after coaching thousands of Runners and competing against some of the best in the world I've noticed that not all running workouts are created equal some will make you faster stronger and more efficient and some they'll just waste your time or even worse get you injured so in this video I'm ranking the best and the worst running workouts based on science with the worst being F tier the workouts you should probably never touch and the absolute must being s tier and at the end I'll Crown one workout as the absolute best of the best and one
as the worst of the worst so here's how we are ranking each workout first we look at Effectiveness does this workout actually improve your speed your efficiency or your endurance then we look at practicality can most Runners do it or is that unrealistic finally we look at progression and injury risk can you actually do it safely or will it just end up breaking you a good workout should make you better and not just tired and I really want to get into the Norwegian method and Zone 2 training because I got some strong opinions about that
but first let's look at repeated Max Sprints with short rest whenever I go to the track for a track session I always see these Runners who will run for maybe 200 M all out and then they will just walk back to the beginning or back to the 200 meter Mark and start again maybe with 20 seconds or 30 seconds of rest and then they do that for maybe four or five times but if you look at sprinters there's a reason why they're training for two or 3 hours and all they're really doing is 4X 60
M allout Sprint it's because if you're sprinting with allout effort and short breaks then you are overloading What's called the anerobic system extremely quickly they also impose a high injury risk especially for the Achilles the hamstrings and the hip Flexes in fact they're really not good for anyone who want wants to train effectively so repeated Sprints with short rest times go straight in the F tier so what about steady state runs you know the type of run that most recreational Runners do they go out running 30 to 60 Minutes at a moderately hard Pace every
single time they go for a run this is your typical neighborhood hero who goes out maybe three times per week and tries to beat their 10K time every single time these workouts improves what's called your aerobic capacity and they can be used at base building but they lack the topend benefits that'll make you faster they are best used for training that race Pace effort if you're going out for 5 or 10K and to see how you actually feel when you're running at that pace but also to get your body accustomed to running at that pace
but the downsides are that you risk doing what's called Gray Zone training meaning you're going too hard for recovery but not hard enough for maximum gains that's why I've put steady state runs in the B tier so now you're probably wondering should I do V2 Max intervals then we'll get to that in a second but first let's talk about incline running on a treadmill if you've ever been in a gym in January then you would have seen people doing these workouts they set the treadmill at a maximum 15% incline and then they start walking or
running but these workouts have a really big problem you see trying to run like that encourages poor running form you need to do excessive forward lean and shorten your steps which will impact your normal running form if you're doing it too much they don't mimic real world running mechanics and even worse they overload your calves and your Achilles potentially leading to injuries these workouts look intense but they're really just junk stress so they go straight in the F tier there is a workout you can do at the gym that is slightly better but before we
get to that let's talk about something a bit more specific the progressive long runs I was first introduc Ed to this type of training by my old trainer when I first got into professional Triathlon they look pretty easy on paper but in reality they can be brutal an example could be running 20 km with the last 5 km in half marathon or even 10K Pace this type of workout trains your endurance and your race Pace ability at the same time it also helps develop what's called fatigue resistance or put another way it teaches your body
to maintain speed when you're tired it's best used for running is training for half marathon marathons or even Ultras the downsides are that they come with a high risk of overtraining and you need to avoid overdoing them which is why I've put them in the a tier so let's talk about hit workouts so jump squats bbies sprinting in a circuit if you've ever been to a crossfit workout this is the type of training that they're doing this type of workout is great to get you in shape and get your heart rate up but they lack
specificity meaning they have nothing to do with running you see to make your body efficient at running you have to do something that is movement specific or put another way you need to run so these workouts are best suited for people who just want to get in shape but they don't really improve your endurance or your efficiency and they can actually interfere with your running performance because if you're doing too many hit workouts then the quality of your runs will suffer meaning your runs will be less effective that's why I've put circuit training in the
D tier but what about strides and drills some people say they are amazing and some people say that they make no difference so should we do any of that let's just quickly discuss V2 Max intervals first whenever I would approach racing season in the spring I would always have V2 Max intervals on my program something like a 4x4 minute at 95 to 100% of Maximum effort with a 2-minute rest what has always been fun to me is that whenever I started doing V2 Max intervals then it would be so hard hard just to do two
