The Training Mistake 90% of Endurance Athletes Still Make

This month, we’re excited to launch a new blog series featuring expert insights from Togo Keynes, lead coach and founder of Njinga Cycling, Team GB Master’s Cyclist, and British Cycling Coach. Drawing from over a decade of coaching and personal elite-level experience, Togo will be sharing powerful, science-backed strategies to help endurance athletes train smarter - not harder.

Regardless of your level, this series will help you unlock lasting gains, avoid burnout, and build a performance engine that goes the distance.

First up: the most common training mistake 90% of endurance athletes still make - and how to fix it.

Togo writes:
The endurance trap too many athletes fall into is ‘if I’m not training more, I’m not improving.’

It’s a belief I’ve heard from countless cyclists and triathletes over the years - hyper performers who think the secret to endurance success is more hours, more intervals, more intensity.

But here’s the reality: More is not better if it’s not targeted. 

In fact, training harder, longer, or more often, without a clear strategy is one of the fastest routes to plateau, burnout, or even injury.

I see it all the time in endurance athletes, especially those juggling family, business, and life. They grind themselves into fatigue chasing marginal gains, never realising there’s a smarter way.

The smartest shift is having a clear structure over suffering. Performance breakthroughs don’t come from training like a maniac, chasing down everyone on a rideout or a Strava segment time, they come from layering in the right sessions at the right time with the right recovery.

Image: Image

Images: Njinga Cycling

Smart training is about:

1.    Prioritising aerobic development (not jumping straight to intensity)

2.    Training in the right zones (not just riding harder)

3.    Fuelling and recovering properly to adapt (not just pushing through fatigue)

4.    Addressing mobility, breathing, and mindset (not just chasing Functional Threshold Power (FTP)

Backed by science, this approach builds what we call the durability engine - you don’t just ride harder. You ride stronger for longer.

The science behind smarter

A landmark study by Dr Stephen Seiler, one of the world’s leading endurance researchers and exercise physiologists, found that elite endurance athletes followed a consistent pattern:

• ·      Approximately 80% of their training was low intensity.
• ·      Only 20% was high intensity.

This ‘polarised’ training model resulted in greater gain in aerobic capacity, efficiency and race performance than threshold heavy or high-volume models.

Seiler’s conclusion? Intensity only works when the aerobic foundation is solid. (More on this next month).

For time-starved athletes, this is even more important. Every session must serve a purpose. Otherwise you’re just accumulating fatigue and not adaptation.

Real Client Results: Simon’s transformation.

A busy CEO in his 50’s came to me frustrated. He was training over 12 hours a week but going nowhere and just got a ‘DNF’ for the Etape du Tour (one of the most gruelling amateur cycling events).

He was stuck at the same FTP, carrying a little too much timber, no confidence on climbs and tired all the time. Instead of adding more training, we cut back, restructured his week and introduced smarter sessions:

1.    2 x 45 mins fasted aerobic rides at his true Zone 2

2.    2 x 60 mins structured and progressive tougher interval sessions 

3.    1 x 3 hour longer endurance ride-out in Zone 2

4.    1 x 60 mins deep restorative stretch session 

5.    Recovery prioritised like training

In first 12 months:

• FTP increased by 31 watts (and was maintained)
• Climbing speed increased by 1.8 kmph
• Lost over 15kgs and body fat reduced by 3.5%

His confidence? Through the roof.

Simon trained less and gained more because every session worked towards a long-term goal, not just short-term wins and fatigue. 

The key to convincing Simon to change was framing the situation. I remember the penny dropping when I said: “stop trying to win the battle and focus on winning the war”. The war being his end goal of ‘Etape du Tour.

Coach Tip: how you can train smarter straight away. Implement the following:

1.    Replace one of your hard sessions this week with a 60-minute Zone two ride (ideally indoors for greater power stability).

2.    Use accurate power or heart rate training zones to stay in Zone two (stay disciplined and avoid the urge to ride harder).

3.    Try nasal breathing only to stay consistent with your effort (takes time to get used to but stick with it - even if you have to start at a lower intensity).

4.    Focus on form and fluidity, not speed i.e. stop chasing Strava segments. They are the battle, focus on the war, your end goal.

It may feel too easy at first. But stick with it and you’ll be laying the groundwork for serious, sustainable gains.

What’s coming up next month?

Zone 2 is the cornerstone of smart endurance performance. In the next blog, I’ll break down why this misunderstood training zone is your ticket to long lasting gains and how to master it for real world results.

Final words from Togo

As a Team GB Master’s Cyclist, British Cycling Coach, ex CEO, and someone who became hooked on endurance training after 40, I know what it’s like to want results without burning out in the process.

My coaching is about a holistic smarter approach, not harder. It’s about riding with purpose, training right, fuelling with intention and building a body and a mind that performs both on the bike and in the boardroom.

My blog series will give you the blueprint. All you need to do is show up and trust the process.

If you want me to talk on any topics around endurance and cycling then let the team at Curranz know and I’ll do my best to cover these in future editions.

Togo Keynes

Co-founder & Head Performance Coach

Njinga Cycling

www.njingacycling.com

Ride With Purpose