Everything in moderation, they say.
If there was a prize for the most used - or over-used - phrase in life, odds are that the above three words would would be up there for first place. While I suspect that interpretations can and do vary from person to person, it almost seems that the “moderation-preach” can be a cop out, an excuse for mediocrity if you like.
In sporting terms, moderation can, for the most part, be the backbone of a sensible and balanced approach to fitness. Consistency and conservativity do go a long way as far as longevity goes, but sometimes a little irrationality can be of huge benefit.
Fight or flight, they call it.
You know, feats of superhuman strength in times of extreme adversity. When a person’s back is against the proverbial wall, the result is often an off-the-charts reaction that can make the difference between life or death, bankruptcy or closing a massive deal, winning or losing, and so on.
Whilst these examples may seem a little extreme, a sprinkling of “fight of flight” combined with prevalent moderation can go a long way in athletic terms.
I first became familiar with super-compensation whilst reading Allan Peiper’s inspiring A Peiper’s Tale. Whilst at the height of his professional cycling career, Peiper trained himself to the point of depletion in anticipation of the Spring Classics. Combining excessive mileage and intensity with fasting over the course of a few days, the Australian rider enjoyed his best run of results during that vaunted fortnight in April including such monuments as Paris Roubaix and Ronde van Vlaanderen.
Whilst Peiper’s mileage and intensity were certainly impressive and mind-boggling, they were but only part of a greater puzzle. As he goes on to explain, “if you train like that and you rest up a little bit, you get super-compensation.”
Professional athletes are different to us part-timers and we should always remember this. That said, there are certain things we can learn and implement in our own pursuits, but only if applied in a sensible and pragmatic manner. Whilst attempting to train for twenty to thirty hours is certainly not one of those examples (yet so many amateurs do just that), I believe that a touch of super-compensation can go along way for the recreational athlete, the benefits far outweighing a spunky, glossy cookie-cutter training programme fed online.
Whilst I consider competition to be the ultimate form of “going deep”, there are times in training where “going big” can derive similar benefits. Like many things, it is but a matter of timing.
Therefore, some key aspects of super-compensation could include:
be rested and fresh in the days leading up to such an effort.
allow for sufficient downtime post-compenstation to ensure full recovery and absorption.
the body and mind only has the capacity for a few of these efforts annually.
such efforts should be intermittent and spontaneous, yet done sparingly.
intensity or volume, rarely both.
if intensity, then very, very hard; if volume, then very, very far (source: Frank Shorter and Brad Kearns).
Having been in a slight funk earlier this week over the recent 10km running form (read: dented ego), daily training was curtailed to very slow morning jogging to work. With a popular local 15km event scheduled for this past Saturday (read: there are more important things in life than my ego) having been cancelled due to recent fires here in the South Peninsula, together with having some extra time on my hands, I decided late on Thursday (or early on Friday) to see what I could do. Two-and-half hours in mountains that morning felt easy. Almost two hours on Saturday afternoon felt even easier. When I woke up on Sunday, I felt fresh and inspired enough to add in another couple of hours in the hills topping my all-time training annals. Body and mind were (and still) in total unison, where a good-week’s volume has been compressed in just three days. I didn’t really plan this impromptu spike, it just evolved, a great testament to things like pure motivation, synchronicity and enjoyment.
I’m not sure when - or if - I’ll repeat a three-day cycle such as this. With a busy period in the offing over the next weeks, I can envisage moderation making a comeback on a daily basis. What I am sure of is that this bout of the irrational will no doubt be of benefit further down the line, be it a great race performance or simply a fantastic memory.
As I type the final few lines, fatigue is starting to set in. Energy levels are starting to wane, but in a good way. Going over and above what I am used has depleted my reserves, which need to be recharged in the coming days. I almost feel enthralled to hibernate, the wind outside sounding so draining. Come to think of it, this is also my third consecutive essay in as many days, perhaps adding some needing yin to the more physical yang.
Dig deep, but only on occasion.
