Conditioning
Endurance training plan with two strength days a week
The Conditioning program is built from your answers: days, minutes, equipment and how many hours of endurance work you do now. Most of the time is easy, there are one or two interval sessions a week, and two days start with heavy strength work. Run, ride, row or walk briskly: your choice.
Take the quiz and get your programWho it is for
- People who run, cycle, row or walk and want more endurance and a higher VO2max.
- People training for a run or ride on a set date: the plan runs to that day and tapers before it.
- People who want to keep their strength: two strength sessions a week, weights first, easy cardio after.
- Anyone with 2 to 6 days a week and 20 to 120 minutes per session.
- Gym or home: at home the strength work uses 8 to 12 reps instead of heavy loads.
Who it is not for
- People mainly after muscle size or a bigger squat, bench and deadlift. Bodybuilding, powerbuilding and powerlifting are built for that.
- Anyone who answers yes to the health questions without a doctor's clearance: the quiz then suggests the health program. With clearance, the plan has no intervals.
- Anyone under 18.
- Anyone who needs a watch or power meter to sync. There is no link to watches, Apple Health, Garmin or Strava; watts and heart rate are typed in by hand.
What it does
Mostly easy
Easy means you can still talk in full sentences: 64 to 76 % of max heart rate, effort around 3 out of 10. Everything except the intervals is easy. In trained athletes, mostly easy training with a little hard work improved performance more than training around threshold.
4 x 4 minute intervals
One session a week has 4 minute intervals at 90 to 95 % of max heart rate, 3 easy minutes between them, an 8 minute warm up and a 5 minute cool down. Intervals of 2 minutes or longer raised VO2max the most. The number of reps grows over the block and fits the minutes you have.
Short 30/15 intervals as a second hard day
With 4 or more hours a week already, 5 days (6 with strength) and at least 60 minutes, you get a second hard session: 30 seconds fast, 15 seconds easy, 10 reps per set. Short intervals raised VO2max in cyclists, even with little total work.
Heart rate from age
Targets are percentages of max heart rate, which the app estimates from age: 208 minus 0.7 times age. It beats 220 minus age, but can be off by about 10 beats for one person, so every target also comes with an effort level.
Strength twice a week
Two days start with heavy strength work: in a gym 4 to 6 reps on squats, Romanian deadlifts and similar lifts, at home 8 to 12. In endurance athletes, strength training improved economy and performance while VO2max stayed the same.
Weights first, then easy cardio
On strength days the order is always the same: lifting first, easy cardio after. Strength before endurance gave larger lower body strength gains than the reverse, with no effect on endurance. Combining the two did not noticeably cut maximal strength or muscle growth.
Example: week 1 for someone doing 3 hours of endurance work a week, with 6 to 24 months of lifting, age 35, 5 days a week, 60 minutes, in a gym, no event date. Your program will differ, because your answers build it.
Monday
Strength and easy cardio
- Back squat: 3 sets, 4 to 6 reps, RPE 7
- Incline dumbbell press: 3 sets, 4 to 6 reps, RPE 7
- Easy cardio: 21 minutes, 64 to 76 % of max heart rate
Tuesday
Easy cardio
- Easy cardio: 40 minutes, 64 to 76 % of max heart rate, effort 3 out of 10
Thursday
4 x 4 minute intervals
- Warm up: 8 minutes
- 4 x 4 minutes at 90 to 95 % of max heart rate, effort 8 out of 10, 3 easy minutes between
- Cool down: 5 minutes
Friday
Strength and easy cardio
- Romanian deadlift: 3 sets, 4 to 6 reps, RPE 7
- Leg press: 3 sets, 4 to 6 reps, RPE 7
- Easy cardio: 21 minutes, 64 to 76 % of max heart rate
Saturday
Long easy session
- Easy cardio: 60 minutes, the same pace as the other easy days
How you progress
The plan starts from the time you already train each week. For three weeks it grows about 5 % a week, the fourth week is 20 % lighter, then the cycle repeats. Interval reps build up to week 7. With an event date the plan runs 4 to 16 weeks and the last two weeks are about 40 % and then 55 % shorter, with intensity and the number of sessions kept. The rate of increase is our choice: no study gives a safe rate, and adding about 10 % a week did not cut injuries in novice runners.
What the research says
Mostly easy training with a little hard work improved performance in trained athletes more than threshold training.
Intervals of 2 minutes or longer at 90 to 95 % of max heart rate raised VO2max the most.
Short intervals with little total work still raise VO2max.
208 minus 0.7 times age estimates max heart rate better than 220 minus age.
Strength training improves economy and performance in endurance athletes, without changing VO2max.
Strength before endurance in the same session gives larger lower body strength gains.
Combining strength and endurance training does not noticeably reduce maximal strength or muscle growth.
Before an event, two weeks of less volume with the same intensity and frequency gave the largest gains in the studies.
Adding about 10 % a week did not reduce injuries; large jumps in volume went with more injuries.
People who did not respond to training did respond once their weekly dose went up.
What is convention
Research does not pin these rules down. We use them because they hold up in practice.
- Time grows about 5 % a week and every fourth week is 20 % lighter.
- The long easy session is about 40 % longer than the other easy days.
- Under 2 hours a week, or new to training: easy days last about 80 % of the session time.
- The shortest easy session is 20 minutes.
- Without an event the recommended length is 8 weeks; you can choose 4 to 16.
- For the next block: if watts per heartbeat on easy sessions improve by less than 2 % with at least 80 % of sessions logged, the plan adds 60 minutes a week or one session, never past 6 days. The 2 %, 80 % and 60 minute thresholds are our choice.
- Two strength days a week and the choice of exercises.
Questions
Does the app connect to my watch or power meter?
No. There is no link to watches, Apple Health, Garmin or Strava. After a session you enter the duration, how hard it felt and, if you have them, average watts and average heart rate. Without them, effort alone is enough.
Does the plan use FTP?
No. The Conditioning program sets targets by heart rate and effort, so it works the same for running, cycling, rowing and walking. Watts you enter are used at the end of the block, when the app compares watts per heartbeat on easy sessions.
Can I run, or do I have to cycle?
Your choice: run, ride, row or walk briskly. Studies show running gets in the way of strength and muscle gains more than cycling, so on strength days the bike is a good pick for the easy part.
What happens if I set an event date?
The plan runs to the event, at least 4 and at most 16 weeks. The last two weeks are shorter, the intervals stay just as hard with fewer reps. In a plan under 6 weeks only the last week is shorter.
Do I have to lift weights?
We recommend two strength sessions a week because they improve running and cycling economy. You can switch them off in the quiz; then every day is endurance work.
Why are there no intervals in my plan?
If you answer yes to the health questions, the plan has no intervals, even with a doctor's clearance. Every session is easy.