The Nick Bare Podcast - 056: All Things Hybrid Athlete Training

Episode Date: March 4, 2024

Today's episode is all about hybrid athlete training. I have received many questions from listeners interested in learning about various aspects of training, such as training sequences, methods to avoid overtraining, and even recovery tips. I am excited to share what I've learned over years of hybrid training that has helped me achieve long-lasting results and maintain a healthy lifestyle. So, tune in for valuable guidance to support your fitness and health journey. Enjoy! Save 10% at BPN Supps: https://bit.ly/nickbare10audio Follow for more:  IG: https://www.instagram.com/nickbarefitness/ YT: https://www.youtube.com/@nickbarefitness Topics: 0:00 Intro 0:26 Welcome 2:34 Why hybrid and what is it? 8:45 What I’m training for next 12:58 A typical week of training 16:57 Sacrificing size for speed 22:29 How I find time to lift and run 34:36 Balancing training legs and running 39:41 How to avoid overtraining 50:37 Training sequences 54:59 Recovery

In today's episode of the podcast, we are talking all things hybrid athlete training. How to balance running and lifting to facilitate a stronger cardiovascular conditioning base and strength, outcomes, and gains in the gym. So I got some news for you guys. We just launched a new flavor of the BPN GoGel. and that is mixed berry. So the first flavor that we launched of the go gel a few months ago was apple cinnamon. Apple cinnamon, in my opinion, is a close tie to the mixed berry.

But the feedback that I'm receiving from the BPN team and people who have already purchased and tasted and tried the product is that mixed berry is superior to the apple cinnamon go gel. I'll let you guys be the final voice in that one, but we now have two flavors of our endurance gel. Apple cinnamon, mixed berry. This is our whole food, simple ingredient endurance gel meant to be used before or during your runs,

triathlons, cycling, swimming. It is conveniently packaged in a pouch that you can carry in your pockets, holding your hands while you run during these big efforts and bigger workouts. And they are 24 grams of carbohydrates per gel and 110 milligrams of sodium. Like I said, simple ingredients,

whole food based ingredients, to fuel your endurance efforts, now offered in two delicious and nutritious flavors. So today we are talking all things hybrid athlete training. How to balance running and lifting. And before we dive into some of the topics, which the topics I'm going to be covering were triggered based off of a

Q&A that I launched on my Instagram a few days ago. And there were a lot of questions. Hundreds of questions were submitted. and I chose the ones that were frequently asked, and I'm going to dive into. But before we dive into some of that stuff and those questions, I want to discuss why hybrid? And what is hybrid athlete training?

The way that I view hybrid athlete training, the way that I've approached hybrid athlete training, it is the combination and incorporation of endurance training, in my case, primarily running, and strength training. resistance training, the combination of those two. Now, there is pushback. There is criticism. For some reason, when the word a hybrid athlete is used in the fitness space, it is widely accepted by many, but there are the few loud that hate the term hybrid athlete training

because the argument is that it is just fitness. It is athletics. It is for the athlete. It is functional. And you know what? You're correct. Hybrid athlete training is just that. It is the way that fitness should be approached, in my opinion,

with the incorporation of cardiovascular conditioning, aerobic conditioning, and strength training or resistance training. And there's a reason, because both have very important outcomes for health span, for lifespan, for your VO2 max, muscle development, metabolic support, hormone support, just being overall healthy and functional. Every training program should incorporate some type of cardiovascular conditioning and strength training. That is hybrid athlete training. That is just being fit. That is being athletic. So for the people who argue that the term hybrid athlete training should not be used because

it just describes the way fitness was intended to be, you know what? I kind of agree with you. But I like referring to it as hybrid athletic training because it sounds cool. And I dig it and I love it. So I'm going to keep doing that. But you choose. If you want to just call it fitness, you want to call it hybrid athlete training, do whatever your heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit is calling you to call it.

But I believe it's become so popular these last couple years. I mean, when I saw it really submerging or emerging into the fitness space, I guess it was probably 2019, 2020, 2020, when the hybrid athlete training model started to really grow, expand, and develop. And I think it's because there was this norm that has been accepted the past two decades plus in the fitness industry, fitness space, where people said that if you lifted weights and your focus was putting on size and strength, that you could. could not run.

And that running would destroy all of your gains that you were making in the gym. And vice versa. People who are actively running trying to run faster, 5Ks, half marathons, full marathons, ultra. They were against strength training because it was viewed that strength training and putting on size and developing power through resistance training was going to slow, you down as an endurance athlete. This was widely accepted in the norm for a long period of time.

