{"id":29463,"date":"2014-06-30T07:15:32","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T11:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=29463"},"modified":"2021-05-15T03:38:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-15T07:38:25","slug":"running-mileage-10-percent-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/fitness\/running-mileage-10-percent-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"The 10 Percent Rule for Runners: Does It Always Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Running
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jason Fitzgerald is a 2:39 marathoner, USA Track & Field certified coach, and the founder of <\/i>Strength Running<\/i><\/a> where runners go to get faster and prevent injuries.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

Have you heard of the 10 Percent Rule? Most runners have \u2014 and swear by the collective wisdom that you should increase your mileage by no more than 10 percent each week.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s flawed. The 10 Percent Rule is, in most cases, incomplete, and blindly following it could result in not building the fitness you need to reach your running goals<\/a>. Worse, it could leave you injured. There are many situations when you should add far less than the recommended amount \u2014 and sometimes far more!<\/p>\n

But before we talk about building mileage, let\u2019s remember why we log all those miles in the first place. Why is it so important, anyway? The main reason is because it indicates your workload<\/i><\/b>, or how much volume you\u2019re running every week. There\u2019s no better indicator of success as a distance runner than your mileage. Higher volume training results in more endurance, allowing you to hold onto a faster pace<\/a> for a longer period of time. And that\u2019s the stuff that personal bests are made of!<\/p>\n

So if mileage is so important (particularly high <\/i>mileage), how do we do it right? When it comes to running, there\u2019s no such thing as a one size fits all plan. Here\u2019s how to modify the 10 Percent Rule to better fit your training.<\/p>\n

When It\u2019s OK to Exceed the 10 Percent Rule<\/b><\/h3>\n

Before you break out the calculator, author and ultra-marathoner Matt Frazier<\/a> recommends sticking with a simple guideline that\u2019s easy to remember. \u201cWhen your weekly mileage is neither very easy nor very difficult for you to maintain, that\u2019s when it\u2019s most appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

But like any rule, the 10 Percent Rule can be broken. Frazier explains, \u201cYou can break the 10 Percent Rule if your weekly running volume is below your baseline mileage \u2014 an amount you’ve maintained for several weeks comfortably and without injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many runners are comfortable at about 15 to 25 miles per week. So if you\u2019re only logging 10 miles this week, it makes sense that you can build your mileage more aggressively until you get to this \u201cbaseline\u201d level. Your next three weeks can increase from 10 miles to 13, then 16, and finally 18 until you\u2019re within your baseline weekly mileage range.<\/p>\n

When to Add Less Than 10 Percent<\/b><\/h3>\n

\u201cVery few runners will have the ability to increase their mileage at the 10 percent rate for more than a few weeks at a time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you\u2019re a runner who\u2019s comfortable running about 20 miles per week, you should be more cautious when your weekly mileage is over <\/i>20 miles per week. Past this level, you\u2019re in uncharted mileage territory. This is where the 10 Percent Rule is too aggressive and a more conservative approach is best for injury prevention<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Any time your overall mileage is higher than usual level, it\u2019s best to play it safe by adding less than 10 percent per week. Otherwise, you may find yourself becoming overly fatigued, over-trained<\/a>, or hurt.<\/p>\n

As Frazier says, \u201cVery few runners will have the ability to increase their mileage at the 10 percent rate for more than a few weeks at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ultrarunning\"
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two More Mileage Strategies to Stay Healthy<\/b><\/h3>\n

When your mileage does increase above your baseline, there are two helpful strategies to keep yourself healthy and running strong.<\/p>\n

The first is what\u2019s called an \u201cAdaptation Week<\/b>\u201d \u2014 or even more simply, a week of training that is repeated a second time. Doing the same mileage and workouts allows your body more time to recover<\/a>, adapt to the new volume, and get stronger.<\/p>\n

One of the many flaws of the 10 Percent Rule is that it tells you to increase mileage every<\/em> week. But the body doesn\u2019t necessarily adapt that quickly; it needs more time to adjust. Adaptation weeks can help you run more mileage, but without the risk of being chronically injured<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Recovery weeks remind us that our bodies are not machines. We require rest and time to adapt\u2026”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Periodically, it\u2019s also helpful to run a Recovery Week<\/b>, a short stretch of time where your training is reduced. These \u201cdown weeks\u201d typically have less mileage, fewer fast workouts, and the workouts themselves are easier than those you\u2019d normally do. So if you normally run a five-mile tempo run, you can cut that workout to only three miles.<\/p>\n

Recovery weeks remind us that our bodies are not machines. We require rest and time to adapt to faster workouts, higher weekly mileage levels, and more intense training.<\/p>\n

When in doubt, it\u2019s helpful to remember that sound training is usually two steps forward and one step back<\/a>. Without that necessary step back, we often fall prey to overuse injuries and ruin the consistency that\u2019s necessary to get faster. Using these principles and better understanding the many nuances of the 10 Percent Rule \u2014 rather than plowing right through \u2014 can help you build your mileage safely so you can keep moving forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it’s time to build your running mileage, is the 10 Percent Rule your best guide? Find out when less \u2014 or more! \u2014 might be the smarter choice for you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":26334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,6],"tags":[289,104,144,108,341,349],"class_list":["post-29463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardio","category-exercise","category-fitness","tag-exercise","tag-goals","tag-injury","tag-running","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2sports-medicine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}