give to
your body that it has not already adapted to. This
doesn't have to be dramatic, it just needs to be
different enough to create a little bit of stress right,
(08:13):
just enough to trigger a new adaptation.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
And the really cool.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Part about this is it doesn't necessarily have to apply
to just our muscles. It affects your nervous system.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Your brain, and even your motivation.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
So there is research that shows that novelty activates the
reward centers in the brain. It actually makes exercise more enjoyable,
and it keeps us engaged. And this is where neuroplasticity
comes in. It's this brain's ability to form new pathways.
When you do something new, your brain kind of lights
up in a different way, and that can have a
(08:51):
ripple effect on everything from your stride efficiency to your
physical stamina and your mental stamina. So let's give you
five easy ways that you can use to introduce novel
stimulus into your running routine, starting immediately. These aren't things
that are like super life changing, right, they're very small changes.
(09:14):
The first one is exactly what we talked about at
the beginning. Just change your route right, This is really simple.
Take a left in where you normally would go right,
Explore a different neighborhood or a different trail. Run on
some new terrain, especially softer or more uneven services. This
is going to engage those stabilizer muscles and it's going
to help improve your foot and ankle strength. But most importantly,
(09:37):
it's going to introduce that novel stimulus and that's going
to trigger those adaptations. The second is just kind of
playing around with your pace a little bit, so we
can use fartleks in this.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
In this case, fart lick is a Swedish word.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
I want to say, it just means speed play.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
So during your runs, throw in some pickups.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Okay, maybe sprint to the next stop sign and then
just job to recover. And it's an unstructured interval training
that is great for cardiovascular fitness and for mental stimulation,
but it can also trigger some of these adaptive effects
that we want to see. The third would be to
mix up the terrain. So run on hills if you've
(10:20):
been avoiding them, and yes you do need to run
your hills. If you're always on pavement, try going on
a trail, or try grass or even just a gravel.
You know, rail trail, rails, trail right trails will force
you to adjust your stride and your posture, and so
that's going to build you a little bit more balance
(10:40):
and agility along the way in addition to introducing that
novel stimulus. And then of course number four would be
adding strength training.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
This one is huge. This is one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
And it doesn't have to be a ton you know,
we did an episode about this a few episodes back.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
You can go look that up.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Just two short sessions a week, so body weight, squats, lunges, planks,
resistance bands, any of these things can improve your running
economy and reduce the injury risk. And it also is
going to trigger that adaptation because this is something that
you're not usually doing. And when we talk about these routines, right,
(11:21):
it doesn't necessarily even have to be that you are
running the exact same route every single day, or you
are doing the exact same distance or whatever. Even you know,
a plateau can also be caused by keeping the same
training schedule. You know, if you routinely like, okay, Monday
(11:41):
is your speed workout, and then Tuesday is an easy
recovery run, and then Wednesday is some light resistance training,
and then Thursday is you know, your tempo run or whatever,
and then Friday is a shakeout, and then Saturday is
your long run. And if you do that same routine
every single week, That too can create a plateau, so
(12:06):
you even have to change that up just a little
bit and adding some additional types of strength training. If
you just have that one day where you're doing some
resistance training, switch that up a little bit, change up
the type of resistance training that you're doing or strength
training that you're doing. Right, studies show that you know,
runners who strength train do become more efficient, and that
(12:28):
means that you're using the less less energy to go
the same pace when you're actually out on your runs.
So it's gonna have a benefit no matter what you do.
But the fifth one of this is simply just shifting
your training schedule, change when you run. This can also
create that novelty that we're looking for. If you're a
morning runner, try an evening run. If you normally do
(12:50):
your long runs on Saturday, try one on Sunday and
then maybe do back to back long runs. Do a shorter,
you know, long run type of a thing on Monday
instead of doing speedwork, and then Tuesday your break. Like,
change things up a little bit. Your body responds differently
at different times of the day, so your stride, your
heart rate, your energy levels all shift slightly, and this
(13:12):
can extend, especially for women, throughout the entire week. You know,
but men and women both their hormones change during the month.
They change during the week, and changing up our training
so that our training doesn't happen at those same times
during the week or during the month can actually give
(13:33):
our body something new to adapt to. And that's all
we're going for here. It doesn't have to be major, right.
You do not have to overhaul your entire training plan
to benefit from a novel stimulus. In fact, if you
do try to do that, that can actually backfire. So
you basically just want to start with one change at
(13:55):
a time. Add one thing new like a weekly he'll
run or one session. Okay, stick that out for a
couple of weeks, and then maybe layer on another change.
We generally talk about a ten percent rule, especially in running,
and so when you are increasing your total training load,
(14:17):
and that is whether it's a distance or the intensity
or the amount of time on feet, we want to
do this by no more than ten percent per week. Now,
there is some give and take there depending on how
much you already train. If you are brand new, increasing
by ten percent, you know, might seem a little you know, daunting.
It might not seem enough if you are running huge,
(14:40):
huge miles. You running eighty miles weeks, then adding an
additional eight miles, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
That's bigger than what you probably want to be doing.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So you know, keep that in mind when you when
you hear about this ten percent rule. But you just
want to do it gradually increase your total training load.
We're not just talking about one thing here. We're not
just talking about just your running or just your speed
or just your intensity.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
It's all of it. Okay. You also want to keep.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
Recovery a priority. Novel stimulus is a form of stress.
So without adequate recovery and that is sleep, that is nutrition,
and that is rest days, your body won't adapt positively.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
The adaptations may be a negative adaptation, which again is
when we start to lead to injuries, and we don't
want that.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
You do want to listen to your body. So if
you have soreness, or if.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Fatigue lingers longer than usual, then that's probably a sign
that maybe you want to pull it back a little bit.
This adaptation should feel challenging, but it shouldn't feel like
a crushing weight on your training plan. Okay, plateaus happen
because our bodies are efficient, right, They are really good
at this adaptation, and that is a good thing. But
(15:54):
when we're training, when we're athletes, and I don't care
what intensity you run, you are an athlete, we want
that adaptation to continue. So you just need a little
bit of variety, a novel stimulus that can reignite your progress.
It can improve your performance, and you know, if you've
kind of gotten the blaws lately about continuing your running routine,
(16:17):
it might help you kind of fall back in love
with your running. You don't have to be an elite
runner to train smart. This stuff works for all of us.
It's about staying curious and you know, staying consistent, but
being willing to mix.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Things up a little bit.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
So just pick one way to add novelty to your
routine this week.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
Just one try a new routine, Throw in a ten
minute strength session, run at a different time of day,
change up your runs during the week, just throw in
some playful pace changes. Choose whatever feels fun or interesting
to you and just give it a try once this week, Okay,
and if it feels awkward or uncomfortable, that's what we're
(16:56):
going for.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
That is a good thing.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
This means that you're doing something that you're body hasn't
adapted to yet, and that is exactly how growth begins. Okay,
thank you so much for joining me. Kyle should be
back next episode. Until then, see you on the run.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!