Debunking the Top 4 Myths of Hybrid Training
Today, we're seeing an evolution, a shift in people's health and performance desires, a shift towards hybrid-styled training.
The benefits of cardiovascular exercise and strength training have become undeniable. One of our recent articles covers the top 3 benefits of Hybrid training, and today, we will cover the 4 biggest myths of Hybrid Training.
Before I debunk those myths, it is important to discuss what Hybrid Training is not.
It's not just the ability to deadlift a vehicle in the morning, run a marathon for lunch, and have an Ironman triathlon for dinner.
Debunking the Top 4 Myths
of Hybrid Training
PHOTOS BY:
TREY FREEMAN
LOCATION:
AUSTIN, TX
POSTED ON:
7/19/2024
Hybrid training is for and to achieve optimal health and performance outcomes.
It allows you to push yourself beyond what you thought was physically possible and what you believed your potential was. It allows you to dive deep and do something hard, which forges you mentally, emotionally, and physically. It is not only a transformation of the body, health, and performance but also of your mind and mindset.
Unfortunately, many people have misconceptions about hybrid training, so I will debunk the top four that I hear most commonly.
MYTH #1: IT TAKES TOO MUCH TIME
For most people, training is not a full-time job. I love training twice a day, and I always have. I run in the morning and strength train in the evening. That was easier to do before I had more responsibilities in my life. My business grew, I got married, I had a child. My responsibilities have changed and evolved, and so has my training.
What scares many people away from hybrid athlete training is you think you're just adding on top of. That's not necessarily the case. You might be pulling back some training from one area of focus in the beginning to add in another. Then over time, as your body adapts and acclimates, you can increase training volume. Throughout a week, am I getting a certain amount of cardiovascular conditioning in? Am I getting a certain amount of strength and resistance training in? If I accomplish those goals throughout the week, that is a win and an accomplishment for me.
Like any goal you want to achieve in life, there will be a sacrifice. If you want to run a marathon, then you will have to make time for it. If you want to spend time with your family, you will have to make time for it. Whether that is waking up an hour earlier or training once everyone goes to bed.
If your goal really matters, then you will make time for it.
MYTH #2: YOU HAVE TO BE SIGNED UP FOR A RACE, EVENT, OR COMPETITION
A few months ago, my friend Silent Mike made this post. He said that you don't have to step on a platform to be considered a powerlifter. That you don't have to sign up for and run a marathon to consider yourself a runner. If you enjoy and love that style of training, you don't have to test yourself in some sort of competition event or race. Do it because you love doing it. I think it is very valuable and important for a lot of people to commit to something challenging and difficult and sign up for an event. Here's why.
It ensures you create structure and accountability around the event and your goals. When you have a race or competition, there's something on the line that you are trying to prove to yourself that you can do and accomplish. If you don't want to do a race, it doesn't mean you are not and can't be a hybrid athlete.
MYTH #3: RUNNING BURNS MUSCLE
I want you to remember that this topic is dose-dependent, meaning the miles you run, the duration, and the time you spend on endurance work. For most people, this is not a concern. Even if you perform moderate amounts of running or cardiovascular training, it's not going to burn or tap into lean muscle stores.
But when training significantly increases for events like triathlons, Ironmans, and ultra-marathons, you might start running into issues with burning some lean muscle mass.
There is a caveat to this point and something to keep in mind. If your diet isn't dialed in, and you’re not fueling properly for your workouts and not recovering well, this can affect building and maintaining lean muscle mass. Also, if you're an endurance athlete and shift your focus from strength training to endurance training and stop incorporating strength training, this will also negatively impact lean muscle.
MYTH #4: STRENGTH WILL HINDER YOUR RUNNING
When most people think about running, they instantly think of running a marathon or an ultra-marathon. The same is true when people think of strength training. They instantly think of throwing 500 pounds on a barbell and going for a max-effort squat. Yes, when you do these extremes, they can hinder the other, but when done with the appropriate amounts of volume and intensity, they will benefit your training.
An important component of hybrid athlete training to understand is autoregulation.
Autoregulation is when you change or manipulate your training based on your current state of recovery, how you're feeling, your perceived effort, or what you have coming up in the next two to three days. For example, if last night I had a poor night of sleep and I woke up today feeling fatigued, tired, and my recovery wasn't that great, I will adjust my expectations or change my workout completely. If I planned for a max-effort barbell squat, but as I'm warming up, I'm not feeling as great as I could or should, I might change my training program for that day to either reduce intensity or train another body part. Another example would be if I planned to train legs really heavy, but before coming into the gym, some friends called and asked to do a 20-mile trail run tomorrow. So instead of training legs, I'll train legs heavy the day after or two days after the trail run because I want to put a big effort on the trail.
If you are new to hybrid athlete training or looking for more information, there are plenty of helpful videos on my YouTube channel here, or you can download the FREE Hybrid Athlete Training plan on the BPN app here.
