What is the 80 20 rule in endurance training?
Madalyn Johns
2025-06-21 19:44:12
Count answers: 9
One endurance training method is known as the 80/20 rule, it is also referred to as polarised training, where athletes will perform roughly 80% of their training at a low intensity and 20% of their training at high intensity. This concept was introduced following research on the training habits of elite rowers. Over a 4-week training block involving 5 sessions a week, an 80/20 split would include 16 days of low-intensity training and 4 days of high-intensity training over the period. Low-intensity training typically comprises aerobic endurance training at around 62-82% HRmax (maximum heart rate). High-intensity training may consist of interval training (HIIT) carried out at 82-95% HRmax. When using the 80/20 method, adding additional high-intensity sessions does not appear to improve performance further, and may lead to overtraining symptoms, so it is best to keep the percentage of these sessions at around 20%. Carrying out a higher proportion of low-intensity training is linked to better success in endurance performance as outlined in research comparing the training volume in six elite long-distance runners.