How to Train Strengths and Weaknesses in Runners

Athletes must be trained as individuals, not systems. Identify whether each runner is fast-twitch or slow-twitch oriented, then balance their training to address weaknesses without losing strengths. The key is avoiding extreme emphasis in either direction.

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Why Systems Fail

The biggest mistake in coaching is applying the same system to all athletes. Whether it’s Jack Daniels, Arthur Lydiard, Renato Canova, or any other method, no single approach works for everyone. Historical middle-distance runners prove this: Peter Snell succeeded with massive mileage (100+ mile weeks), while Sebastian Coe thrived on lower volume with higher intensity year-round. Both were world-class; both got there different ways.

The solution is understanding each athlete’s physiology and psychology to customize training.

Fast-Twitch vs. Slow-Twitch Orientation

Most runners fall somewhere on a spectrum. The key differences:

Fast-twitch athletes:
– Lower baseline aerobic system development
– Higher capacity to produce lactate
– Better immediate speed and power
– Can’t sustain long threshold efforts easily
– Will lose aerobic development quickly without maintenance

Slow-twitch athletes:
– Highly developed aerobic system
– Better lactate clearance and tolerance
– Smoother, more economical stride
– Can sustain long steady efforts
– Will lose speed and power without maintenance

Training Implications

For Fast-Twitch Athletes

• Use split-up threshold runs instead of long continuous efforts (they can’t sustain the duration)
• Use progressive runs and aerobic intervals (Igloofy-style shorter recoveries)
• Avoid long hard threshold sessions; lactate accumulates and they can’t clear it
• Don’t do alternation workouts well (800 hard / 800 easy marathon pace)—their aerobic system isn’t developed enough
• Maintain their strength through regular hill sprints and power work

Risk: If you load them with too much aerobic/long work to build base, they lose the speed and power that made them good. Their 400 drops, and the gap between their 400 and 1500 pace shrinks, making them less effective at the mile.

For Slow-Twitch Athletes

• Use longer threshold efforts (30-minute runs at threshold pace work well)
• Thrive on alternation workouts (800 hard / 800 easy)
• Can handle double-threshold training
• Maintain speed through shorter intervals and hill sprints

Risk: If you emphasize too much anorobic work early, they peak early and sputter out. All that lactate tolerance training cannibalizes their aerobic base.

Practical Assessment Methods

1. Speed decline chart: Plot their 400, 800, mile, 5K times. A flat line = endurance-oriented (small speed drop). A steep decline = speed-oriented (big speed drop across distances).

2. Physical tests: Standing broad jump, triple jump reveal reactivity and power. Fast-twitch athletes show more explosiveness; slow-twitch athletes are smoother and more economical.

3. Workout response: Run them through varied workouts (hill sprints, short intervals, tempo runs, long runs). What they excel at reveals their makeup.

4. Multi-event observation: Have athletes try different distances in cross country and track. Their relative performances expose their strengths.

The Balance Framework

Think of training as a seesaw. Both sides need development for your event, but overweighting one side hurts the other:

• Fast-twitch runner doing excessive aerobic work = loses speed and power, gap shrinks
• Slow-twitch runner doing excessive anorobic work = loses endurance and aerobic support, peaks early

The goal is balanced emphasis: build their weaknesses enough to meet event demands, but maintain their strengths.

Individualizing Long Runs

Even easy long runs reveal the physiology gap. Slow-twitch athletes can burn fat efficiently, so a 10-mile run uses less glycogen. Fast-twitch athletes rely on glycogen, so they dig a deeper hole in the same effort. This means:
– Fast-twitch runners need shorter or easier long runs, or more recovery after them
– Slow-twitch runners can handle longer, harder long runs with faster bounce-back

No Fixed Labels

Fiber composition isn’t unchangeable, though it has limits. You can’t turn Usain Bolt into Eliud Kipchoge, but you can nudge athletes in either direction slightly. The key is starting where they are, then selectively building their weaknesses.

System-Agnostic Approach

Rather than selecting one coaching system, take parts of multiple systems based on what each athlete needs:
– Use Lydiard’s base phase if they need aerobic development
– Use Canova’s hill circuits if they need strength endurance
– Use Jack Daniels’ intervals if they respond well to sustained efforts
– Use Norwegian speed work if they need speed maintenance

The framework isn’t the athlete; the athlete is the framework.

Key Links

• Jack Daniels VDOT Training
• The Lydiard Effect
• Joe Vigil Training Methods
• Lactate Threshold Training