A Practical Application Of Taleb's Barbell...

Taleb Definition: The Barbell Strategy is a "dual strategy, a combination of two extremes, one safe and one speculative..."

My Version: A lot of something safe and a little of something risky.

I'll apply it to running

-Thread

2. An aging runner...

- I'm 54 years old
- I want to get faster
- I won't stop moving
- I love to run and race
- I've got an ankle/achilles issue

Here is how I use Taleb's Barbell.

I mix three things together:

-walking
-running fast
-running slowly

onward

3. The Mix

- I run 4 miles every 2 days
- These runs avg 6K steps
- I take 20K steps per day (on avg)

For the runs, I...

- go "aggressively slow," (10 min/mi) for 90% of the run
- go "as fast as I can" (sub 6 min pace) for the last 10%

NOTHING BETWEEN THESE EXTREMES

4. The Mix Continued

My runs = 15% of my steps, 85% of my weekly steps are spent walking.

In effect, I've "double-barbelled" the time on my feet.

This gives me the:

- aerobic advantages of 3 different intensities
- injury prevention
- some speed work
- recovery

Uno mas

5. Conclusion

-Work the EXTREMES
-Spend A LOT of time with "safe" activity
-Spend A LITTLE time on more intense activity

SAFE allows you to be consistent
INTENSE allows you to benefit from bodily adaptations

STAY OUT OF THE MIDDLE!

RT the first, if you found valuable!