How Often Should You Train?
One of the biggest mistakes in long term athletic development is assuming every physical quality needs the same training frequency. Strength does not fade like speed. Aerobic endurance does not behave like max power. Understanding Residual Training Effects helps coaches organize training so athletes maintain key qualities without unnecessary volume, fatigue, or wasted sessions.
Residual Training Effects describe how long a physical quality is maintained after it is trained and how frequently it must be revisited to maintain that quality. Each quality decays at a different rate, so training frequency should reflect those differences. The SDP System uses RTE to guide how often each quality is trained, ensuring no single area is over or underdeveloped.
What Are Residual Training Effects?
Residual Training Effects refer to how long adaptations last once a training stimulus is removed. Some qualities are fragile and disappear quickly if ignored such as max speed. Others are durable and can be maintained with minimal exposure such as max strength. This concept allows coaches to rotate emphasis across a training week or training block while still maintaining previously developed qualities.
Aerobic Endurance
Aerobic Endurance has a moderate residual effect, typically lasting around 10 to 20 days. To maintain aerobic capacity, athletes generally need exposure one to two times per week. Lower intensity and longer duration work can remain in a program without excessive fatigue, but it should still be planned intentionally.
Aerobic work is often overused or misused in sport programs. When it is kept at appropriate volumes and intensities, it supports recovery, repeat effort ability, and overall work capacity without interfering with higher priority qualities. Examples, tempo runs, light sled drags, bikes, rower, steady run or low intensity circuits. Typical aerobic training for team sport athletes should involve a mode of training in which the athlete can “stay off the legs,” meaning if possible, be performed on something like a stationary/airdyne bike, rower, weight room circuits, isometric circuits etc. This is because team sport athletes already accrue a lot of volume on their feet running, cutting, jumping, and so when supplementing aerobic work, they can mitigate excessive fatigue using alternative modes of training.
Anaerobic Endurance
Anaerobic endurance is more durable than pure aerobic work, with residual effects lasting roughly two to three weeks. Maintenance typically requires one to two exposures per week. These sessions should involve high intensity intervals or repeated efforts that challenge the athlete’s ability to sustain power output under fatigue. Anaerobic endurance should appear consistently in team sport programs, especially during competitive phases where repeat sprint ability and high intensity efforts are required weekly. Examples include repeated sprints with incomplete rest, repeated sled pushes, high intensity shuttle runs, and short aggressive circuits with minimal recovery. 
Max Speed
Max speed is one of the most fragile physical qualities. Residual effects can fade in as little as three to seven days. Because speed fades quickly, athletes should be exposed to true high effort sprinting two to three times per week. These exposures do not need to be long or high volume. Even short accelerations and brief maximal sprint efforts are enough to maintain speed qualities. This applies year round, including in-season. Removing speed work entirely during competition phases leads to rapid decline and increases injury risk when athletes are suddenly asked to sprint at full speed during games.
Examples, Full speed sprints (with complete recovery), long distances to reach top velocity, overspeed training.
Max Strength
Max Strength Max strength is one of the most durable qualities an athlete can develop. Residual effects often last around 30 days. Once strength is built, it can typically be maintained with just one quality exposure per muscle group per week. This makes strength a powerful anchor in long term development, allowing coaches to shift focus toward speed, power, or conditioning while still retaining force production capabilities. This durability is why strength blocks can be emphasized earlier in training cycles and then maintained with low weekly volume.
Examples, heavy compound lifts in low repetition ranges (1-4), long rest periods, high intent.
This durability is why strength blocks can be emphasized earlier in training cycles and then maintained with low weekly volume. Examples, heavy compound lifts in low repetition ranges (1-4), long rest periods, high intent.
Strength Endurance and Repeat Power
Strength Endurance and Repeat Power Strength endurance and repeat power qualities fall in the middle of the spectrum. Residual effects usually last one to two weeks. Maintenance requires one to two weekly exposures. Activities such as repeated jumping, sprinting, or moderate load strength training help preserve these qualities. If exposure drops too low, athletes tend to lose work capacity quickly, which shows up as decreased performance late in games or during repeated high effort sequences. Examples, repeated jumps or bounds, moderate load lifts performed for 6+ reps, sled pushes or accelerations with incomplete rest.
Practical Programming Takeaways
Practical programming takeaways not all qualities deserve equal time every week. Programming should respect how fast each quality fades. Speed needs frequent exposure but very little volume. Strength needs less frequent exposure once built. Endurance qualities sit in between and depend heavily on sport demands.
When coaches understand Residual Training Effects, they can rotate emphasis intelligently instead of trying to train everything equally all the time. This leads to better performance, better recovery, and fewer breakdowns over long seasons. We hope this helps guide your programming decisions. If you would rather not spend time designing programs and want to focus on coaching athletes, our SDP programs handle the planning for you.