Is One Day-Off Enough?

author : acbadger

comments : 1

Is there a magic number of days off for your training plan? Is it a one size fits all or an an individual choice?

Member Question:
I am trying to choose a training plan, and I was leaning toward 16 week sprint -balanced, but I kind of like the run heavy plan, too. My training partner has concerns about only one day off. I think it is fine, but what are the opinions out there on this? Not a huge difference physically, right? It’s just a mental/commitment thing, right? Please advise.

Answer:
It is GREAT that you are finding so many helpful training programs on the beginnertriathlete.com website!!! There are many different programs that cater to many different fitness levels.

Some people require more than one day per week as rest days. I, myself, am one of those people…and it sounds like your training partner is as well. However, that being said, there are some people who need little to no time off from their training schedule-this sounds like it may be the case with you. Either of the workouts are going to get you through your sprint triathlon with flying colors, but perhaps you and your training partner should just meet up on days where your running/training is similar.

It may not be a matter of your partner being mentally incapable of committing to the training schedule. It may be his body requires more time to recover than yours. It may not be that one program is significantly harder than the other. It may be that your training partner doesn’t have the time to commit to a more ‘involved’ program and the 16-week sprint balanced program fits into his schedule better. There could be a variety of reasons why your work out partner doesn’t prefer the ‘run heavy’ plan.

I have always believed that training programs/workouts are like fingerprints. We all have our own. We are all, in some small way, different from other people. This is where your individuality and exercise preference differs and that’s OK. There is nothing wrong with choosing a different workout. There is nothing wrong with him for wanting another day or two of rest a week, and there is nothing wrong with you for only wanting one day of rest.

It is important that you both support each others decision and not make the other feel bad for the choice he/she made. Training like this is great for ones physical health, self esteem, mental health and personal life!! Focus on the training program, the goals you are achieving and the difference you are making in your fitness levels. This is where you will find the two of you, though on different programs, will have VERY similar results.

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date: July 2, 2006