This morning I read about the 4 R’s on the excellent Excelsior blog. They are:
- Run well
- Run fast
- Rest
- Repeat
I love these because they are a concise way of saying what I have been trying to pass along to people for ages now. When we start exercising, after a while, we all end up asking ourselves
“how do i progress from here?”
One of the most common answers is
“I’ll do more of the same!”
For example, someone starts jogging for the first time. After a few weeks, they decide to do more of the same and run for longer. After a few more weeks, they decide to do more of the same and run for longer still. They improve the quantity of their movements, but do nothing about the quality of them. Now the last thing I want to do is knock them, because they are not sitting on their arse watching tv and eating! And anything is better than nothing. Well done! But they do have another, better option.
The path they are currently following can be summerised as follows:
Lots of low quality movements = Habitual low quality results & stagnation.
They are working further and further towards the B end of the Intensity/Duration curve.
If they follow the 4 R’s and work on improving the quality and the intensity of their moves, then they are working towards the A end of the Intensity/Duration Curve. Which can be summerised as follows:
Lots of high quality movements = Habitual high quality results & good progress.
So avoid getting loads of practice at being mediocre. Instead, get loads of practice at being awesome!