Train Increasingly Harder, Not Smarter | Is The Best Advice To Simply Do More?

Train Increasingly Harder, Not Smarter | Is The Best Advice To Simply Do More?

From Mere Mortals Conversations by Kyrin Down & Juan Granados

March 2, 2026 · 56 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of training volume over optimization in achieving fitness goals.

As much as it sucks, more volume is almost always the answer. In Episode #516 of 'Meanderings', Juan & I discuss: volume versus form (sparked by a YouTuber/runner known as Ran to Japan), what extreme running volume really looks like when you’re fast enough to compress a marathon into a couple of hours per day, how training load evolves across years, why sheer reps often trump optimisation, steadily ramping the volume to match your goals and importance, why novice gains come from doing more before optimising, how soreness can signal meaningful work done  and when “working dumber” (less overthinking) can paradoxically deliver better outcomes. No support this week. Stan Link: https://stan.store/meremortals Timeline: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:00) Train Harder Not Smarter Mantra (00:04:44) Ran To Japan: marathons, ultras and doing wild challenges (00:08:16) Efficiency, pace, and why elite volume takes less time (00:11:16) Shifting volumes over years: weights, tonnage, and time (00:17:20) Handstands as a case study: years of reps beat tweaks (00:23:52) Wind, conditions and noticing small effects with mastery (00:26:45) Finding and fixing true failure points (00:28:47) Treadmill…

People in this episode

Hosts: Kyrin Down, Juan Granados

Topics covered

  • training volume
  • running
  • soreness
  • performance optimization
  • novice gains

Keywords

  • training harder
  • running volume
  • marathon
  • soreness
  • performance
  • fitness
  • exercise

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