But as more research was conducted and studies were published and then people just went out and did it on their own and experienced the benefits, side effects, some consequences of incorporating both conditioning from an aerobic perspective and then, And strength training, I think a lot of people realized, oh, you can do both and you should do both. And by being able to do both, it makes you more fit, healthier, more functional. And one doesn't necessarily take away from the other. So there's a lot of reasons to train in this hybrid athlete training approach. In my case, like I said, it is the combination of.

of endurance, primarily being running, and throughout this episode, I'm going to be referring to running as the source of truth for endurance training that I'm referring to, and then lifting weights, throwing weights around. And the approach that I'm going to be talking about here is from a strength in hypertrophy perspective, strength being these multi-joint compound movements trying to get stronger with lower rep ranges,

greater weights, bigger weights, getting stronger, getting bigger, bodybuilding, powerlifting, just slinging iron around in a weight room. I'm torn in my life between being a bodybuilder and being a marathon athlete. I love both approaches and styles of training so much that I can't choose one. I can't. I love them both equally. I'm stuck in the middle for this love of both styles of training, and that's what's landed me in this hybrid athlete model. So one of the first questions that I received was what does the typical week of training look like for me? And I'm going to explain it this way that your training structure should support your training goals.

And your training goals are based off of what you want to accomplish with your fitness. Is it for a very specific race or competition? Is it for an aesthetic, a way you want to look? or is it for an event, an occasion, a vacation, whatever you're training for, your goals and your trainings should support that thing that you are wanting to achieve. Now, before I describe my current training week and what it looks like, I want to explain to you what I'm training for right now. So I haven't announced this yet.

This episode right here is the first announcement of this race that I'm I'm training for that I'm so excited about. It's a race that I've been aware of for years. I've been wanting to do it. It is called The Speed Project. The Speed Project is a race that is happening at the end of March. It starts in L.A. and it goes to Vegas. It is point to point. There's no rules.

There's no spectators. There's actually no route. You go from L.A. to Vegas as fast as possible, whatever route you want to take. You just can't be on the highways. And there's two different ways to go about this race. There is the solo where one person is doing the entire race from L.A. to Vegas, and then there's the relay, where you have six people on a team, and it's in a relay style

where one person is running at a time, and you switch out over the course of that distance from LA to Vegas. We, as in BPN, are doing the Speed Project Relay. So the OG team is four men, two women. Six people total. It's going to be the end of March. So each person will roughly be logging a little over 60 miles. And it's going to be badass.

If you've never heard of the Speed Project, I recommend just going on YouTube, Googling or searching the Speed Project. And there's a few companies and brands who have done documentaries in films on this race. Very underground, unsanctioned, just gritty, raw, real, and it's a race that truly

invites and embraces the love for running. It's to celebrate runners. And the founders of the Speed Project, they are the Speed Project. Meeting Nils and working alongside Nils these last couple months in preparation for this race because BPN is a participant in the race has been a great experience.

And it's really cool to see, you know, when you, when you're watching, you've been a fan of a race or a series for a long time and then meeting the people behind it, realizing that it's as real and raw as it gets, that gets me pretty jacked up. So that is the race that we are doing at the end of March.

We got a team going to the Speed Project this year. and like I said, it's a race from L.A. to Vegas. We'll have an RV that's trailing us the whole time. We're creating a pretty cool film out of this and we'll premiere it in a few theaters around the country after that film's done. But that's what I'm training for right now. TSP, the Speed Project.

So that's kind of the source of truth, the North Star, for my training. I'm not doing anything super crazy in terms of volume and total mileage. Because I just came off of a big marathon prep, I have a lot of aerobic conditioning and a strong aerobic base right now coming off of my last prep for CIM. I don't want mileage to get too crazy because the last couple months,

mileage was pretty high after, training for and running last man standing in Maine and then going directly into a marathon prep for CIM. So like I said, I have this strong aerobic base right now. My total weekly mileage is around 50 miles per week. And I'm strength training four to six days per week. So about six runs per week. And then, like I said, four to six strength training sessions.

So the way that I kind of break up those 50 miles, I have it written down right here. A lot of my training is, and I'll get in this a little later, auto-regulated. So I'll go into a week knowing how many miles I want to run that week. And then I kind of just fit those miles in

based off of the demands of my schedule, my family, what's going on, if I'm traveling or not. And I'll just make sure at the end of the week I've hit in a certain amount of strength training sessions, and I've logged a specific number of miles. But a loose structure right now would be Sunday, 10 miles, Monday, 8 miles, Tuesday, 8 miles, Wednesday, 10 miles, Thursday, 6 miles, Friday, 8 miles, Saturday, off. that's kind of an example of what my running looks like throughout the week.