or three times 4 minutes and I would feel like I was dying so when I looked at my program and I did the first 4x4 minutes and I could see that during the coming weeks I would have to do seven by 4 minutes I thought to myself I can't do that that is just insane but then something magical happens it gets easier to push yourself each and every week even though there are more on the program and even though the heart rate is the same or even higher somehow you get a better mental capacity just
staying with it when it hurts and all of a sudden you can do it for longer with a clearer head that's because this type of workout directly improves your V2 Max Capacity and your running economy making it crucial for middle and longdistance Runners the downsides are that it's highly fatiguing and it takes a lot of recovery to avoid overtraining V2 Max intervals are a clear s tier but then again are they as effective as threshold training also known as the Norwegian method we'll get to that in a sec but first let's talk about strides and
drills when I became a better Runner I would start to train with better and better training groups and I noticed something strange the better they got the more time they would spend doing drills and strides and at the top National level sometimes we would spend an hour just doing that an example could be something like 4 to 6 times 100 m at around 85 to 90% intensity just focusing on running form this type of workout improves what's called your neuromuscular coordination and your running economy which is probably why the best in the world use them
so much they also help develop turnover and Sprint mechanics without making you tired the downsides are that it takes consistency the benefits will compound over time but you will have to do it for months to see real progress strides and drills are a clear AER so what about threshold runs or the Norwegian method over the last few years the Norwegians and especially Chile yakob ingreen have made this type of workout extremely popular an example could be 3 times 10 minutes at threshold Pace or just below What's called the second lactate threshold these type of workouts
increases your ability to clear lactate which is essential for long and middle distance Runners the downsides are that it takes precise pacing if you have no idea where your second lactate threshold is then you could be going too hard making it a V2 Max interval instead this will reduce how effective it is which is why it's just not accessible for all Runners you can do a field test which will give you an estimate but it's just not as accurate as you measure lactate you can also buy a measurement tool for measuring lactate they are not
that expensive but let's be honest most Runners are not going to do that which is why I had to put the Norwegian method in the a tier we also need to talk about the popular Zone 2 runs but first let's talk about Hill Sprints every Sunday I go for a run with one of my friends around a lake and whenever we get to the bottom of a hill we will do Hill Sprints and try to absolutely smash each other an example could be 10 seconds all out then we walk back down wait for 2 minutes
go again and we will do that 8 to 10 times these Sprints are really fun but they also develops power and running efficiency another benefit is that they are lower impact compared to Flat Sprints because you can't run as fast but you still get your heart rate way up and lower impact means less injury risk the downsides are that it requires a steep hill so it's not accessible to every Runner especially in flat areas but still Hill Sprints are a no-brainer a tier but now you're probably wondering everyone's talking about long runs where does those
fit in first let's just quickly rate that slow paace Zone 2 type training zone two runs at 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate have become extremely popular over the last couple of years primarily because of its longevity benefits but if we look aside from that zone 2 training improves your oxygen deliverability and your ability to use that oxygen it also trains your body to burn fat as fuel which is essential for longdistance endurance finally it helps build your aerobic base making it easier to recover between workouts it's best suited for long distance Runners
who want to increase their capacity of going longer the downside is that it can be overused and it has to be balanced with speed workor or you're going to hit a plateau but son two runs are 100% s tier but it should not be the only workout you do and there's something even better that I'll show you in a second but what about long runs long runs of around 90 minutes to 2 hours improves your ability to stall glycogen also known as sugar and to burn fat as fuel it also builds your muscles and tendons
making it easier to withstand that race Pace effort and then it builds mental toughness and resilience it's best for runners training for half marathons marathons or Ultras but the downsides are that it requires a ton of time and also the injury risk is high it's important not to do too often or with too high of an intensity I see that a lot please when you do a long run keep the intensity at a minimum still it's a solid a tier so what about strength training things like heavy squats deadlifts and Plyometrics this type of workout
can improve your running economy by 4 to 8% and reduce your injury Risk by up to 50% it's absolutely essential for long-term performance because it will keep those injuries at Bay and at the same time make you faster most Runners ignore strength training but it's the ultimate tool for Speed and durability it's not even an S tier it's a god tier and if you want to know exactly how to strength train as a runner then check out this video next
