Training Consistency and Compliance: Fundamentals of Success

Training Consistency and Compliance: The True Fundamentals of Success

 

Across the vastness of the internet exist countless articles with lists that inspire athletes to improve FTP, increase VO2 max, sprint better. But what we rarely see from our consumer media sources is that success requires two fundamentals that aren’t flashy and won’t earn a bunch of clicks on websites: training consistency and compliance. When an athlete builds a foundation supported by these two pillars they tend to have stellar seasons with amazing results.  When they falter and are unable to deliver, erratic results or no results will follow. 

 

Consistency

Consistency lays the foundation for improvement by allowing the body to gradually adapt to the demands being placed on it.  It can also lead to improved mental resilience that comes from the success in nailing that key workout.  But the way consistency works can be deceiving as it works long term.  

 

One example I use is the following: 

Typically, an athlete will be able to accomplish 2 key training sessions per week. We’ll call that 100 key sessions per year (52 weeks per year but rounding to 50).  However, if the athlete is able to moderate rides appropriately, recover better and keep stress lower then we could see that 2x per week number jump to 3 key sessions per week. That’s 150 key sessions per year or 50% more! 

 

If the athlete is able to maintain that for 2 years then you’re looking at 300 key sessions vs 200 from the athlete doing 100/ year. That extra year (100 sessions) is far beyond marginal gains. It’s even beyond low hanging fruit.  That will result in a  fundamental performance difference between two evenly matched athletes. 

 

Indeed, without consistency you will not increase your FTP, improve your VO2 max or win the group ride.

 

But just how does an athlete maintain that sort of consistency for years?  Certainly we can not predict what our lives will look like in 3 weeks or even a few months.  And it’s basically impossible to predict individual illness (although as a father of an elementary school kid I can reliably count on the second week of the semester as a sick week). But what athletes can do is keep active communication with a coach who understands and is compassionate towards the effects that stress and intense training places on an individual.  

Training Compliance

Training Compliance is simply an athlete’s ability to follow the training plan as prescribed by the coach. Compliance includes all workouts, especially recovery rides. Adherence to the plan ensures that the athlete is progressing towards their goals while avoiding setback and preventing injury or burnout.  When an athlete is coached and places a high value on their training and goals, (most coached athletes) consistency and compliance will tend to track together.  This is not necessarily the case if the athlete does not have a professional coach, team, or training partner whom they are accountable to. 

 

When training consistency and compliance is high the training benefits and performance improvements begin to compound. As a coach, it allows me to maximally leverage training data and merge it with current physiological science and the athlete’s experience into the best evidence based practice. It also allows the coach to drive the athlete’s performance in a predictable and systematic manner to maximize the probability of an exceptional performance on a day that matters to them. 

 

For an athlete, simply knowing they are on good form when they want can also have multiple benefits. Physically, the athlete will feel fit and fresh (a fickle and fleeting feeling for an athlete without professional guidance). Along with those physical feelings comes a cadre of emotional benefits. Confidence goes up and the athlete gets a little bit of, dare we say, swagger. In sport the difference between competitive athletes is oftentimes very slim and a mental advantage could be the only thing between climbing podium steps and watching from the press pit. 

 

When training consistency and compliance are not particularly great there is elevated uncertainty into the quality of performance on days that matter to the athlete.  Yes, there is still a great deal of motivation to do well and a “gamer” will perform to a high level but that level is relative. What if the athlete is still leaving 5% on the table?  

 

How do we promote training consistency and compliance? 

This is a question which I’ve struggled to find a blanket answer. In fact, my only answer is that the things that motivate each individual athlete are unique and thus the specific levers that work on one athlete may not work on another. Furthermore, some of the same levers may need to be pulled less or more on some athletes than others. Confused?  Exactly. Lebron James talks about how sacrifice is needed to be great. It seems with a lifetime earnings set to eclipse $500M in 2024 the tolerance for sacrifice is greater than for the vast majority of humans just trying to be better. I believe that great athletes will share some of these traits…

 

But there are some commonalities amongst successful athletes that I’ve worked with.

• Athlete engagement is a very telling predictor of success. Each athlete gets an invitation to schedule a consultation with me according to their coaching service. The athletes that schedule more frequently are more invested in their success and more likely to have better training consistency and compliance. 
• Communication is very closely related to the previous point. In this context, I’m referencing the  discussion when there are changes needed in the schedule due to travel, illness, injury, motivation, etc. Communication allows the changes to be made which makes the daily training achievable and in turn keeps the athlete’s training consistent and compliant. 
• Goal oriented/ focused. The athlete must also know what the next goal/ goals are and what is expected of them in the current build or session. Goals should be short, medium and long term and should be measurable. Goals can also be intrinsic and extrinsic (team assigned). Managing and achieving these goals goes back to communication. 
• K.I.S.S.  Keep it Simple. Seriously. There are no secret special workouts that are protected by NDAs. There are no workouts that are so revolutionary that governments keep them secret for the next Olympic cycle.  There’s also very little reason to have overly complex workouts.  Sure, it may help a Zwift session be more engaging but for the most part complex workouts will not lead to better outcomes.
• K.I.S.S. Keeping life simple also has many benefits. It’s incredibly difficult to have preparation dialed for athletes that lead chaotic lives. The pandemic lockdown really drilled this point home as I had a few clients that traveled a lot. While they were still performing well prior to the lockdown they were now allowed to actually stay home and get high quality consistent workouts instead of driving constantly or spending 20 hours per week in airports.Their performance outcomes were incredible and they are still reaping those benefits some 3 years later. 

 

What does good training consistency and compliance look like? 

First, it’s important to know that this consistency and compliance concept applies to more than athletics. In school, showing up (consistency) 95% of the days puts a student at a distinct advantage of earning A’s an B’s. In athletics we see that 85% compliance seems to be analogous to that academic performance mark.