Endurance training philosophy

Endurance training is a very effective form of exercise and many people practice it. However, around Europe, there are several different methodologies when it comes to ways and rules, as well as regulations which form endurance training per se. For example, Northern Europe does not use the same methodology as the continental one does.

Northern Europe Endurance Training Methodology

First of all, since a competition will be taking place outside, most of the training is located in the outer environment, regardless of weather conditions. Norway, for example, has some of the world's best natural terrains for these purposes and its people get the most out of this benefit. However, in Norway, weather can be quite bad and often harsh and those who train in such conditions show better performance. The first rule, therefore, is to train in nature and enjoy it.

Secondly, there is cross training. Basically, here, we have a well known fact that an athlete will become better in whatever he/she does through some other sports. One's cycling skills can improve through running and hiking, or even skiing. So, it is essential to make people engaged in endurance training indulge into other sports in order to get better at their own, especially when weather does not allow them to practice their basic sport. However, in the southern part of the continent, this is considered to be nonsense and people stick to their sports.

Thirdly, the traditional methodology suggests exercising for a long time through a mild pace, only to have short intervals with high intensity. Nowadays, this has changed as well since many modern sportsmen discard these “easy runs” considering them not to be useful. They focus on training hard instead.

Finally, in Eastern Europe, the whole members of a team are training together, with the same intensity, practicing completely the same exercises. In other countries, this is considered counter-productive and every sportsman is considered an individual due to the fact that an illness or some other similar factors may interfere with the process.

Traditional vs Modern

Every single methodology has flaws and positive aspects. Speaking of high intensity training which is modern nowadays, necessary anaerobic performance of an endurance athlete comes down to around 10%. All the rest of the performance stems from the aerobic performance. Therefore, endurance is all about enduring long sessions of physical activity. Hence, the traditional methods are better.

Finally, the most positive aspect about endurance training in these regions is complete absence of drugs or any kind of performance boosters.