Bowerman's Training Principles
My vote for the top 3 running coaches of all time are: Bill Bowerman, Renato Canova, and Mihaly Igloi (with a close #4 being Dr. Joe Vigil).
Each developed both champions and record breakers, year after year, for decades at the highest level. Their level of consistency at producing top-rate runners is simply unparalleled.
Each trained their runners using slightly different methods. And clearly, each of their methods were highly effective.
One thing they all held in common was a very clear understanding of training principles and how to effectively apply them to each runner they coached.
Bowerman was perhaps the most organized of the three, with Canova a very close second. Igloi, on the other-hand coached more on “feel.”
The more I research Bowerman, the more impressed I am with how much he got “right” about training with the limited sports science available in his era. Empirically, through trial and error, Bowerman honed his methods to center around 11 time-honored training principles. All of which are as true today as they were 50+ years ago.
Here are Bowerman’s Training Principles:
It’s better to be undertrained than overstrained.
A varied program should be designed to fit the individual.
Proper rest is important.
A runner must be consistent with their program, day after day, year after year, to enjoy stable improvement.
A progressive goal-pace / date-pace program provides the framework for a runner’s individual workouts and training progression.
Hard training efforts should be followed by easy efforts.
Proper running posture must be developed.
A runner must be calloused to their distance.
The individual’s program must be flexible.
Run twice a day, except Sundays.
Enjoy your work.
I’ll examine and discuss each one of Bowerman’s training principles in my next eleven Bell Lap blog posts.