6 weeks

It is funny how questions seem to come in clumps, for no particular reason it seems like you suddenly start hearing the same question two or three times in a week. Strange.

Anyway, the question I have been hearing a lot this week is "how soon until I see a difference" or words to that effect. Actually the alternative I have been hearing a lot this week is actually "I have been training for X weeks, is that enough to see a difference", which is a similar question with a slightly different emphasis.

Well, at Front Runner we have a pretty simple answer to that question, it is about 6 weeks. 6 weeks seems to be about how long it takes for a person (who is training consistently) to see a tangible gain. Improvement is obviously continuous, it isn't as if a person undergoes a step change every 6 weeks, but more that it takes about 6 weeks for that improvement to become measurable. It is for that reason that we don't test athletes more often than 6 weekly, the gains may not be that noticeable before then, which isn't useful, and can actually be a little disheartening.

The flip side to this is what I have seen more of this week, where an athlete says "I felt great today" do you think the training is starting to kick in". Often the answer to that question is yes. When athletes are having these epiphany moments, they are often doubting that the results can be real, figuring that there must be some other explanation. However, when you question these athletes, you often find that they are doing the work, consistently and persistently and so the gains they are seeing are most likely real. After all, exercise isn't really rocket science, if they do the work they will eventually get the rewards, pretty much guaranteed.. 

Obviously every athlete is different, and there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to individuals, but all the same, when asked that classic question of "how long". My answer is nearly always, "ask me again in 6 weeks".