And then in terms of strength training, the way I'm breaking up the split right now is day one is chest, day two is back, day three is shoulders and arms, day four is legs. So my week isn't like every Monday I'm hitting chest, every Tuesday I'm hitting back, every Wednesday I'm hitting shoulders and arms,

every Friday I'm hitting legs. I don't really approach it that way. I just have these four splits, chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs. Those are my four days that I have, and I'll just rotate through those as I'm lifting. So if I lift six days a week, for example, I'll do chest, day one, back, day two, shoulders and arms, day three, legs, day three. legs, day four, chest, day five, back, day six. I'll just rotate through.

So every week might look a little different. And I do apply auto regulation going into my week to have a looser structure and then change things up based off of the demands of my schedule, how I'm feeling, how I'm recovering. but my training is always structured based off of the goals that I have. The goal right now is to be fit and fresh for the speed project, but also maintaining a lot of resistance training, strength training, because I didn't do as much of that during this last marathon prep. I've missed it.

I want to incorporate more of it back into my routine. And I love it. I missed it. So that's what a typical week of training looks like for me right now. One of the comments I see quite frequently is, Nick, you could run so much faster if you lost weight and you stopped strength training as much. But then I hear other comments that say, Nick, you could be so much bigger and stronger

if you put on more weight and you stopped running as much. and both of those are very true. And one of the questions I saw come across was, will you ever make the decision to sacrifice performance in the gym to get faster or vice versa? And my answer, it's not very straightforward, but my answer is it depends. It depends on what are my goals?

The question I ask you guys, when you're thinking about your training structure and setting up a routine. What are your goals? What do you want to focus on? What do you want to accomplish? What are your near-term goals? And then your far-term goals.

When I go into a big marathon prep, then I set a ambitious PR goal. Now, I don't plan on going after another big marathon PR in 2000. and 24. But that could always change. Who knows? Eventually, maybe 2025, which is probably more realistic

because we're having our second baby at the end of August in 2024. So trying to go into a marathon prep in the fall of 2024, now that I think about it, is probably not the smartest decision. You see? You got to consider the circumstances

of what's happening in your life. and plan your training and your goals around that or alongside of that. So 2025 sounds like a better time frame to go after my next marathon PR. And when I do that, my primary goal, my primary focus will be running faster, getting fitter, leaning out a little bit more, probably losing some muscle, losing some size to facilitate faster runs and carrying a lighter frame. And when I go into that next marathon prep, I will pull back significantly

on my strength training and my resistance training. And the strength training that I will be doing then won't be hypertrophy focused. It won't be in this bodybuilding style. It'll be more so in a power for performance approach. So it'll be more of these explosive, multi-joint compound movements like a barbell squat

or a deadlift for example but it'll be greater weight heavier loads and lower rep ranges at faster velocity faster speeds I'm going for explosive power not necessarily

building as much muscle mass as possible so that's how I will approach this next marathon prep because the goal will determine the training that is associated with the routine that I'm building in order to achieve that goal. I did the same thing in this last prep for CIM where I ran a 239 marathon. I reduced a lot of my strength training, and the strength training that I was doing was more explosive power focused

as opposed to hypertrophy because I didn't want to keep putting on all this size. but I wanted to maintain just muscle ability and activation. So based off the goals, the season, the chapter, what I or what you want to accomplish, there should be a decision to sacrifice performance somewhere so that that performance can be funneled and attributed to something else. So will I ever make the decision to sacrifice performance,

performance in the gym to get faster or vice versa, yes, but it depends on the goal. And I've done that before. I do that frequently. But right now in the way that I'm training, it is really in this balanced hybrid approach where I want to run about 50 miles a week and I want to feel very fit and fast and somewhat light. But I also want to put on size and strength and look and feel good. And right now I'd say I'm right in the middle split where I don't have a very specific PR goal for running or strength. And I like hanging out in the middle for a little bit because I can keep building this base. The way I kind of view where I'm at right now, even though I don't have a super specific goal at the moment, I'm sharpening my axe. I'm sharpening this axe that's

