Endurance Essentials

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Resources To Get You Started

Gordo Byrn
Jan 7, 2023
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Josh reached out…

The archive is great, and overwhelming, why don’t you make a simple page that gives the reader everything they need to get started?

Great idea.

Below you will find:

  1. Stamina

  2. Strength

  3. Skills

  4. Training Zones

  5. Building Your Week

  6. Dynamic Loading

  7. Four Principles To Apply In Your Program


Before getting into specifics, this piece is a good introduction to the building blocks of athleticism.

Endurance Essentials
The Building Blocks of Lifelong Athleticism
Everybody, myself included, makes this way too complicated. 12 hours a week. Table stakes for becoming athletic. And being athletic is more useful than being fit. I’m going to break it down for you. Endurance - Metabolic Fitness Strength - Lean Body Mass & Work Capacity…
Read more
2 months ago · 28 likes · 4 comments · Gordo Byrn

Stamina

Build metabolic fitness by understanding your easy training zone.

Cycling is the most effective exercise mode for this goal.

Gordo Byrn’s Endurance Essentials
Cycling As A Foundation For Metabolic Fitness
You’re thinking about how to play the coming year. You might be looking to shed a few pounds You might have ambitious goals Whether you are setting up weight loss, or specific race preparation, I’m going to make a case for easy cycling. Let’s start by defining easy pace…
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5 months ago · 11 likes · Gordo Byrn

Strength

First, your strength coach is likely to wreck you in an attempt to deliver value to you.

Twitter avatar for @feelthebyrn1
Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1
The problem with getting started with strength is your coach needs to earn a living. So they overload you to justify their fee. Fortunately, I'm self funded. So here goes, with video. Starting from scratch.
9:22 PM ∙ Feb 14, 2022
60Likes2Retweets

Second, start easy with light loads.

The early gains come from learning how to better use strength you already have. True gains take time to develop.

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Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1
Workout Wednesday kicks off with a one pager that pulls together the getting started tips regarding Strength Training Link to the PDF, with embedded links in the reply
Image
11:56 AM ∙ Mar 9, 2022

Third, for experienced strength athletes, here is an archive web link to the strength training page in our old business.

It covers:

  • Strength Training for Triathlon

  • Garage Strength by Alan Couzens

  • Straightforward Core Work

  • Strength Training for Runners

  • Swim-Specific Strength Work by Scott Molina

The web archive server loads slowly. It’s worth the wait. You can navigate to a ton of free training resources.


Skills

Over time, I’ll be rewriting these.

Swim

Start by playing the Swim Game - it’s how I came back

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Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1
The Swim Game Thread Simple Strategy • Get to the pool • Leave while we are still having fun • Associate "fun" with "pool" Here's The Plan • 10 weeks • 3 swims per week • 1st 5 weeks capped at 1500m Like this thread and the algo will update you 👇 feelthebyrn.blog/2022/09/08/swi…
feelthebyrn.blogSwim Game 2022Enter down, Pull Straight Back, Elbow OVER Wrist When I came back to structured training in May, I tried to get back into swimming. Didn’t work! Too much Too fast Exhausting I was not enjoyin…
12:03 PM ∙ Sep 8, 2022
144Likes2Retweets

Bike

Start with this article on How I Ride

Gordo Byrn’s Endurance Essentials
4 Bike Workouts, You Can Use This Winter
Most athletes don’t need variety, they need to do more work. You’ll get more work done by knowing the goal of your session and executing with that goal in mind. On the bike I have three goals: Endurance Duration Strength…
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5 months ago · 18 likes · Gordo Byrn

Run:Walk

Do yourself a favor and use Run:Walk.

  1. Start every run with 10 minutes of power walking

  2. Insert 15-60 second power walking segments into the workout

  3. Walk easily at the end of the session until your heart rate is below 100 bpm

Obviously, run:walk is different for an elite vs a newcomer.

You’ll find specific ideas on Pages 3 & 4 of my Run Workout Document.


