Inquisitive.me

To progress in training, you have to increase load at some point—whether it’s weights, mileage, minutes, or speed. Our body only starts adapting when we induce stress. Yes, training is a stressor, as we’ve already discussed with invisible load.

But here’s the catch: if you pile on too much stress at once, your body can get overwhelmed. I’m sure you’ve done this wrong at some point. I certainly did. Back in the day, I was running 4–6 kilometers at a time. Whenever I wanted to go further, it felt like hitting an invisible wall. I would always max out at 6 kilometers—no matter what I did—and I could never run faster than 6 minutes per kilometer.

What did I do wrong? I kept my pace at 6 minutes per kilometer and tried to increase my distance. And whenever I wanted to run faster, I kept the distance the same. Let’s break it down: when I tried to run more than 6 kilometers, I kept my pace steady. My body was already all out at 6 km, and I expected it to magically handle more without adjusting speed. It doesn’t. That’s exactly why so many hobby runners hit that wall.

Think of it this way: increasing distance and keeping pace is like changing two variables at once. On paper, it seems like just running one more kilometer. But if you do the math, it’s clear why it fails.

Imagine you have 600 energy points. Each kilometer at your current pace burns 100 points. After 6 kilometers, you’ve spent all 600 points. Now you add one more kilometer but keep your pace—your energy points are still 600, your burn rate is still 100 per kilometer. You’re out of juice again.

The solution? Reduce your speed. Running 7 kilometers at a slower pace—say 7 minutes per kilometer—burns fewer points per kilometer. Maybe 70 points per km instead of 100. After 7 kilometers, you’ve burned 490 points and still have 110 left. That means you could even push a little faster—6:50 per km—but not your original 6-minute pace.

And here’s the important part: with the slower approach, your body actually receives a signal to adapt. You managed to run farther than before. Something changed. Your system experienced a slightly higher demand — but one it could tolerate.

In the first scenario, you simply hit the same wall again. Same pace, same exhaustion point, same outcome. Your body maxed out exactly where it always does. From your body’s perspective, nothing new happened — so there’s no reason to adapt.

Adaptation only happens when you create a small, manageable increase in demand. Not when you repeat your maximum and hope for a different result.

The same principle applies to strength training. Either increase the load or increase the reps—but don’t try to increase both at once. If you do, it’s just like running too fast too far: your body can’t adapt quickly enough.

Think about it like an experiment. Controlling variables is key if you want to know whether something works. Sleep, nutrition, shoes—these are variables you’ve already learned to control. But adding new exercises, new shoes, extra weekly sessions, or a completely new diet at the same time? That’s asking for trouble.

As a physiotherapist and athlete myself, I can tell you: injury and pain love a big upgrade when your body has no time to adapt. Every extra variable you change at once increases the risk. The safest path is simple: change one thing at a time and give your body the time it needs to respond. That’s how progress actually happens.

🧪 Let’s Experiment

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Progress happens when you change one thing at a time.

When it comes to training, diet, or gear, your body can only handle one big change at a time. If you increase load, speed, distance, or even try new shoes or a diet all at once, your risk of fatigue, injury, or burnout spikes.

🎯 Try This:

Pick one variable to adjust this week—then monitor how your body responds:

• Strength: Increase weight but reduce reps.
• Running speed: Increase pace, reduce distance.
• Diet: Keep your training the same, notice if energy or recovery changes.
• Shoes or gear: Stick to a familiar distance or session, observe knee, hip, and ankle response.

Take notes in a small log: date, what you changed, how your body felt, and any soreness or fatigue. Track only one change per week to see what actually works.

🧠 Final Thought:

Patience is progress. Your body adapts best when you respect its limits and let one variable settle before adding another. Think of it as experimenting in slow motion—small adjustments now prevent big setbacks later.

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Keep it simple, stay curious, and keep learning—you’ve got this.

Take care,

Carina 🦊