The Primal Endurance podcast Interval shows are published in between our full-length feature episodes published on Fridays. For the Interval episodes, podcast host Brad Kearns discusses various elements of the Primal Endurance approach, pulling from topics in the book/digital course and adding some candid and fresh insights. The Interval shows will keep you focused and purposeful with all of your workouts and lifestyle decisions.

Developing a strong aerobic base and transitioning to a primal-style diet are your foremost concerns to succeed as a fat burning beast and a lean, healthy, strong endurance athlete. At a certain point, brief, high intensity workouts can deliver a tremendous performance benefit. Box jumps or heavy squatting can put your body under load is such a way that simulates the fatigue you experience after many hours of hard racing. However, you have to be strategic about introducing intensity. There are no “hacks” in the endurance game to bypass the hours of aerobic work necessary. Introduce intensity when your base is strong, your MAF tests are showing steady improvement (test regularly, but only when you feel strong), and finally when your “desire to train” is strong, as Dr. Kelly Starrett likes to say. That’s right, the intuitive sense that it’s time to open the throttle is the #1 evaluation factor for introducing intensity. Brad jogs by a soccer field each day during his aerobic morning run with dogs, and once in a while he attacks the field for a handful of all-out sprints, when the urge strikes him. On prior shows, Andrew MacNaughton details how his training decisions are guided my his moods. Sounds goofy, but this actually represents the highest level of training sophistication for an endurance athlete.