Training vs. Practice, And Why Both Matter

Training is intended to make us fitter.  

We do our training sessions—four-hour rides, threshold intervals, or recovery sessions—all with the intention of getting fitter. Training can contribute to improvements and increases in all sorts of biological activity—from increases in capillary density to enhanced mitochondrial activity, from biochemical changes to structural adaptations. All these measures of fitness can lead to making us faster. 

Yet there is another way to get faster, which amplifies the effects of training our fitness. It also happens to take place much more quickly and is far less taxing on our bodies. 

It’s called practice. 

The Performance Gains of Practice

Recall Fast Talk podcast episode 395 with Dr. Ray Browning, “The Difference Between Efficiency and Economy and Why You Should Care.” (If you haven’t listened to it, it’s worth your time.)  

Economy, simply and unscientifically explained, is the ease by which you do some kind of movement.  You can recall days when your run stride was a little rough and didn’t feel quite right.  Uneasy. Uneconomical. You can also remember days when your run stride was smooth and fluid and floatingly easy. Economical.   

When our movements are smooth and economical, our motion is economical. We gain this through practice. 

Swimmers are famous for doing lots of practice along with their training. Swimmers almost always do some practice (e.g. kicking, starts, turns, and a variety of drills) in their swim training sessions.   

Runners who want to enhance their economy do practice in the form of running drills. Go to any local track meet and watch athletes doing A-Skips and B-Skips, running backwards, doing backward skips and high-knee drills. They are practicing, getting better at running, to get faster at running. 

Some cyclists do spin ups and one-leg drills (probably not enough of us, and probably not often enough). In Fast Chats episode 397, “Rethinking Injury Risk and Longevity–Evidence that Defies Convention,” host Trevor Connor describes the economy that elite cyclists gain from low co-activation of muscles in their legs (different muscles working against each other in an inefficient pedal stroke): “because they weren’t doing that neuromuscular training.” This same Fast Talk host has been spotted riding PowerCranks during his recovery rides around Boulder. (If you aren’t familiar, look them up.)  

All these are forms of practice, getting better at doing the movements that utilize our hard-won fitness. 

Another form of practicing movements to go faster is well known (but not universally well practiced) by triathletes: rehearsing transitions. Triathletes who practice transitions (T1 swim to bike, T2 bike to run) gain valuable free seconds and minutes over athletes who are slow getting out of transitions.

Imagine gaining three minutes in T2 in an Olympic distance tri. That means that your opponent would have to run 30 seconds faster per mile just to make up the tardy time in T2. Ouch. 

And, of course, mental practice, which takes no physical effort at all, is the most economical form of practice. Pre-race/workout imagery, positive self-talk, and planning how to overcome obstacles are all forms of practice that do not involve improving fitness. It’s all about getting better at doing the movements, and that equates to being faster. 

Practice, Practice, Practice

Here are some things to practice (depending on your sport of choice), which take very little time but yield great benefits:

1. Swimming drills. There are countless swim drills, so pick ones that address elements of your own particular stroke that you want to improve, and do them during warmups and cool-downs. 
2. Running drills. During your run warmup, do a few A skips, B skips, grapevines, and backward skips. You don’t have to do a lot, just a couple of 15-second sets per drill can help. 
3. Neuromuscular cycling drills. During your bike cool-down, do some spin-ups and one-leg spins on your way home. You don’t have to invest in PowerCranks; your existing bike works fine for a little neuromuscular practice. 
4. Mental practice. Before each workout, recite the purpose of the workout (recovery, endurance, threshold, VO2 max) then make a 20-second movie in your mind’s eye, imaging yourself “over there” executing the workout perfectly. Then do your training session.  
5. Transitions. If you are a triathlete, during the week before your race (you are tapering anyway so need something to keep you occupied), set up your bike on a trainer and put your run gear nearby as if in your transition area at the race venue. Pedal for two minutes (yes, with your helmet and sunglasses on), then quickly dismount the bike, put on your running shoes, cap, and race belt and run for one minute. Return to the bike and repeat five or 10 times until you can execute your transitions in 10 seconds or less. Similarly, practice your transition from swim to bike when you can. In a safe place (not a pool, the lifeguards will yell at you), practice exiting the water and running to the transition area. This will help you get familiar with the slightly lightheaded sensation of rapidly standing from a prone swimming position to a running stance. 

These practices of practice make us faster without extra training and very little extra time. And faster is what we are all looking for.