Is the 40% Rule true in running?

So Kipchoge could have broken 1 hour?!?!?!

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David Goggins hates running according to his blog.

I would not take any advice from him about running.

But he is good at cussing.

Maybe some people quit at 40%. I’ve definitely had athletes who were afraid to push.

I’ve had other athletes who finished races completely wiped. As in wiped for the rest of the day and they could do it multiple times a season.

helpabruthaout wrote:

David Groggins states that when your mind is telling you to quit and that you’re done or exhausted that you’re actually only 40% of your maximum capacity.

While this definitely helps when you think about it during the hard moments of running do you really think it’s true?

Lol NO. thats just his shtick because he needs one. If you rest a bit you can continue. If you rest a lot you can do it again, and again and Boom! it was only 33% of your maximum capacity.

Only a profoundly lazy person would stop at 40% when they were attempting to perform to "capacity". 40% rule applies to nothing except MAYBE long-distance walking during sleep deprivation for SOME people.

CoachB wrote:

Maybe some people quit at 40%. I’ve definitely had athletes who were afraid to push.

I’ve had other athletes who finished races completely wiped. As in wiped for the rest of the day and they could do it multiple times a season.

i need that kind of grit

53.4% of statistics are made up.

But 46.6% of all of the statistics are right.

Is the 40% rule of cussing Goggins part of the 46.6% or of the 53.4%?

That's the question.

A real seal wrote:

But 46.6% of all of the statistics are right.

Is the 40% rule of cussing Goggins part of the 46.6% or of the 53.4%?

That's the question.

Lol

Yes. Try running the 400 meter all out and then keep running for another lap and a half. You're only 40 percent of the way to unlocking your true potential.

The late Mr. Newton used to tell us that when you're sucking wind, ready to keel over and quit with 300 to go in a XC Race, you still have 33% left. Not sure how easy it is to convince your brain to dip into that 33% but Mr. Newton was pretty convincing. I remember one teammate literally falling over from exhaustion with 100 to go in a conference or regional meet once and have to get up and wobble jog in and then drop again after the line. It was scary to see.

zxcvcxz wrote:

So Kipchoge could have broken 1 hour?!?!?!

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Kipchoge loves to remind everyone that there are no limits, only in your mind. Which I take to mean...YES he could have!

I've never heard of David Goggins so I looked him up. I did not read or hear his 40% comment in context, but I assume he's referring to ultramarathons or ultra cycling since those appear to be his forte.

It that context, it might be right. In my limited experience, there's a bonk in ultra running that you can run through, assuming you fuel and hydrate properly assuming you're merely running easily and not racing.

In the marathon and below, his 40% statement probably doesn't apply, except for couch potatoes who want to quit when it becomes "uncomfortable." Of course, that might be the demographic he's talking to.

CoachB wrote:

Maybe some people quit at 40%. I’ve definitely had athletes who were afraid to push.

I’ve had other athletes who finished races completely wiped. As in wiped for the rest of the day and they could do it multiple times a season.

I think it might not have to do with an inability to push, but with poor pacing that leaves them with nothing in the tank during critical moments. Sure, some kids are more willing to keep grinding when the going gets tough, but everyone is pretty freakin slow once they deplete their D'.

I would go out SO hard at the front end of XC races, at my coach's behest. (As an adult I realize she did not know very much about the nuances of running.) So I would come through the first mile blazing fast, and then kind of try to grit it out the rest of the way. But a short while after the race, I would always become re-energized, and feel like I could have done much better.

Now that I can pace myself better, the effort itself feels more smooth. But it's like I am able to get more peanut butter out of my jar or something. While my races aren't as agonizing as they once were, I feel more depleted the rest of the day.

That's something he just made up out of whole cloth. Just something he said, doesn't mean it's true.

helpabruthaout wrote:

David Groggins states that when your mind is telling you to quit and that you’re done or exhausted that you’re actually only 40% of your maximum capacity.

While this definitely helps when you think about it during the hard moments of running do you really think it’s true?

I don't know if this is absolutely true or not but I'm guessing there's some truth here.

....One or two years ago, CBS Sunday morning news show had a HS girl who had a neurological condition where her body completely functioned normally but she could not feel anything throughout her body. She had to overcome balance issues when she ran but was able to do so after lots of biomechanical practice. If she fell, she would have difficulty getting back up but mostly was very functional.

Once she "mastered" running and not falling too much, she went on to crush her school records and win lots of races.

Without the feeling of "pain" coursing through her body, she could run closer to her "limits" without succumbing to the discomfort most of the rest of us encounter when we push past our "thresholds"

Fasterer wrote:

I don't know if this is absolutely true or not but I'm guessing there's some truth here.

....One or two years ago, CBS Sunday morning news show had a HS girl who had a neurological condition where her body completely functioned normally but she could not feel anything throughout her body. She had to overcome balance issues when she ran but was able to do so after lots of biomechanical practice. If she fell, she would have difficulty getting back up but mostly was very functional.

Once she "mastered" running and not falling too much, she went on to crush her school records and win lots of races.

Without the feeling of "pain" coursing through her body, she could run closer to her "limits" without succumbing to the discomfort most of the rest of us encounter when we push past our "thresholds"

If you subscribe to the central governor theory, her system is missing some key feedback (body sensations). It's not that she ignored the limits most of us have, it's that her central governor defines her limits differently because it is missing information.

Like, say some guy's body couldn't notice when the blood pumping to his heart had become desaturated of oxygen, he could run until he had a heart attack (bypassing the thresholds that the central governor wisely sets in place).

Sounds like the low fuel light in your car. You can drive for a bit when it turns on.

It also seems pretty apparent to me from reading his book he is referring to 'most people' as in every day non-trained-athletes. Maybe he thinks this rule applies to some athletes as well IDK but from listening to him and reading his book hes obviously just talking about how every day people 'hide' from pain and dont push themselves to do better.

He completed elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger and in the Air Force?

Um.

Why would anyone here doubt him as far as endurance?