Run Form

A thread

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Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1
@sean_bernstein @dantaylor688 @hjluks @shaarsh2 @trishankkarthik @dvassallo @digvijoy_c @Gallagher4NY @AleNekrasov Run Form Tips I aim for a mid foot strike directly under my body Tall spine, chin down a bit, quick cadence Minimize vertical movement Elbows drive directly backwards and set the cadence Hands up, thumbs pointing slightly outward Arms hinge, no shoulder movement
8:54 PM ∙ Sep 30, 2022

and a book recommendation

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Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1
The Science of Speed The Art of the Sprint I thought I'd be learning about sprinting The book has much more in it The physics of efficient movement 🧵
Image
12:24 PM ∙ Aug 5, 2022
27Likes2Retweets

Training Zones

Start by finding your Aerobic Threshold.

Check in with aerobic threshold every time you train.

Next, read this article to understand Anchors, Caps and your Effective Range.

Gordo Byrn’s Endurance Essentials
Targeted Endurance For Self-Coached Athletes
Following on from the Lactate Testing Video, I made another video helping you apply your data…
Read more
8 months ago · 2 likes · 2 comments · Gordo Byrn

Video, if you prefer


Building Your Week

The best week is the one you complete.

  • When you start, set the bar low

  • Hit your minimum, daily

  • Build a habit of doing BEFORE you worry about what you do

Want to dig deeper?

I wrote you an article.

Gordo Byrn’s Endurance Essentials
The Serious Athlete's Guide To Building A Training Week
This article started with a Twitter Thread last Friday. In that thread I explained how to: Build a habit of doing Add balanced training Instead of adding training stress, focus on removing poor choices Start collecting data Stay the course - the first 1,000 days is the beginning of your journey…
Read more
9 months ago · 2 likes · Gordo Byrn

Nutrition

A thread of principles

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Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1
Nutritional Transformations • Know Your Goal • Choose Your Reference Set Carefully Use A Core Nutrition Strategy • 360 days for Health • 5 days for Performance • Consistent Day-to-Day Approach The Only Meal We Control Is The Next One https://t.co/IyoTeU6QEn
Twitter avatar for @feelthebyrn1
Gordo Byrn @feelthebyrn1
5 Truths About Transforming Your Body 1. Fat loss is not driven by exercise Body Composition results from the choices we make when we are not training How do we make better choices? Read on... https://t.co/4ApDsB7NCl
1:02 PM ∙ Jan 4, 2023

…and a summary article with everything you need to dig deeper

Gordo Byrn’s Endurance Essentials
Dead Simple Nutrition
Read more
a year ago · Gordo Byrn

Dynamic Loading

My conversation with Rich Roll sparked interest on Dynamic Loading.

This articles lays out the principles of my system in a way you can easily implement.


Four Principles To Apply In Your Program

  1. The Core Lesson of Swedish 5:2 Loading => if you need one easy day, then take two. It’s that simple.

  2. Judge Your Loading Days By What Happens 24-48 Hours Later => your loading days are likely too stressful. You should tolerate 2-4 loading days in every week. If you can’t then reduce the size of the peak days. Always keep the easy days easy.

  3. Create An Objective Way To Assess Readiness => this can be as simple as measuring your morning resting heart rate.

  4. Load When Your Body Is Ready To Absorb

How do you know you are absorbing your training?

  • You are consistent

  • You have no more than one “ workout miss” a week

  • Your mood, nutrition and sleep are stable

  • Cravings, niggles and irritability are absent

Keep it simple and persist.

Gordo Byrn’s Endurance Essentials is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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2 Comments
Elliott Pen
Writes earlycoaltrain
Jan 7

Great set of resources. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the 201 of this—essentially training plan selection, interpretation, and finally the next stage, when to actually get a coach.

For context, I’ve been using some “automated” programming (running) for my current 50-miler prep upcoming March (and did the same for my 50K in September). With my eye on a proper 100-mile in September. My sentiment is that once I close the chapter on the 50-mile, I ought to better consider an investment in proper human coaching/planning the next stage. From there cascades a whole other set of questions around that, but this would be my starting point.

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