How much should you increase your training workload each week.

How much should you increase your training workload each week.

OK so you have decided to start training or increase your training workload. Great to hear but how much is enough and how much is too much. The rule of thumb is 10%. So if you are running 10kms a week then up it to 11 for a week if all goes well soreness and injury wise then up it to 12 and so on week by week. This will only be altered in the case of an injury or muscle soreness. Then after getting all clear with you Physio or Doctor then only continue to up the KMs weekly once the pain goes away. So stay on 11kms until the pain subsides before attempting 12 kms. 

Well this is easy to workout in KM increases how about bootcamps or group training sessions. For a beginner only do one a week until you feel confident to handle more. It takes 6 to 12 weeks for the muscles to adapt to the extra workload. So take it slowly. If you are doing one session a week then go to two for a week or two before jumping to 3 sessions a week. So just add one session per week never more than one at a time. The most dangerous time is at the start when over anxious people (mostly guys) jumping into too hard after having months or years of inactivity. Just ease into and your body will thank you for it. But even experienced training still stick to the 10% rule.

It caught me out last year my training volume increased over summer 11/12 just keeping up with my clients caused me too increase my training load too fast and a long and slow Achilles injury followed. So i learned the hard way respect your body 10% a week no matter how fit you are. Have fun out there. Train hard but with common sense at all times.