preparing me for this next chapter of training based off of the goals that I select or the race that I want to do so that when I go into a big training block, I have a base that's already been built, whether that's strength focused or aerobically conditioned focused. How do you find time to lift and run? Well, as many of you might know, probably know, you may own a BPN shirt that has this quote in the back. If it matters to you, you will make time. This goes for anything, not just training. If something matters to you, you'll make time for it. I'm not saying that lifting and running or training for races, putting on size, getting stronger, getting faster, has to be a priority of

yours. I think fitness in working out and training and healthy eating and proper nutrition should be a priority for everyone. But there's levels to this stuff. There's like baseline foundation level where you're making sure you get a workout in every day. You're getting your steps in. You're moving your body. You're active. You're choosing a well-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, you're drinking a lot of water. That is like bare minimum foundation. Then there's like a next level up where maybe you're training for a specific goal and that requires greater discipline and more time, potentially more resources allocated

towards that goal. Say you're training for a half marathon. And the next level up is maybe you're training for a full marathon. and the next level up is you're training for an ultramarathon. And somewhere in there is you're training for, say, a high rocks event. So there's these different levels of what we are preparing for that require different demands on our body, our schedule, and time. So when I say if it matters to you, you will make time,

that's me kind of positioning that as almost a question where you and I have to take accountability and inventory and audit our lives and our priorities and say, well, what does matter to me? Where I'm at right now in this chapter of my life, what matters to me? Is it my fitness? Is it my work? Is it my family? Is it my faith?

Is it getting my business that's a startup launched off the ground so that in five, 10, 15 years, it can sustain me and my family to live the life that we want to live. I mean, that's a big question there, but like, what matters to you? And if it matters to you, if it truly matters to you, you will make time for it. You'll find that the things that really don't matter to you, you won't find time for it. If eating healthy and losing weight doesn't really matter to you, you are going to find every reason and every excuse why you shouldn't choose healthy food options and why you aren't or shouldn't be losing weight. But if it matters to you, you will make time. For me personally, lifting weights

and running on a regular basis, if I can do both every day, I do. If I could, I would. And sometimes I do that most days because it matters to me. It matters to me because I enjoy it, first off. I love it. It makes me feel really good. It is great for my health span and my lifespan. It sets the standard for the people who follow me. It sets the standard for my family. As I'm raising children, as my daughter grows up and as our son is born, they seem to me getting after it and working out, it matters to me. So I will find time to make it happen. In order to find time, you got to make time. I've talked about this many times before because I believe in it, forward thinking, backwards planning. I see the comments all the time that say

must be nice. Must be nice to be able to work out all day, every day. Well, if my full time job was to work out, I would be able to do it too. I'll tell you right now, it is not my full-time job to work out. And I'm in the office or starting calls like most people between 8.30 and 9 a.m. And I'm working until 4 or 5 p.m. And then typically at night, I'm working a little bit more before I go to bed. I think I work just as much, if not more, probably more. than most people.

But because training matters to me, I make time and I find time for it. I will say that there are a lot of considerations that go into that. And since becoming a father, and Charlie was born almost two years ago now, coming up on two years here this summer, it's changed my ability to be able to train

when I want to train. but if I forward think and backwards plan, I can find time to make it happen. I might have to say no to a lot of other things or I might have to stay up a little later or wake up a little earlier some days. But if I forward think enough in backwards plan, I can find time in my schedule

to prioritize the things that I want to do. We all have considered, as we forward thinking backwards plan. If you have a family, if you have kids, school, work, meal prep,

meetings, family functions, our days, our lives are packed with things. And we're not always going to find or be able to make time to do the things we want to do. But I would say

eight times out of ten, if you forward, think enough and backwards plan, you can get the things done that you want to get done. Like my routine right now, based off the considerations that I've just listed, family, kids, work, meal prep, meetings, social responsibilities,

I wake up at 4.45 a.m. every day. Monday through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. My alarm clock goes off at 4.45 a.m. I normally wake up before that because my circadian rhythm is just on this clock that knows at 4.45, it's time to get up, go out in the kitchen, make a cup of coffee, go through my morning routine. So based off of all the considerations in my life right now, I wake up at 4.45 a.m. I'm out at the door running by 5.30 a.m. normally. and in those 45 minutes, I'm drinking a cup of coffee, having a bowel movement, which is essential before that morning run. And I'll either have a go bar or two scoops at G1M sport.

