Let's talk about the base

Something to say about enjoying where you are in the process.

Fortunately I’m in one of my favorite phases of training, the base building phase.

The base phase is all about training endurance. If your fitness is a house, your endurance is the foundation. We do building this by increasing training volume while keeping injury risk in check.

• Build volume slowly

• Keep intensity low

That’s it. Take what you did last week, do a little more of it and get plenty of rest. We’re not trying to get a personal best 5k time here (that can wait until later in the training block).

What do we mean by endurance? Simply put, it’s about your ability to keep going. This is of course relative. If you’ve never done a 5k you need to build enough endurance to run for that whole distance. If you read the couch to 5k training plan, it’s designed to slowly build volume with low intensity. If after that 5k you decide you want to do a 50k it’s going to require a whole new level of endurance building.

One of the biggest physiological factors in endurance is the fuel source our body is using to power an effort. At higher intensities your body will burn sugar to power the effort. You have limited stores of sugar in the form of glycogen. This will run out quickly unless you continuously fuel with more sugar. However, even if you consume all the sugar you could possibly need your body will stop cooperating due to the amount lactic acid that is produced and your bodies inability to clear it all.

To go long you need to train your body to burn fat for fuel. Even if you’re thin your body hast enough stored body fat keep going for a long time. Keeping exercise intensity low for increasingly long periods of time will train your body to prefer burning fat.

In addition to training there are lifestyle choices that complement endurance building:

• Training while fasted (probably early in the morning)

• Eating a diet lower in carbohydrates.

• Non-training movement

  • Go for a walk

  • Take the stairs

  • Bike commute

  • You get the idea.

Base building may be my favorite part of training. You can go at an easy pace and simply enjoy the running route you’re on. Check out the scenery on your bike ride. Slow down the pace of life and training. Enjoy the process.

Something worth sharing.

Is your biggest problem with EDM the lack of Jerry Garcia? Have no fear LP Giobbi is here to fix that gaping hole in the universe with electronic dance tunes mixed with samples of Grateful Dead front man.