Three-Peat, by Hal Higdon

How many days a week should you run if you want to achieve maximum fitness—or even any level of fitness? Is there a perfect blend of running and cross-training and rest that will allow you to combine good health with competitive goals?

Among the training programs I offer marathon runners are those that feature four, five and six days of running a week, and most recently I created a three-day program, although it is not necessarily for beginning runners. No seven-day programs in my coaching bin, although when I competed as an elite runner, I ran twice daily to achieve 100-mile weeks. If you want to win races, such dedication is de rigueur.

But if you are talking fitness—which might be defined as an ability to both live longer and live better—the bar is somewhat lower. In its guidelines, the American College of Sports Medicine suggests training (not necessarily running) five days a week, 30 minutes a day at a moderately intense level. Or, if you train with some vigor (enough to get out of breath), you can train 20 minutes, three days a week. Running would be considered a vigorous workout. (ACSM also recommends strength training twice weekly.)

Do that, claims Aerobics author Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper, and you can extend your lifespan six to nine years. Training more will not necessarily provide additional health benefits. “Run more than 15 miles a week,” says Dr. Cooper, “and you’re doing it for reasons other than fitness.”

Most runners who sign up for my interactive training programs are doing just that. But not all. More and more have begun to realize that three running days a week are enough. It’s partly availability of time and partly because as we age, it becomes increasingly difficult to train day after day without ample rest, or the break that cross-training provides.

This is one reason I designed a Novice 3 marathon training program, just released. This Three-Peat program gets the “3” designation, because it is one step upward from my Novice 1 and Novice 2 programs. Novice 3 also prescribes only three days running a week. That does not make Novice 3 easy. It climaxes with three 20-milers and generally demands more mileage on each of the running days. Stepback weeks with reduced miles come every third week.

The four other days of the week in Novice 3 feature two days of cross-training and two days of rest. The cross-training discipline I favor most for runners is cycling, although  other aerobic exercises work too.

Can running three days weekly allow you to maximize your running ability? Not if you’re planning to win the Boston Marathon, but if your goal is to live a long life and run more than a few more marathons in that life, I think it can.

To examine Hal Higdon’s Novice 3 marathon training plan, click here! You can also check out more of Hal’s Higdon’s Interactive Training Programs.