So I have some sort of fuel source before I got my run, which is critical for the amount of training that I'm doing, getting some sort of fuel source in my body prior to my first training session or that run. and then I am back from that run by normally 6.45 a.m. and Charlie is waking up just as I'm coming back. I carry my phone with me on that run so I can monitor the nanit, which is this app that syncs to this camera that goes over Charlie's crib so that I can watch when or I can hear when she's waking up. Because right now Steph's pregnant with baby number two. And in the mornings, sometimes she's not feeling as well. So I'll go off my run. And if Steph's not feeling well that morning and Charlie's waking up, I'll sprint back to the house as fast as possible to be back for when Charlie wakes up.

But she's pretty routine right now or she's waking up between 6.45 and 7 a.m. right as I'm coming back. And then we have our morning routine with a family. I go into work. I'll either lift weights. after work or what I've been doing more frequently lately is after we have dinner and we give Charlie a bath, we put it to bed, then I'll go into the garage gym and I'll hit my workout around 8, 8.30 p.m. and I'm done by 9.30 p.m. Get ready for bed. Go to bed. But I share my routine with you

to say that that's what I do and that's how I make time for the things that are priorities to me in my life but the reality is you don't have to train as much as you might think and I think this is one of the biggest

things that keeps people away or intimidates people from hybrid athlete training which like we talked about in the beginning's podcast could just be viewed as athletic training or being fit, is that this term that is attached to this style of training which facilitates health span and lifespan

and lifespan and the combination of running and lifting, people instantly think it's twice as much work as they're used to doing. Well, I'm used to going to the gym, but now you're telling me you have to run too, so I have to multiply what I'm doing by two in order to fit everything in. And you hear me say that I'm running 50 miles a week plus four to six strength training sessions.

That's what I do based off of the amount of time that I've been training, the years I've been training, the progressive overload that I've incorporated, you know, I didn't start my fitness journey running 50 miles and strength training four to six days a week. I slowly built up to that. But when you're getting started, whether you're just getting started or you've been doing this for a long time, you don't need to run 50 miles a week.

You don't need to strength train six days a week. You might run 15 to 20 miles a week and strength train three days a week. It's based off of what you can fit into your schedule and how much, how often, you want to train personally. So it is a personal decision, it's a personal choice.

And you can fit all this into one workout. You know, you see that I split it up typically into two different sessions, a run in the morning and strength training in the afternoon or the evening because it's what I enjoy, it's personal preference. But you could easily do

two workouts in one training session that last 60 to 75 minutes. You could run first and then strength train. You could strength train first and then run. There's a lot of different ways to approach hybrid athlete training. And it's based off of your personal preferences and your goals.

When is the best time to lift legs within a regular running routine? I see this question to come across quite frequently and if someone's slide it into my DMs, it's oftentimes a question about hybrid athlete training and specifically how to lift legs and run and fit that into a week. There's no perfect blueprint.

There's no perfect rhyme or reason. I would encourage you guys to really experiment with this and try different times in ways and here's a clear example of what I mean by that. I know, because I've been doing this for a long time, that when I hit legs, and there's a bunch of different ways you can train legs, right? Like, you can go and destroy your legs.

And if I go and I destroy my legs, they absolutely destroy, I'll be laying on the couch at night, almost feeling like I got hit with the flu. If I really train legs hard, and if you've ever done this, If you really train lower body hard with a lot of volume, a lot of intensity, heavyweight, especially if you're doing a bunch of barbell back squats, front squats, goblets, hack squats,

these big multi-joint compound movements, it doesn't just wreck you muscularly, but also taxes your central nervous system to the extremes where you almost feel like you have the flu at night when you're done training. So that's one way to train legs. You shouldn't do that often or frequently. There's a time in place for it. But then you can just go through your normal lower body routine

where you're pushing your body, you're putting out big efforts, but you're not destroying yourselves. So those both have different consequences on the body for what we're about to talk about. But if I go into just, of my normal lower body strength day workout routines where it's lay extensions, leg curls, barbell back squats, barbell lunges, and then maybe some supplementary work for hamstrings,

quads, or glutes. I usually experience doms, which is delayed onset muscle soreness. So if I hit a lower body strength day on a Monday, say a Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning when I go on for my run, I normally won't feel that workout. But on Wednesday, two days later, I will 100% feel that lower body strength workout during my run. Dom's delayed onset muscle soreness. It's a real thing. So that I know personally, I need to. to position my leg day during the week

based off of when I know I'm going to do my longer runs or my higher intensity, faster, tempo-paced workouts, and I'll make sure I have at least three days in between a lower body strength day and one of those bigger runs. Now, I'll do these easier recovery, aerobic-based runs throughout the week,

