483: The Law of Diminishing Returns: Are you doing too much or not enough?

Is More Running Always Better? Understanding Diminishing Returns

As runners, it’s easy to believe that if some training is good, more must be better. More miles, more speed work, more strength training. We want to improve, and we’re willing to put in the work to make it happen.

But there’s a point where adding more training stops helping and can actually hold us back. This is the law of diminishing returns, and understanding it can help us make better decisions about how we train, recover, and prepare for races.

When More Stops Helping

Think about adding salt to a pot of soup. At first, a little salt makes it taste better. Add a bit more, and it might improve the flavor even further. But keep adding salt, and eventually, you ruin the soup.

Training works in a similar way. Adding mileage or intensity can help you improve, especially when your body is ready for that added challenge. But more training doesn't automatically lead to better results. Eventually, the benefits become smaller, and if you keep pushing without enough recovery, you may start accumulating fatigue instead of making progress.

When runners hit a plateau, they often assume they need to do more. Sometimes that’s true. They might need a different training stimulus or more consistency. But sometimes the answer is more recovery. And sometimes they simply need to give their bodies time to adapt to the work they’ve already done.

The challenge is figuring out which one you need.

You Can’t Copy Someone Else’s Training

We see this all the time in running. A professional runner shares their weekly mileage or training schedule, and recreational runners wonder whether they should be doing the same thing.

But we have to look at the context. A professional runner may have spent years building the capacity to handle high mileage. Their training paces might also look fast to us but feel relatively controlled to them.

You can’t take someone else’s training and assume it will produce the same results for you. Your training history, current fitness, recovery, sleep, nutrition, and life outside running all influence what your body can handle.

This is especially important when you’re balancing running with work, family responsibilities, stress, and the other demands of everyday life. The best training plan isn't necessarily the one with the most miles or the hardest workouts. It’s the one that provides the right challenge for your body and your current season of life.

Are You Running Too Much in the Gray Zone?

One common pattern we see is runners doing too many runs at a moderate effort. Their easy runs aren't truly easy, but they're not hard enough to provide the benefits of a focused quality session either.

This gray zone can leave you feeling tired without giving you the best return on your training.

Again, don’t get me wrong here. There is a place for moderate effort training also. It just should not be in every run, which is what most runners do. Most runs feel moderate or moderately-hard, which accumulates fatigue without proper recovery. It also doesn’t vary the training stimulus, which is one of the most important factors for long term improvement.

Easy running has an important purpose. It helps build your aerobic system while allowing you to accumulate mileage without creating as much fatigue. Harder sessions provide a different stimulus, but they also demand more recovery.

When every run becomes moderately challenging, you can end up carrying fatigue from one session into the next. You might feel like you're working hard all the time but aren't seeing the progress you expected.

Instead of asking how you can make every run harder, consider whether each run has a purpose. Are you building your aerobic base, working on speed, or allowing your body to recover? Your training should include different levels of effort, not just a constant push.

Recovery Is Where Adaptation Happens

Training creates the stimulus for improvement, but your body needs recovery to adapt to that stimulus. Without enough recovery, adding more training can become counterproductive.

Sleep, nutrition, stress, and hormonal changes can all affect how well you recover. As we get older, we may also notice that our bodies don't respond to training in exactly the same way they did years ago. That doesn't mean we can't keep improving. It means we may need to pay closer attention to what helps us recover.

If you're feeling consistently tired, struggling through runs that should feel manageable, or not seeing progress despite working harder, don't automatically assume you need to push more.

Look at the full picture. Are you getting enough sleep? Are you eating enough to support your training? Is stress outside running taking a toll? Are you allowing enough time between harder sessions?

Maybe the answer actually is more, but it’s more of something other than running. More sleep, more food, more social connection. Those things make a huge difference.

Sometimes the most productive change you can make is not adding another workout. It's protecting your sleep, fueling better, or giving yourself a little more time to recover.

Why Tapering Works

Race tapering is a great example of the law of diminishing returns in action. As runners approach a goal race, the instinct can be to squeeze in more mileage or harder workouts to get as fit as possible before race day.

But the final weeks before a race aren't the time to cram in all the training you think you missed. You can't force fitness to develop overnight, and trying to do too much can leave you carrying unnecessary fatigue into your race.

A taper reduces training volume so your body can recover and be ready to perform. That doesn't necessarily mean stopping running completely. Many runners maintain some of their usual frequency and intensity while reducing the overall amount of training. Strength training may also need to be adjusted so you're not carrying extra soreness or fatigue into race day.

The right taper varies from runner to runner, but the principle is the same: you want to arrive at the start line ready to use the fitness you've built, not exhausted from trying to squeeze in a little more.

Find the Right Balance for You

There isn't one perfect amount of running that works for everyone. Your ideal training load depends on your goals, experience, current capacity, and ability to recover.

When you're not progressing, resist the urge to assume that more is always the answer. You might need a new stimulus, more recovery, or simply more time for your body to adapt.

We want you to train hard enough to create change, but not so hard that you're constantly digging yourself into a hole. More effort isn't always more effective, and pushing through fatigue isn't automatically a sign of commitment.

As you look at your training this week, ask yourself one question: Am I creating adaptation, or am I just accumulating fatigue?

That question can help you make smarter decisions, train more sustainably, and keep moving toward your running goals without assuming that doing more is always the solution.