Training load is undoubtedly one of the key factors related to athletic performance in endurance sports. "How much is enough?" must be one of the interrogations more often being part of coaches minds in order to have the athletes performing at their best, but at the same time not crossing the dangerous line between the "optimum" and "excessive". It looks obvious that an athlete training less and performing the same or better than his pairs is probably more talented and/or training more accurately. The "ideal formula" for each athlete should be the one that requires less effort and best results, reducing time, stress, and risks of illness or injury. For the majority of coaches, if not all, there is no particular pleasure to recommend some longer sessions or very high intensity sets, but it is proved that some physiological and psychological stages needed to be overreached in order to have the athletes ready to race at the required Elite level in Olympic distance Triathlon. The permanent evolution of Olympic Triathlon for the last 25 years raised the bar to levels only reachable by those who not only are talented, but also work hard, and work appropriately. To adequate the «ideal» training load to each individual athlete during the different stages of their athletic careers and along each season should be one of the coach`s primary missions. Season records of 30 to 35h, even sometimes close to 40h of training during base/building phase seems common, but the cutback when it comes to racing approach is definitely the moment we can observe bigger differences from athlete to athlete and coach to coach recommendations. To identify and permanently rearrange the key factors that have more impact on athlete`s competitive level is one of the major challenges in present coaching. Age, gender, sport background, environmental conditions, injury incidence, training partners and lifestyle appear to be the most evident. The "one size fits all" formula is for a long time past due, and even what seems to fit during a certain amount of time, doesn`t fit anymore in future development stages for the same athlete. Everybody knows that there is no magic formula, and dozens of Triathlon Champions "typical weeks" are published. However, nobody can promptly affirm "how much is enough". It`s all about individual needs, coaching style, and beliefs, supported by what makes really the difference in high performance to reach systematically results on long term. Talent, Hard Work, Accurate Coaching and Motivation will not guaranty by themselves Success to be reached, but it will definitely be a competitive advantage. Vortrag des Referenten auf der Science + Triathlon 2015 World Conference vom 26.-27. November 2015 am INSEP in Paris
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