What is Endurance?

Written By MOPs & MOEs .

Michael Blevins

MOPs & MOEs is proudly sponsored by Teamworks — the platform built for military and tactical organizations. From scheduling to accountability to compliance, Teamworks keeps your unit running like a unit. If your team is still doing it with spreadsheets and group texts, there’s a better way. Learn more at teamworkstactical.com

We are also supported by TrainHeroic — the training app we actually use to run the All-Access Bundle. Built for athletes who train with a purpose, not just a goal. Programming built for people who have a job to do. Start your free trial at trainheroic.com.

Alex is out this week, so Drew and John brought in a friend of the show: Michael Blevins — high performance coach, consultant, and the guy who trained Henry Cavill for Man of Steel and the Justice League films. This is round three, and we spent it going deep on endurance — what it actually is, how we’ve gotten it wrong, and what it means to build it for life rather than just the next event.

Michael’s first psychedelic experience happened on a bicycle in Bulgaria. No substances involved. Just a thirty-minute out-of-body experience while climbing Mount Vitosha, and a 30% PR on his twenty-minute power output. It’s an odd place to start a conversation about endurance training, but it sets the stage for the conversation. 

Topics covered:

  • Why “endurance” and “going faster” are not the same thing 

  • The 90-minute threshold: why most people can’t yet endure long enough to actually train endurance

  • More, better, different — the sequence that applies to both business and building an aerobic base

  • Why discipline gets you started but self-care is what keeps you going

  • How the Hittite Empire was writing periodization programs for war horses in 800 BCE

  • Galen, gladiators, and why rigid programming without accounting for athlete state has always been a problem

  • The running limitation that has nothing to do with your lungs

  • Cardiac drift as a practical guide for building volume without breaking down

  • Why the question “what do you want to do after the event?” changes the entire program

Train: https://marketplace.trainheroic.com/workout-plan/team/leg-tuck-nation?attrib=565490-pod
Discord: https://discord.com/servers/mops-moes-1357721021733671043

MOPs & MOEs .
Next

The Military’s Running Problem