[51010]

Hi all,

With thanks in advance for any help you may be able to offer and apologies for the discursive post. I have recently begun running the Military Athlete Foundational plan and would like some advice on adding strides/pick-ups* to Block 1.

By way of background, I am reasonably familiar with the TFUA book and other learning materials produced by Evoke. My training in the latter half of 2023 was patchy (partly caused by excessive volume earlier in the year and an unfortunate sprain in October). During the first three months of this year, I ran a self-prescribed transition period and began base build following TFUA principles. I complemented this with barbell training following Wendler 531, specifically the 5s pro progression.

I have now decided to enrol in the Military Athlete Fundamentals plan to leave the program design to the experts, provide accountability and serve as a learning opportunity. To that end, I am focusing on following the plan as written rather than butcher it with needless alterations. However, one item, or lack thereof, that stands out to me is that there are no strides (or hill sprints) prescribed in Block 1. As an athlete, I certainly fall in the camp that requires improvements in aerobic threshold running pace. However, I worry that only running at Zone 2 for 12 weeks will lead to the loss of the small amount of spring/pop/power in my step. I would be very grateful for your input on the below two questions:

1. Hill sprints are referred to in the TFUA book and on many of the materials published by Evoke as a staple of training to be included year-round for the development of specific strength. Hill sprints are also included in MAF block 2. For my own understanding, Is it correct that hill sprints are omitted from block 1 to maximise time spent running in Zone 2 and therefore building the athlete’s aerobic base?

2. Would it be suitable during MAF block 1 to include strides once per week? I assume these are best incorporated in the Saturday run after the plyometrics session? I have experience doing strides under my own programming and would follow the progression described in TFUA p.168-169. In my experience, it’s possible to add 6-8 repetitions of strides up to 10 seconds during a Zone 2 run without causing my heartrate to drift above aerobic threshold. As prescribed in the book, I would take 2 minutes of recovery (running comfortably in Zone 2) between repetitions. I would expect the strides to yield neuromuscular adaptations without interfering with the aerobic base building effect of the Zone 2 session.

Thank you for any insight you may be able to provide on the above. These questions can easily be answered in yes/no fashion, however I would certainly be interested in any further explanations of the underlying methodologies.

*I refer to strides/pick-ups in this post, by which I mean repetitions of faster running for a duration of 8-15 seconds carried out during a run as described in Training for the Uphill Athlete p.168-169.

[Scott Johnston]

Great question that shows a good understanding of the training theory we use.  The short answer is “YES”, adding either or both hill sprints and strides into the early weeks will help keep your nervous system tuned up and result in more muscle activation. This will help as you transition to more aerobically challenging faster running later in the program.

As to why they are omitted from the early part of the plan:  Our stock plans are by necessity a one-size-fits-all plan. We have no idea the level of the athlete who will be starting this plan. Many will have a serious aerobic deficiency and for them just running at and below AET  for the first phase is the best use of the time.  From the sounds of your history you’ve been training pretty well in line with our philosophy and are entering this plan in a different place than they lowest-level athlete this plan must accommodate.

I suggest adding strides 1x/week to a Z2 run and 1x/week of hill sprints during a Z2 run.

Scott

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