Time Allocation
Over the years, I have found two hours a day, on average, has been a reasonable amount of time to set aside for exercise. As a runner (admittedly, I am pretty much a one-trick pony!) that includes warm-up, cool down, strength training, form drills, stretching and non-running aerobic exercise, which I call running equivalents, or REQs. This, in addition to putting in the run miles.
This may seem like a lot of non-running activity, but it’s always made sense to me to keep the chassis in good order as well as the engine. Never a high mileage runner, topping out at about 45 miles a week in younger years, as I approached and passed 70 I have settled into a weekly regimen of between 25 and 30 miles. Typically, this is achieved in four, sometimes five days, with two of those workouts more intense (hills, intervals, long) and the rest easier, something akin to recovery miles. As I’ve watched my times slow, I know it is partially due to this reduced training volume. The exercise science is pretty clear – if you want to race fast and long you need to train that way. Yet, it’s hard not to notice that with age recovery slows and niggling injuries seem to increasingly present themselves. Thus, finding the right balance is paramount.
Two hours. That’s a fair bit of time. And whatever our age, we have vital things to do that define us as individuals along with sleeping, eating, and maintaining family and friend connections. In fact, with age the latter are increasingly important.
As my running miles have curtailed, should it really be necessary to increase the other stuff? Afterall, I’m putting less stress on my body, so shouldn’t that mean less is needed to stay in tip-top shape? Counterintuitively, that is not the case. Ageing impacts the body in numerous ways. Some of this is individual, but most is categorical, with the rate of change varying widely. Genetics is suspected to be a key driver of these changes but there is a lot we have a say about how it actually plays out. It is during those two hours a day, along with adequate sleep and good nutrition, when I take aim at managing those impacts.
If I’m running 40% less but maintaining the two hours, how it that time, a good five to six hours a week, best filled? First, the aerobic options are crucial. We know how the cardiorespiratory system loses efficiency and integrity. If these systems fail, we are history. One of the reasons many of us started running was to protect and bolster these systems. Second, as emphasized through this book, we lose muscle with age. Both the quality (more Type II fast-twitch fibers lost than Type 1 slow-twitchers) and reduced muscle mass due to smaller fibers of those remaining. This is called sarcopenia and the reasons it happens include: neural changes – motor neurons needed to activate (recruit) muscle fibers decrease with age as does their efficiency in recruiting fibers; testosterone and human growth hormone are needed for muscle synthesis – the body’s natural output of these hormones declines with age. Some have taken mega-doses of supplements to try to offset this. These can be both detrimental to health as well as setting one up for competitive disqualification; chronic low-grade inflammation due in part to the normal oxidation (an example is metal rusting when exposed to the elements) of cells interferes with muscle regeneration. Third, our muscles and tendons become less pliable. Again, there are various reasons for this including cross-linkage of collagen fibers, water loss affecting lubrication, decreased blood flow impairing tissue elasticity, and accumulated scar tissue.
It may not be a stretch to see how it could take an added five to six hours a week to shore up these systems. On the aerobic side, both volume and intensity are important. The two or three intense running sessions must be that – intense! Hills, HIIT, Intervals. However, the volume can be filled with water running, Stairmaster, elliptical, cycling, and swimming. For strength training and flexibility work, these should be targeted every day for 30-45 minutes with maximal weight lifted two to three days during 60-75 minute sessions.
So, my 14 hours a week go quickly. This does not include getting ready to exercise, e.g., dressing and driving to meet others to run. Rather it is time putting in the effort. We each must figure out what works for us. But I have found erring on the side of more an effective approach as I’ve entertained the notion of less in the amount of time I’m running.