70-20-10 Training Distribution
Practice most, compete sometimes, and touch the limit rarely
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 98%
The 70-20-10 distribution gives each training session one of three jobs. Roughly seventy percent is practice: the athlete works and may sweat, but the purpose is to improve technique, positioning, pacing, or another specific skill. About twenty percent is competition practice: the athlete seeks the best score and uses strategy to win rather than simply suffering. The remaining ten percent deliberately touches the limit, even when starting too hard produces a worse final score. Galpin applies the proportions over a broader window, such as a month, so a person training four times weekly may need only one or two maximal sessions. This structure gives intensity-averse people a clear commitment while protecting intensity-seeking people from turning every workout into an uncontrolled redline effort.
Origin
Galpin credited the structure to longtime CrossFit coach Kenny Kane and explained how he applies it over a month on Modern Wisdom.
Core principles
- 01Most training should improve a skill rather than prove fitness.
- 02Competition practice rewards pacing and score optimization.
- 03Maximal suffering is a small, deliberate exposure rather than a daily standard.
- 04The distribution is easier to manage across a month than day by day.
How to run it
- 1
Define practice
Choose the skill or movement quality each practice session will improve. Work hard enough to learn without making the score the objective.
Pro tip Name one technical target before the session starts.
Watch out Practice is not the same as effortless recovery.
- 2
Define competition
Use selected sessions to pursue the best result through pacing, technique, and decision-making.
Pro tip Record a score that can be compared later.
Watch out Do not confuse the best score with the greatest discomfort.
- 3
Schedule limit exposure
Reserve a small number of sessions for deliberately contacting maximal discomfort or output. Make the intent explicit beforehand.
Pro tip For four workouts per week, Galpin translates ten percent to roughly one or two such sessions per month.
Watch out Frequent maximal efforts can create recovery problems, especially alongside a highly stressful life.
- 4
Audit the distribution
At month's end, classify completed sessions and compare the mix with the intended distribution. Adjust the next block rather than compensating impulsively in one day.
Pro tip Count what was completed, not only what was programmed.
In the wild
A person training four times each week completes about sixteen monthly sessions. Most develop technique or controlled capacity, several pursue a score, and only one or two are planned maximal efforts.
→ The person receives enough exposure to severe intensity without needing to fear every workout.
Common mistakes
Turning practice into a test
Chasing a win in every session removes the deliberate skill focus and accumulates unnecessary fatigue.
Never paying the ten percent
Repeatedly replacing the hardest sessions with easy work eventually leaves the maximal-intensity requirement unmet.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people who either redline too often or avoid hard efforts indefinitely.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal as a rigid prescription for rehabilitation or sport-specific peaking without professional adjustment.
From the transcript
“70% of our training however however many trainings that is 70% of them are going to be practice”
“that leaves you then 20% or so of the time where we're going to practice competing”
“that leaves us 10% of the time where we're going to touch death”
From the episode
The New Science Of Heart Health, VO2 Max & Sleep Hacking - Dr Andy Galpin - #822
Dr Andy Galpin