photo credit: Flux Photography

“Last year I asked the guy that won the [name of big regional SUP race redacted] about his training, and he said that he was training almost every day, paddling heavy distances and incorporating sprints in every week. I have heard that Danny Ching, similarly, pushes it and trains all the time, but believes in a solid 2 weeks of rest before any big race.

This is a topic I have been wrestling with and all of this seems counterintuitive to what you preach.

Any ideas?

We have some ideas but without talking with either Danny Ching or the other SUP racer you mention we are kinda sorta shooting in the dark. That said, we may have a good shot as we have heard this story no fewer than 1400 times in the last few decades working with endurance athletes. Here is how it  shakes out.

Explanation 1: They guy you talked with and Danny Ching are telling you the 100% truth. They do go hard all the time. We have seen a few athletes over the years that do well with super intense programs. These are the responders. They respond to whatever you throw at them. They are the SUP and prone paddleboard superstars. As we mentioned in a previous article our feeling is that these superstars have veritable super powers that allow them to recover from their training in a way that the 99.9% of the rest of us cannot. It is even possible that these superstars are not pushing themselves enough. Some endurance athletes push 30-40 hours of training a week for several years before they are able to reach their potential. That, however, does not describe me or just about any of the amateur athletes I work with. Be really careful before you try to copy the training method of the responders. Unless you are a responder you will wind up overtraining, friendless, angry, tired, and broken with no family. It is not a pretty sight.

Explanation 2: you are not getting the whole story . It is possible that if you really probed the guy you were talking with he would come clean and tell you that his super intense training only lasts a few weeks before he backs off. Most endurance athletes, whether they work with a coach, or sorted it out on their own, come to embrace a periodized approach to training where sometimes they are going super intense and sometimes they are not.

Explanation 3: you are getting the correct story but the story has not yet played out. The final thought we have is that it is possible that this guy who won the race did so using the method you described. It is possible that he will win it next year too. In our experience, however, for most athletes (and all the non-responders) burnout and injury are just around the corner as they become “one season wonders.” Beware of one season wonders who crush things for a season, tell everyone who will listen about this magic training program then evaporate. Too much intensity often results in short careers.

Bottom line: super intense training works very well for some pros and even some amateur responders. In our experience, however, training stories like you mention are often overblown, incorrect, or incomplete. Whatever the case, our experience is that a conservative, periodized, approach to training where intensity is focused only during certain times of the year, is more likely to help you reach your potential and avoid injury and burnout.