and I'll be able to run on tired, fatigue, and heavy legs, no problem. But there is a strategy where you can position your leg day so there is space between throughout the week, your more important runs. So if you have

a long run that you do every single week, or you're doing a track workout, a tempo workout, maybe you're joining some friends for a long trail run on a Saturday morning. This is part of forward thinking and backwards planning. What I will do,

is I will position that lower body strength day a few days away from that really important run so that I can approach that run with the greatest effort and performance possible so that I've allowed enough of time for recovery in between that workout and that run. So that's the best way to approach lifting legs with a regular running routine. and when running is a high priority for me, I will only lift legs once a week. It's actually pretty rare right now that I'm lifting legs twice a week,

especially with the amount of running that I'm doing. But I would encourage you guys to just position your lower body strength day a few days apart from one of your bigger runs or workouts that's going to require some more effort so that you have the time to recover. Another concern that is often associated with hybrid athlete training is how do I avoid over training? Again, I think this is an issue because a lot of people think that if you're lifting and you start incorporating running, it is twice as much time, volume, and work.

And if you're running and you want to start lifting, it is two times as much as you were previously doing. They work both ways. but the reality is it's not twice as much work. You might be pulling back time and energy from one style of training to add another style of training. So if you are historically a weightlifter and you want to start running, maybe you were previously lifting six days a week, you pull your lifting sessions down to three or four days a week, and then you add two to four runs. per week. So overall volume is probably going to increase a little bit, but it's not twice as much

work right from the get-go. You might build into that. So some ways to avoid overtraining. Previously, we talked about auto-regulation. I've always been a big fan and advocate of auto-regulation ever since I found out about it. And what auto-regulation is, it's the ability to manipulate and change your training based off of how you're feeling in current present time. So a lot of people will train based off of a schedule that's laid out for that week, that month, that cycle.

It's like Monday I know I'm doing this. Tuesday I know I'm doing this. Wednesday I know I'm doing this. So on and so forth. But what auto regulation does in the way that I approach auto regulation is that will have my goals for the week. or even my goals for the month in terms of my strength training workouts that I want to do and the amount of running that I want to do. Maybe I'll sprinkle in some running workouts in there as well.

And then based off how I'm feeling each day in real time as I'm waking up, as I'm warming up, I will determine if I'm doing that workout that I planned or if I'm going to substitute it for something else. It allows me in real time to manipulate and adjust my training. based off of how I'm feeling, how I'm recovering. If I was planning on doing a 15-mile run tomorrow, but my daughter didn't sleep at all the night prior because she was sick, I might not do that 15-mile run.

I might do a shorter run or going to the gym and hit a, you know, small strength training session just getting some blood moved around, get a good night's sleep, and then hit the 15-mile run the next day. it's common sense. It's a really common sense approach to training, and it doesn't lock you in, and it allows you the ability to pivot and adjust. Auto-regulate your training,

your workouts in real time to work with you and not against you. Another way to avoid overtraining is progressive overload. And progressive overload is the concept and theory that over time the volume of your training and your workouts should increase. This is how we create adaptations, how we get stronger,

it's how we get faster. If you look at a marathon prep, for example, there's progressive overload built in. When I'm working with my coach, Jeff Cunningham, week one looks very different from week eight and 10. And week one and week eight and week 10 also look very different from week 16. So what we're doing is progressively overloading our system, our central nervous system, our nervous system, our muscular system, in order to create and stimulate adaptations to get stronger to get fitter.

So when marathon training starts, I might be at, say, 55 miles a week. And then we'll ramp up training volume about 10.000. 10% week over week until we get to the peak week, which say is 75 miles per week. And then once we reach peak week, we will delode and taper to go into the marathon. But if we went right into 75 miles week starting week one, I might burn out, might be overtrained, I might get injured and hurt. We want to build into that. And that's what progressive overload is.

It's applicable to strength training and endurance. training. You know, when you go into the gym, you might start by hitting 20 total sets for a workout. And over weeks and months, you get to a point we're doing 40 total sets per workout. And the weights increasing, the volume is increasing, or progressively overloading over time to stimulate an adaptation of growth. And this is, again, not just applied to fitness or running or lifting. you can apply progressive overload to every part of your life, truly every part of your life. Another way to avoid overtraining is by fueling properly. It's by consuming the right types of food and amounts of food so you can show up for your

workouts fueled. And there's something that I said this past week that resonated with a lot of people. We sent it out in an email actually. So we launched the Mixberry GoGel That was yesterday At the time of this recording We launched the MixBerry GoGel yesterday We sent out an email

