Is your lifestyle undoing your training?

Be honest — how many hours a week do you train? You might be a dedicated runner, training for 1–2 hours a day, either running, doing strength and conditioning or cross-training. A high-level club runner is probably putting in 10–14 hours per week, but that's generally way above what the average runner is doing. I'd say 3–5 hours a week is what I typically see as realistic for most people who have a job, family, other hobbies and interests. That leaves over 160 hours in the week where you have ample opportunity to either undo your hard-earned fitness gains, or make some small changes to everyday habits to actually enable you to benefit from your training time.

For many runners it's not their motivation to train, their session structure, the number of VO2 reps or the time spent at lactate threshold that is halting their progress — it's all the cumulative negative effects of our modern lifestyles that's hijacking their bodies and minds.

I could probably write an entire book on this subject, but within the constraints of a 3–5 minute blog I'll stick to the ones I hear most frequently from clients, or have experienced first-hand, and that I believe have the greatest negative impact on performance — either through increased injury risk, decreased adaptations from training, or just being generally detrimental to health. Some are super obvious, others maybe not so.

Sitting down. Humans aren't very well adapted to sitting. The chair is a recent invention in the grand scheme of human history and evolution. Yet we all spend hours in a hunched position — behind a desk, in a car, on the sofa. Our necks, spines and hips are flexed and our cores get sloppy. This is the exact opposite of what we want as runners. Obviously it's difficult to get around this if you drive long distance for a living. However, if you work behind a desk, can you request a standing desk? Or at least make it a priority to get up and move around several times an hour? I'm lucky that I spend a lot of time on my feet in the veterinary clinic, but during the times I do sit, I notice my back and neck very quickly suffer. Slumping in a chair is clearly poor training for a highly dynamic and elastic movement pattern. Slouched on the sofa in the evening? Try moving to the floor, sitting on a cushion, using your core to hold you up and shifting position to keep blood flowing and joints mobile. You might find that sore back or stiff hip starts to free up.

Nutrition. A huge one. Again, you could write a separate book — but I'll pick the main areas I focus on. Our food environment is not set up for healthy living. There are a few rules I live by to make my choices easier and ensure I get all the positives that eating well brings while avoiding the pitfalls that are everywhere in the western world. Try to eat as much whole food as possible; if it's got a label on it saying it's good for you, it isn't; don't buy ultra-processed food if you can avoid it; plan your evening meals in advance; prepare your work food at home; never eat anything at work you haven't made yourself; and fuel your training and recovery correctly. If you're regularly making rushed food decisions, having to go to a shop every day to buy a UPF lunch, eating the cake or chocolate in the staff room every time you make a coffee, and grabbing takeaway on the way home because you hadn't thought about dinner, then you're probably not giving your body what it needs to get the most from the hard work you put into your daily training.

Training while fasting, or leaving several hours between your session and eating, is a route to REDS and reduced performance. Doing it periodically for cultural reasons or an unexpected schedule change is unavoidable. But doing it due to lack of preparation or deliberate under-fuelling for weight loss is generally going to end badly — it will catch up with you eventually. Prepare your post-run nutrition before you train. Leaving it to chance and skipping meals due to poor preparation is a big no-no for me.

Sleep. When you're tired, go to bed. You don't need to watch the Netflix episode to the end — that's what the pause button is for. Definitely don't scroll through social media, and don't take your phone to bed. The temptation is too great to 'just do a quick email check'. You don't even need the phone as your alarm; this was the last thing I was clinging on to. Guess what — that complex piece of tech on your wrist which can track your biometrics and give a precise GPS location anywhere in the world also has an alarm clock. Ditch the sugary snacks, leave the phone behind and go to bed. Sleep is the biggest performance enhancer known to humans. Disrupted sleep due to sick children, pets or travel is unavoidable. But if you're lacking it because you're binge-watching trash TV or doom-scrolling on social media, then just have a think about what means the most to you. Running well, or destroying your own brain cells.

Alcohol. Do I drink it? Yep, occasionally. Red wine and G&T would be my poison. Can it ever help training, sleep or recovery? No. It is bad for us, the data is undeniable. So drink if you want to, but be mindful that you are electing to damage your athletic performance. So you'd better do it for good reasons — social connections, celebrating a PB, a nice wine bought for you by a friend, a holiday. The reasons and excuses are endless and often valid, but it's never a neutral decision. It's negative. I'm a bit all-or-nothing with alcohol. When I'm in a focused training block, I'm teetotal. I can go for months without a drop. Zero-percent beers and mocktails are now everywhere and fully socially acceptable without making you feel like the oddball in amongst a bunch of friends. Stick to those and it's only the sugar content you'll be dealing with, not the toxic effects of alcohol. You never need to miss a session due to a hangover or gradually become more sleep-deprived as that one or two night-time beers robs you of your sleep quality.

Smoking. Come on, it's bloody obvious you need your lungs at 100%, not 50% because they're bunged with tar and other carcinogens. But yes, some people who run also smoke. Do whatever it takes to kick the habit — you're a runner, not a smoker. There's no prize category for 'fastest person who is deliberately limiting their respiratory function'.

Caffeine. Another vice of mine. I'm a sucker for specialty coffee. Freshly ground beans and a V60 are hard to beat. But again, if you're over-consuming during the day, it's very likely you're affecting your sleep. I used to think I was immune to caffeine — I never fail to fall asleep even if I have a double espresso just before. But even if you're sleeping, when you're dosed with caffeine your brain isn't switching off and your body's recovery is worse. Drink caffeine if you want and enjoy it — but stick to decaf after midday. You might just find your sleep quality goes up, and that means your run performance might too.

Most of these things are common sense, but actually incredibly hard to achieve because our modern environment is so heavily stacked against us. You don't need willpower for most of my suggestions, just an active decision to make a choice in the present moment that will allow you to keep showing up in the future.