The science behind Theron

These are the papers named on the homepage and in the FAQ. Each one is a description of how coaches already think about load. None of them is a promise that you will stay unhurt.

Blanch and Gabbett (2016)

They describe a way to spot a sharp jump in recent training compared with the training you have already absorbed. Theron uses that as a training ramp: the week grows by about 8 percent, and it eases off when the recent load jumps. High volume by itself is not the claim. A sudden spike is.

Banister et al. (1975)

Banister, Calvert, Savage, and Bach described fitness and fatigue as two traces of the same training. Fitness lasts longer. Fatigue shows up sooner. Theron uses that split so a hard block can raise fitness without pretending yesterday's fatigue is gone. The 1975 paper is the one we cite. A later write-up of the same model is Calvert, Banister, Savage, and Bach (1976).

Vesterinen et al. (2016)

Recreational runners who placed harder sessions on days when morning heart-rate variability looked ready improved a 3,000 m time trial. A group on a fixed plan did not show the same gain. Theron reads sleep and HRV and scales the next session when those signals are low. The session still exists. The dose changes.