In the end of that email It said that once you train fueled You will never train fasted Once you train fueled You will never train fasted Training fasted means that you have no fuel source readily available in your body. And the thought process back in the day that there was a benefit to training fasted because it would tap into your fat stores and it was more efficient at burning body fat

and you would get leaner because your body would utilize stored fat as a fuel source. That theory is correct. but in reality, there is more benefit to training in a fueled state because you can have greater output and greater performance overall. So it's better to train fueled as opposed to training fasted. You will get more out of your workouts. You will get more out of your performance. You will get greater body composition adaptations change in growth by training in a fueled

state as opposed to a fasted state. This means having readily accessible glucose or carbohydrates in your body. This means having your muscle and liver glycogen topped off. Fueling doesn't just start 30 minutes before a workout does. That's part of it. But fueling starts one, two, three days before the workout. You're going to get the most out of your workout. by the fuel that you've consumed the days leading up to.

Now, I've talked about this many times before, but as high-performing individuals, athletes, people who enjoy athletic endeavors and hobbies, we are going to perform better at higher intensity activities when our muscle glycogen is topped off. Our muscle glycogen is how our, our muscles, how our body stores carbohydrate, and we can pull from those stored forms of carbohydrate during exercise as a

long-term fuel source. The fuel that you consume 20, 30, 60 minutes before a workout, like before my run, I consume a go bar or a go gel or G1M sport, my body will utilize that fuel and they'll, carbs for the beginning of that workout. But it might burn through that and then it might need additional fuel, where it will then tap into my muscle glycogen and break down the stored carbohydrate or glucose that I'm storing for more fuel to get through the intensity or volume of that workout.

But one of the best ways to avoid overtraining is by properly fueling. And the last thing I'm going to leave you with in terms of how to avoid overtraining is actually something to avoid. It's this attraction towards soreness. A lot of times we think that the more sore we are, the better of a workout we had. And that's not necessarily the case. Being sore is not an indicator of a great training session.

Sometimes it actually means that we went too hard. We pushed. And if you go too hard, you push over redline too frequently. You're actually not going to make progress. You're going to derail off the guide of making progress and do more damage than doing good. We don't always want to be sore. Being sore intentionally based off of certain workouts that are meant to push us and create these adaptations, they're there for a reason.

But we don't necessarily need or want this after every work. I've heard this comment many times before where, you know, I work out with someone and the next day they're like, you know, I'm just not as sore as I thought I'd be. Well, that's not a bad thing. That's really not. That means you can show up to your next workout and execute at an elite high level because you're not still trying to recover from the previous one. We want consistency in our training and we can only have consistency in our training and we can only have consistency in our training

if we can show up and perform it at a high level, which we can't do when we are always sore, hurt, and eventually injured. Here's a question I see come across all the time. It's should you run or lift first? And what is the best sequence? Again, this all depends on what you want to prioritize and your personal preference.

When I'm in a marathon prep, for example, those workouts are the most meaningful. They are the most important because those runs are going to lead me towards a successful outcome in the marathon, in the race. So I'm going to prioritize that training. I want to do it with as much energy in being as fresh as possible.

So I'm going to do that run first and then save my strength training for later in the day or on a separate day. Now, that's part of it, but another part is personal preference. For me, I love running in the dark. I like running really early in the morning or I like running late at night. I just, I don't know what it is. I don't, I mean, I'll still do it occasionally.

I don't love running in the day. I don't get the same mental clarity, in solitude, in energy. and energy from it. Typically when I'm running midday, it's just because I have to get it done. It's just like my schedule doesn't fit and I have to get that run done midday. Not preference.

Preferably I'm running at 5.30 a.m. Or I'm running late when it's, the sun's coming down, it's getting dark. That's a vibe in itself. So that's the way that I like to do it. personal preference. You might be different. Now, should you run or lift first,

this also depends on how long is the run that you're going to do and how long is the strength training session. If it's a short run, if it's a two to three mile run that you're going to do and you're going to lift for 30 to 45 minutes, I really don't think it matters if you run first or you lift first. It's, again, your choice.

but if after you do this, if you find that you have a better workout overall when you run first, well, then you should run first. But if you find that you have a better workout overall when you lift first

and run second, well then you should pursue and do that. But when volume starts increasing with running and lifting, what I do recommend is that you space out those two workouts by at least four to five hours.

