Who here follows or has tried in the past ‘minimalist training programs’ as outlined here;
https://robbwolf.com/2012/09/21/10-ways-ironman-triathletes-avoid-chronic-cardio-self-destruction/
Basically short swims and runs, biking indoors and limiting the hours you train.
Does it actually work? Will it work for everyone?
Is this the magic formula for not only ironman but triathlon in general?
It’s worked for me. I keep doing it, and I keep getting faster in the process. I do race a lot, and I think that I get fitness from that, but by keeping the hours low, I think I keep my overall stress low. I’ve had five sub nine Ironman races with a pr of 8:37 on nothing more than 17 hours during my biggest week leading in, and probably 12.5-14 hours average.
I’m very confident that people can perform well on 8 hours per week. I’m also very confident that these people are high responsers to exercise and would perform a lot better on twice or three times that volume.
I also dont understand, like stated earlier, why one would like to race a race where fatigue resistance and energy intake is major factors if one does not want to train these factors. Just do sprints and olys!
Pretty simple answer (my personal opinion and experience): I have not done long-course races for a few years due to various reasons, mainly family live, but wanted to enjoy the fun, thrill, spirit and experience of a long-course triathlon while balancing training activities well with family and job life. 8~10 hours in avg. in the 6 months build-up was my limit to race in Roth two weeks ago. And I worked well for me (agreeing only with “do short swims” and “no early season long bike” but nothing else though). I had a good, enjoyable, fast race, I recovered quickly and believe now that long-course distances do definitively not require 15~20 hours.
Could I have done better with more training? Most likely, yes. But my goal was to achieve the best with that limited available time and I feel like I achieved that. Sweet for me! So, why should I do only sprints and olys?
I believe that one can race closer to ones potential at short course tri vs long course tri at a lower volume program, since two critical aspects of long course is fatigue resistance and energy intake, both of which are trainable and requires a higher volume program.
It’s great that you had a good race tho
Well, while I agree with your statement from a pragmatic point of view, I question if coming closer to ones potential must/should/can be the main driver for doing triathlon or any other activity. At least not for me 
I prefer a top100 overall finish in Roth this year compared to an Olympic distance age group podium at national championships last year (both at same training volume). Much more satisfying. Not just the race experience, but also if I compare my few long bike rides through nice, varied countryside compared to short, hard, exhausting rides or runs when training for Olympic distance races…
Nothing wrong about your and other statements. Just not a reason for not doing long distance races…
Maybe I am wrong.
Here is what I think Ben Greenfield himself did:
- Trained normally for an Ironman for several years (and went mid 9:00 hrs) on an easy course.
- Started a business selling fringe health and fitness BS.
- Followed his own “super special training regimen” (and went much slower, but still finished).
Step 1. Collect endurance underpants.
Step 2…
Step 3. PROFIT