Hybrid - too varied to make progress?
Hybrid is great because there are so many ways to train. But hybrid is also not great because there are so many ways to train…
So, how do you keep yourself from getting so distracted in your own training and end up hopping from one style of training to another?
The answer is really simple, and it all comes down to understanding the difference between applying training principles vs applying training methods.
Basically, you should always be reinforcing the training principles that make you Hybrid in the first place - developing strength and endurance capabilities concurrently. Rather than changing up your training so much that you basically have a new programme every 3 month, or even worse, every month.
You’d be surprised at how little my own training actually changes throughout the year, despite having different end points of goals. I’ve spent earlier this year building back some strength after having a bit of an injury hiatus after a fractured shoulder meant no squatting for a bit. But now that I’ve moved out of a strength and speed block into more of a strength and ultra endurance block, at a glance, the layout of my week has changed very little.
Obviously, the %s of the lifts are still the same, but the volume of lifting has changed a little bit to reflect the uptick in more hours spent doing easy aerobic running. But I’m still squatting heavy and running hard on a Monday, same as I was when I was working on shorter speed work earlier this year. The main difference there is that whilst I was using distance for my interval work, I’m now using time instead (as ultra is really all about effort & duration - not distance). So I know that over the course a week, if I’m running hard for 1 minute intervals and shuffling in between whilst questioning my life choices, I can accumulate 15-20 minutes of hard VO2 max training per week. I’m not overly concerned with the speeds I’m running these minutes at, more that they’re fast and flowing, as it’s really unlikely you’ll ever need to put down mile/5km kind of pace during a multi day ultra marathon (if you didn’t know, I’m training to run the entire length of the Thames river over the space of about 4 days, which should mean 3 days of 100km, followed by a final day of 77km, for a total of 377km).
I very much take the same approach with my clients, especially those who are going through the Hybrid Foundation. Whilst the first three months focusses on building full body strength and a fast 5km, it doesn’t mean that we completely shred up the training plan when we move into the second phase, where we focus on a powerlifting total and a half marathon. The layout of the week remains identical in terms of what capacities we train and when, but the nuance of volume and intensity is obviously what changes across the programme.
The mistake that most self coached hybrids or newer coaches will make, is to be too tempted to change the programme up too often, which will actually never give someone enough repeat stimulus to make real, credible adaption.
And it’s that adaption of getting stronger and fitter that should be the thing that keeps you on track and coming back for more.
If you’re stuck programme hopping and second guessing your own training methods every 4 weeks, then it might actually be a useful thing for you to really consider what elements of your training you should be keeping in your programme consistently.
These would be - the main lifts (squat, bench press, deadlift), main accessory lifts that fall into squat and hinge pattern variations. Core movements that actually build out your ability to brace hard, rotate and anti rotate. And then obviously, the energy systems that need reinforcing across the whole spectrum of your cardiovascular output - aerobic, high aerobic or threshold, and VO2 Max. The distribution of that work will reflect directly the distance you are training for.
The things that you can tinker around and change on a more regular basis are things like what extra accessory work you might cycle in - want bigger arms? Do more accessories on them. Fancy a side quest to develop stronger hamstrings? Find an exercise that you can gradually add more and more load to until you actually “completed it mate”, and then find another one to do the same with.
There is room for variation in your training, basically. But never at the expense of actually “training”.
The other useful exercise you might consider doing, regardless of what level you consider yourself to be, is to go through the Hybrid Foundation. It’s designed for beginners to advanced, and it works just as well for both.
If you want to find out more, then you can find it here, but ultimately, feel free to book a free consultation with me and we can talk in way more detail about how it all works, and what it might do for you as a hybrid athlete.