Youth Runnning — Should runners train everyday?

Coach Dean Hebert

“My 15 year old son’s cross country coach is telling the kids they should run everyday of the year….something called consecutive day training. My training suggests at least one day of rest or change in exercise to avoid injuries. Is there some research about this especially with young runners?”

Before we jump in to the answer, let’s start with some training fundamentals. Improvement comes by stressing the body then allowing it to recover. Or to put another way, We break down the body and then allow it to rebuild. It is during this rebuilding phase that compensation for our weaknesses takes place and the body rebuilds itself stronger than the previous state. That is what we call the “training effect”.

Thinking about the training effect then, the body needs to be put under stress AND allowed to rest in order to improve. If we were always resting, we would lose conditioning. If we are continuously breaking down the body (stressing it) then we’ll end up, over-trained, burnt out, unable to improve and likely on the path to injuries.

All of this is actually the entire premise behind “hard-easy” approach to workouts. These terms are relative ones, but each person will be able to craft workouts that are harder or easier for them and their capabilities. What is hard to one runner may be easy to another. But the bottom line is that a workout program that incorporates both hard and easy effrots is essential to improvement.

Now to move on to the original question, which had to do with whether running for youths is reasonable.

The bottom line however is that it is quite unreasonable for most runners most of the time and most definitely unreasonable for youth to even attempt to run everyday. Through adaptation running consistently builds muscle, joints, bones and connective tissue. Consistency however does not mean daily. By alternating faster with slower and longer with shorter workouts mixed with recovery you build conditioning. However, more is not better and never has been in running. “More” in running more often than not yields “more” injuries.

Keep in mind that running everyday for some runners may be reasonable. However, even at the most elite levels there are going to be days within a workout schedule that there is no running. It may only be a couple of days a month, but rest days are in there. And we’re not talking about youth runners. Youth runners have particular needs, because their bodies are growing and changing. Runing everyday is just not a good idea for young runners.

Year round running – not daily running – is something to aspire to. This consistency builds a body over the long term while minimizing that “starting over effect” of taking months off between seasons (cross-country and track or track and cross-country). Even with year round running the nature of running and workouts must change for the cycle of conditioning to progress.

If you want an extreme example take a look at “streakers.” These are runners who purposely run every single day and keep streaks alive – for years. Some of these runners are beyond 40 years (nope – that is not a typo) of consecutive days of running. The point to note is at what level do these runners perform? Take a look down the list. How many Olympians, world record holders and elite or even former elite runners do you know on this list?

I want to end by re-stating my point as a coach of young runners. Running every day does not in anyway make you a better runner. Period. It’s counter-productive to improvement and for young runners it may impact their growth long-term. My stance is based in physiology, psychology and the predominance of evidence for successful and not so successful runners. A workout program that incorporates hard and easy efforts with appropriate amounts of rest is the best combination for youth runners. I’d encourage your son’s cross-country coach to take some time to read more on this topic, before sending his runners down the wrong path.

Coach Dean Hebert, Tempe Arizona
Contributing Editor, Running Advice and News
www.running-advice.com

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