Sep 4, 2015
Andy Magness is a husband, father, recreational philosopher, occasional adventurer, part-time athlete, race director, youth philanthropist, and author.
Andy is a rock climber turned ultra endurance fanatic and pushes his mind and body to it's limits. I don't think he'll mind me saying that I think he's borderline crazy as illustrated and reinforced by his impressive Race Resume.
To prepare for this podcast, I set aside some time to read through his website and resources. I was so impressed with his Ultra Mental Book that I devoured it one sitting. I thought it was beautifully written, funny, authentic and very practical.
Andy has an MA in physics, and due to a growing list of responsibilities, he decided to put his scientific brain to work to figure out how he could continue to participate in adventure races whilst significantly reducing his training volume. Andy stumbled across HIIT (high intensity interval training) and found that he could train for 1-3 hours a week (typically just 1 hour a week!) and reduce his risk of injury, improve his performance and make more time for his other responsibilities and past times.
Andy's story and race performances are a powerful testimony for the efficacy of high intensity training and how it can be applied to prevent injury, increase training efficiency, and get better results. It's refreshing to hear about the productive application of HIT outside the world of body building. Andy's work has shown that appropriate physical conditioning (like HIT or HIIT) can serve as the foundational training program for many athletic pursuits.
We cover A LOT, including:
- How Andy went from training 15+ hours to 1 hour per week and improved his performance.
- What 20% of mental exercises Andy uses for maximum benefit.
- Is the will power needed for ultra endurance races hard wired or can it be learned?
- The importance of training specificity to the actual competition.
- How to train your cardiovascular system without putting in 10, 20, 30 training hours per week.
- How to significantly reduce the risk of injury when training for ultra endurance events/any competition.
- The different diets recommended for ultra endurance.
- The hardest event and experience that Andy has ever been through (including a near death experience that gave him a perspective that would serve him for years to come).
- The best way to prepare for a 12 km obstacle race for optimal performance.
This episode is sponsored by Hituni.com, providers of the best online courses in high intensity training. Whether you want to take their Full Personal Trainer Course or DIY HIT for Health Course, simply add the course you want to your shopping cart and enter the coupon code 'CW10' to get 10% off your purchase!
To see the Episode Show Notes, Books, and other Resources, Click Here