Every training plan is built on the same physiological principle: stress followed by adequate recovery creates adaptation. Yet understanding how to apply that principle is one of the most challenging parts of endurance coaching.
In this episode, CTS Director of Coaching Cliff Pittman explores the science of training adaptation, from Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome to the fitness-fatigue model and the mechanisms behind supercompensation.
Cliff explains why every workout produces both fitness and fatigue, why those two effects develop and dissipate at different rates, and how that relationship influences everything from race tapers to long-term athlete development.
HOST
Cliff Pittman is the Coaching Development Director at CTS, leading the Ultrarunning and Cycling Coaching staff with a specialty in guiding athletes from first-time ultrarunners to elite competitors at races like Western States 100, Leadville 100, and the Triple Crown of 200s. A competitive trail and ultra athlete himself, Cliff brings firsthand experience and a rare ability to turn complex training science into simple, actionable coaching.
