The Strength Running Podcast · Jason Fitzgerald

What is "Training?" The Principles, Science and Art of the Training Process with Dan Cleather

·54 min·3 clips

Training works because the body follows principles, not a branded system.

1. The Strength Running Podcast episode 438 centers on Dan Cleather and the question of what training is. 2. Jason Fitzgerald introduces Dan Cleather as a professor of strength and conditioning at the English Institute of Sport, a St. Mary's University academic, and the author of The Practice of Change, The Art and Science of Training. 3. The episode asks whether training is different from exercise and whether the process is mainly science, art, or both. 4. Dan says training means purposefully trying to move somewhere and deliberately changing who you are, what you have, or what you can do. 5. Jason argues that structure matters because it creates predictability, excitement, and the chance to reach places you have not been before. 6. Dan rejects the idea that one branded system can guarantee results, saying bodies only know the signals they experience in the moment. 7. He says successful programs are really structured ways of following training principles, not proof that one system is universally right. 8. Dan adds that rigid systems can become fragile when athletes feel they cannot adapt them to the day in front of them. 9. Jason connects that idea to coaching plans that must flex when a runner's body needs a different session. 10. Dan distinguishes capacities from skills by using a Formula One car analogy, where the car's properties are capacities and the driver's technique is skill. 11. He says runners often focus on VO2 max, lactate threshold, mitochondria, and capillarization while neglecting how well they actually run. 12. Dan describes running as repeatedly hitting the ground and says the skill of a runner is how force is expressed against that ground thousands of times. 13. He defines adaptation as capacity building and practice as the process that improves skill. 14. Dan says easy runs are not just mileage accumulation; they can reset the system after intervals or a long run. 15. He describes easy running as greasing the groove, feeling better at the end than at the start, and restoring joy for running. 16. Dan says the biggest change killer is anything that breaks consistency, including overtraining, injury, and switching programs too early. 17. He uses discovery to describe how athletes learn by exploring movement within their environment rather than copying a fixed template. 18. Dan says cross-country fields, Mondo track surfaces, drills, and the weight room all create different movement problems that help athletes learn. 19. The conversation is reflective and technical, with Jason often translating Dan's ideas into running-coach language and examples. 20. Runners who want a principle-driven explanation of training will get the most from it, while people wanting a simple plan may skip it.

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