Minimum Time Needed To Make Polarized Better Than SS

Training
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Hi Matthew
You ask a fair question which is tricky to answer in one sentance because there are some important sub-questions in there. First is the question is POL better than SS? It is an ongoing debate, and no doubt any consistent training is better than none but on a like-for-like basis I reviewed the evidence for SS here (Sweetspot or Sourspot?. Is sweetspot really the best training… | by Alex Fastfitness | Fastfitnesstips | Medium) but I also reviewed the evidence for POL on my youtube channel (Which is best: HIIT vs Threshold vs Polarized vs Base Training: the science - YouTube) as well as other training methods (eg HIIT The Magic of Interval Training. Just how good is high Intensity… | by Alex Fastfitness | Fastfitnesstips | Medium). The bottom line is the majority (but not all) of the science favours polarized training (in an RCT) but its doesn’t work for everyone all of the time. Indeed it is a simplification to just prescribe one style of TID indefinately; rather it should be personalized based on hours / phase of season / training objectives. That’s what our calculator works out for you (FFT periodization planner [fft.tips/tpp3] - Google Sheets) as shown in this screenshot

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. Next is the question of whether there is a threshold for a superior effect of POL? Well in the above evidence review I do note a number of studies that found superiority of POL in beginners training relatively low hours. To be fair some studies show the same for HIIT training in beginners. In our calculator if you increase or decrease the hours there is an effect on the monthly TIZ but its fairly subtle and not a categorical switch at say 10 hours, its on a continuum alongside other factors. There is obviously tremendous debate on here and elsewhere about what is the optimal training style…I am not here to tell anyone what to do, it is up to them, indeed I would say the best method for anyone is the method that A. you believe will work for you B. you are motivated to follow. Those two factors will outweight almost everything else. bw Alex

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