And I like to say two meals. So my ideal style of training. And then keep in mind, this is if it was a Saturday and my family was out of town and I had nothing to do that day, I would wake up early still 440, 5 a.m. I'd have my go bar or my GUNM sport. I'd go for my run. I'd do anywhere from 8 to 10 miles.

I'd come back and I'd have breakfast. A few hours later, I'd have my second meal, which would probably be ground beef, rice, beets, and hummus. My go-to second meal. And then I'd wait maybe two hours after that meal and I'd hit my strength training workout. So I always like to say four to five hours in two meals in between two big workouts. It's not always ideal. It doesn't always work out that way. But for me, that is like ideal preference. But if you should run first or if you should lift first, regardless of personal preference, it's what's the priority? What do you want to get better at? What do you not as good at? Where do you want to put more focus and what fits into your schedule to ensure you can make that happen.

And the last thing I'm going to talk about is recovery. Recovery is everything you do outside of training. From the moment that the run stops, you're in recovery. From the moment that you stop lifting that last weight of the last set on the last rep, recovery starts. It's everything that you do. outside of training. Sleep and nutrition are first. You should prioritize sleep. I personally will say I need to sleep more. That is one of the struggles that I have. I get on average six to six and a half hours a

night. That's just based off of all the things I have to do during the day, being the CEO of business, being a father, being a husband, training, creating content. There's a lot going on. And if I get six to six and a half hours of sleep in night, that for me is solid. I can operate very well on that. I would love to see that closer to eight hours a night. But right now, based off the demands of my life, I just, I have a hard time making that happen. You'll see these professional athletes who you ask, like, what is the secret to your training? And what is the secret to, you know, showing up and performing at such an elite and high level? And a lot of them, it's sleep.

They're sleeping eight to ten hours in night. Some of the best, best of the best of the best. Like, they prioritize sleep over everything else. It is just as much part of their job as it is. showing up on the field or the court for a game. Sleep and nutrition. Diet, getting enough calories in. Getting enough protein in.

Getting enough carbohydrates in. Protein to recover. Carbohydrates to fuel. Keeping that muscle glycogen topped off. Showing up the workouts fueled so you can perform and apply the output required to get the training session done. Putting a priority and focus on. on micronutrient consumption and intake.

Having a diverse diet of fruits, vegetables, meats, carbohydrates, fiber, electrolytes, vitamins, minerals, and quality. Sleep and nutrition priority in terms of recovery. And then there's this secondary layer, which I like to refer to as recovery luxuries, which are things like massage, sauna, cold plunge. All of these things are incremental on top of sleep and nutrition. And they can and will make a difference,

but they will not replace proper sleep and proper nutrition. We recently launched a new recovery supplement called recover. It's a formula that we've been working on for quite some time, and it replaced a previous product we had called IntraFlight, which was a branch chain amino acid product. BPN's recover is essential amino acids, EAAs with added leucine, and then a tart cherry powder

from a trademark material called Cherry Pure, which has been run through multiple clinical studies on endurance and strength athletes showing a beneficial recovery, increased recovery. from this ingredient, 480 milligrams of this ingredient that we've added to BPN's recover, and then quarantine L tartrate. So this is a product that we've created to enhance and facilitate greater recovery

after your endurance training sessions, your strength training sessions. It's best to be consumed after a workout or in between meals. And the reason we say in between meals is because when you're consuming a meal, that is high in protein. It's going to be high in amino acids. So say you get done with a workout, and immediately after you have a protein shake and some fruit, or you have some chicken and some rice,

or whatever it is, if there's a significant amount of protein in that meal, those amino acids are going to supply what the body needs at that moment in time. But say two, three hours later, if you're in between that meal and your next meal, it'd be a great opportunity to have BPN's recover to supply your body with what it needs, primarily being the essential amino acids and added leucine, branched amino acids, to enhance and facilitate recovery, to have amino acids circulating in your body to repair what was broken down during that previous training session.

So that was one of the newest products we introduced to the BPN performance line. And like I said, it replaced our previous product, which was intraflight, which was primarily a branched chain amino acid product. But through research and studies over the last couple years, it's been shown that EAAs, which are essential amino acids, have been more beneficial in recovery and building of lean muscle tissue as opposed to branched chain. amino acids alone. So that was one of the driving factors in why we reformulated and repositioned our amino acid-based recovery product. So guys, those are some of the topics I wanted to cover in regards to hybrid athlete training, how to balance running and lifting to embody a hybrid athlete lifestyle.

Remember, once you train fueled, you'll never train fasted. Get after it. Have fun. Go on more.