To Every Outcome, an Explanation

It’s not unusual to get asked about my training, particularly with the amount I run. People from the local area occasionally stop me to ask, “Do you ever stop running?” while friends who see some of my workouts tend to respond with, “That’s not normal.”

I take both as compliments, but the reality is less unusual than it may appear on the face of it. As with most things in life, dig deeply enough and what seems out of the ordinary usually has a clear explanation.

My training regime combines high-level endurance, both through running distance and lifting volume, with a relatively high strength-to-size ratio. On any given week I average around 80 to 90 miles running alongside five or six gym sessions, with the weight training focused on moderate to heavy loads and high overall volume. The structure of my sessions combines standard sets, drop sets and supersets, usually with relatively short rest periods for the amount of weight being moved.

Whilst my physique has remained relatively consistent over the past decade, my capacity to lift heavy and continue developing strength has increased alongside sustained endurance-level mileage. On the face of it, that creates something of a biological paradox.

From the outset, there was never a carefully engineered master training plan. I’m not sure I imagined a couple of decades ago that I’d still be sustaining this level of distance, volume and consistency in my late thirties.

Much of it though evolved through routine, logistics, curiosity and continually testing what my body was capable of. Looking back, however, some clear physiological principles emerge that help explain how high running mileage, strength, muscle mass and durability have been able to develop alongside each other.

The Benefits of Distributed Mileage

Running a half marathon distance most weekdays and another six to nine on weekends sounds like a lot and, for most people, probably is. An important factor to bear in mind, though, is that I’m rarely covering the full distance in a single run.

In my early twenties, I swapped commuting by tube for running to the office. At the time, that meant roughly five miles each way, eventually extending to around ten miles as circumstances changed.

To my practical mind, it was a no-brainer. It took a similar amount of time to using public transport, removed the need to make separate time for cardio and allowed me to focus more fully on weight training once I reached the gym.

For logistical reasons more than anything else, the cumulative distance was also broken into more manageable chunks.

Maintaining this structure for close to two decades has allowed me to build sustained endurance whilst keeping most runs at a relatively stable distance and pace. Completing the cumulative distance over multiple rather than one long session means I get the benefit of refuelling and replenishing energy in between.

This is an important factor in maintaining relative size without gradually shifting towards a slimmer and potentially weaker frame. Prolonged endurance work eventually begins to deplete glycogen stores, the carbohydrate-based energy held within your muscles. As those reserves run low, the body looks elsewhere for fuel and becomes more likely to convert amino acids into glucose.

For someone trying to preserve muscle mass, the challenge is that those amino acids don’t only come from dietary protein. When sufficient fuel isn’t available, they can also be drawn from muscle tissue, making the combination of endurance training and consistent fuelling a careful balance to maintain.

These days, my typical routine consists of a 3.6-mile run to the gym, five to six miles back and another five to seven miles in the evening to decompress from the workday and catch up on podcasts. The total distance remains high, but the metabolic demand is different from running the full 13 miles continuously with no opportunity to properly refuel.

Spreading the stress more evenly has helped me maintain a stable level of muscle mass despite the sustained high mileage.

An additional benefit of running to the gym is that I always arrive warmed up, something that isn’t a given in every gym routine. By the time I walk through the door, my core temperature is raised, blood flow has increased and my body is already prepared to train.

None of this is to say that I can’t run longer distances in a single stint. I’ve completed marathons and ultras in the past but by nature of them being single events they act as the exception rather than the norm from a day-to-day training perspective.

Building Strength Through Weight and Volume

For me, weight training has never been aimed specifically at powerlifting or bodybuilding. When I first started lifting, I was also playing football and running regularly, so developing strength was more about building a well-balanced physique and a strong physical base that supported both endurance and power, rather than optimising for a single discipline.

A consistent theme throughout my adult life has been making the most effective use of my time, and that worked its way into how I structured my gym sessions. The aim was to maximise the time spent training rather than needing to remain in the gym for 90 to 120 minutes or more every day.

Although the loads have increased over the years, the structure of my training has remained relatively dense, with moderate rep ranges, typically between eight and twelve, short rest periods of around 30 to 90 seconds and a mixture of standard sets, drop sets and supersets.

This has helped me develop a different type of strength to that built through focusing purely on maximal lifts with longer recovery periods. Moving relatively heavy weights with limited rest has forced my muscles to adapt not only to the load but also to the pace of the session.

Over time, this has improved my recovery between sets and the ability to maintain output as fatigue builds, creating a greater degree of muscular endurance alongside strength.

The mixed nature of my training means that weight training and running support each other in both directions. A strong aerobic base supports faster recovery between sets, whilst the faster-paced, anaerobic elements of my running support the ability to work through high-volume sessions without breathing becoming the limiting factor.

The benefit also runs the other way. Strengthening my legs, hips and supporting muscles appears to have given my frame greater structural resilience, helping me tolerate repeated impact and maintain form when fatigue begins to build on the road.

There is, of course, a trade-off and a fine line to tread. If I reduced my running and focused entirely on lifting, I could probably gain more size and strength. Likewise, if I reduced my bodyweight and structured everything around running performance, I could almost certainly become faster.

From time to time, I may optimise temporarily for one over the other if I’ve signed up for a particular event. Generally, though, I try to maintain a balance that prepares me for life and the challenges it can throw at me.

What looks in hindsight like a deliberately engineered hybrid fitness regime has actually developed much more organically. Whilst I still look back with some displeasure on my first Hyrox Pro outing, the broader physical base does help explain why I felt confident enough to take it on in the first place.

Adaptation Rather Than Exception

Whilst the combination of high mileage and strength may place me outside the statistical norm, the explanation becomes much clearer when you consider how my training and physical capacity have developed over time. It’s rooted in consistency and complementary training approaches rather than some unexplained anomaly.

Distributed running has developed endurance without becoming excessively detrimental to strength or muscle mass. High-volume weight training has built strength alongside the ability to sustain workload rather than focusing purely on maximal output.

Over time, each form of training has supported the other, whilst years of continued exposure have made my body more resilient to the demands placed upon it.

I’m far from immune to injury, but most issues have been confined to minor niggles or short-term problems. I’m also not naïve to the fact that I’m entering a phase of life where my body is likely to push back more, which is why recovery has taken on greater importance recently.

A stronger focus on stretching, alongside treatments such as cryotherapy, red light therapy and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, is intended to support longevity and reduce the risk of longer-term wear and deterioration.

There was never a master plan to develop what would now be described as a hybrid style of training. The term “hybrid athlete” was barely used when I started. Much of the structure emerged through routine, logistics and a continued desire to test what my body was capable of.

Looking back, though, the outcome is clearly not accidental.

It’s the result of sustained effort, discipline and repeated action over a long enough period to allow the body to adapt. What appears exceptional when viewed only through the numbers becomes far less mysterious once you understand the process that produced it.