Cross training 40 minutes or running 20 minutes for easy days?

20 minutes of running

If 20 minutes easy takes more out of you than 40 minutes of CT, you're slacking on the CT.

Also 40 minutes is longer than 20.

medstudentrunner wrote:

Have a curious hypothetical for everyone:

If you had to choose, would it be better to run for 20 minutes for your easy day or cross train for 40 minutes?

It’s no excuse, but with time constraints and energy needed for school I’m debating this question.

Yes it is an excuse.

You're not trying to be competitive anymore so it doesn't matter what you do. We don't care, you don't care, nobody cares.

Fair enough! Mainly when it comes to CT I can also do some studying, while when running I can’t focus on that (even on a treadmill..). But just being more efficient and taking those 20 minutes is probably better. Thanks!

medstudentrunner wrote:

Fair enough! Mainly when it comes to CT I can also do some studying, while when running I can’t focus on that (even on a treadmill..). But just being more efficient and taking those 20 minutes is probably better. Thanks!

Do a Japanese shuffle jog to read a book while running or you can just listen to audio books.

Lol I love it.. fair enough!

Makes me think of a second hypothetical question:

Would it be better to run 20 minutes a normal/intenser pace, or slow it down a good bit and run say 30 minutes?

By dialing down the intensity a lot, slower than normal easy/recovery pace, one could have more energy or get some studying done.

Appreciate this convo y’all!

Cross train for 2 hours.

Run 20 min then crosstrain 40 min you lazybastard

Well this much lazyness is not good for the health

It may affect your health too badly https://www.myschoolbucks.us/

20 minutes is the best option. If you are small, you can change the load and speed. If you are used to running for 20 minutes, you do not need to sharply increase to 40.

If you want to increase the running time, do it gradually so that the body adapts to you. You can run for as long as you want, but remember, the longer you run, the more you destroy the body.

I agree! Cross training can be just as hard or ez as any run. An ez run with HR in the 120's or 40min of cross training when HR is 140-150 is harder! But if it's just easy, run.-for me, most cross training is more challenging than easy runs

Cross train. I was beat up after running in college. Triathlon training kept me in better shape and allowed a lot of chronic injuries to fade away. Give your joints some rest and strengthen your muscles by riding or swimming.

This is a good thread/good question. Being over age 30 and having had a fair share of injuries, I'm almost always going to opt for the cross training. It is hard because given the opportunity I'd run every day but the value of the day off the legs/joints/impact and being able to run again tomorrow, being able to run for longevity. Worth it.