10/21/2026
I think most people carry a massive bias when it comes to the way they think about a sport like basketball vs a sport like running or powerlifting.
We know that a basketball player doesn’t need to play 4 quarters of 5v5 to improve or get fit.
We know that they need tons of shooting and ball handling, small sided games and situational drills, tons of repetitions of coach’s plays and systems, and a good strength & conditioning program.
What we know and observe there is the game as an emergent quality. Each component of their practice and training comes together to allow performance on game day.
Now, maybe we think that this is different because of how many skills and physical abilities are required. But when we look a little closer, we see that running and lifting have the same combination of many different qualities. And yes, skill being an important piece.
In running, the low resolution view is “I need to be very fit to run a good 10km race.”
But “fit” carries a tremendous amount of weight here, and yet still neglects the skill/quality aspect of race performance.
You need a strong aerobic metabolism, a high lactate threshold, good mechanical efficiency, durability, race management experience, good fuelling strategy and tolerance, etc.
And here’s the thing, there’s no workout that most optimally develops each of those qualities simultaneously. You need specific work to raise each individual component, so that your 10km performance can “emerge” from the accumulation of qualities you’ve developed.
This is how people can run very strong marathons, having never run over 40km in training before.
In part 2, we will investigate how different types of workouts develop different qualities, so stay tuned for the more practical elements of this discussion.
