Five Benefits of Training in Silence

Since the early 2000s, I've been training in silence and paying attention to my breathing. The benefits are significant:

1. A quiet effort quiets the mind.
2. Idea generation increases 10-fold.
3. Increased awareness improves execution.
4. Synchronized breathing naturally limits intensity; and
5. Music becomes caffeine.

The best meditate while they train or climb. This active meditation, while similar to passive meditation, connects thought and action, perception and reaction, instead of segregating components.

—Mark Twight, Extreme Alpinism

Benefits of Training in Silence

A quiet effort quiets the mind.

Twenty years ago, my roommate Kim recommended Body, Mind, & Sport, by John Douillard, who champions nasal breathing, recommending it for all types of exercise.¹ It sounded a bit woo-woo, but I gave it a shot.

On an approach to the north side of Mt. Robson, I hiked in with a friend that is notoriously hyper and chatty. I mentioned the nasal breathing to him, and we both tried it.

"How'd it go?" Kim asked when I got back.
"We failed. But I mentioned the nasal thing, and he was quiet for two hours."
"What? No way..."

Idea generation increases ten-fold.

The idea of having your "best ideas in the shower" is a common one, as it is with any borderline-boring, low-stimulation environment like staring out a bus window. Our default mode network gets switched on and starts connecting the dots between thought and experience.

But unless you're a teenager, showers only last 10 minutes and bus rides are rare. And even if you shower every day, 10 minutes a day is only 61 hours per year. If you train in silence, the volume of idea generation—and the rate that they occur—is significantly higher.

Not only does the DMN switch on, but higher-than-resting heart rates turbo-charge its processing. Rather than 61 hours per year at a resting rate in the shower, you have hundreds of hours per year at a much higher rate.

And as an added benefit, training at a DMN-friendly intensity 95% of the time is exactly what you need to build a strong aerobic base.

Increased awareness improves execution.

When running, I used to be a heel-striker. It felt normal, and I never thought anything of it. But after watching a technique video by Bobby McGee, I decided to try and change my running form.

It took a couple of seasons—and a lot of patience—for my calves to adjust to mid-foot striking, but now I can't imagine running any other way.

(To feel the difference, try this: First, walk down a flight of stairs normally. Notice how little impact there is. Now do it again, but pull your toes up to heel strike as you descend. Awful, right?)

When I started skimo racing, my transitions were hella slow. Others would enter and exit a transition zone before me, even if I arrived first. But by practicing slowly, in silence, and focusing on every movement, my transitions are now very competitive. (Any racer can have fast transitions if they practice).

Synchronized breathing naturally limits intensity.

Over the last twenty years, I've become familiar enough with my breathing that I know what intensity I'm at just by tracking my respiration alongside my cadence.²

Ventilation is a more real-time measure of intensity than heart rate, so if I'm running at a 4-in, 4-out ventilation rate, I know that I'm in Zone 1. Or if skinning uphill at 2-in, 2-out, I know that I'm in Zone 2. Or in an uphill race at 1-in, 1-out, I know I'm near anaerobic threshold and have a little more headroom to attack-defend or let it all out at the finish.

Music becomes caffeine.

Training in silence increases the benefit from infrequent, external motivators.

Increasing the association between effort and fatigue³ also sensitizes me to dissassociative tools. So instead of being dependent on any external supports—like someone that needs coffee in the morning just to get to baseline—motivators like music feel incredible when I use them.

Instead of craving the distraction of a podcast to endure every long session, silence is the norm. Instead of being dependent on music to get up to speed, it acts as rocket fuel when I need it.

How to Train in Silence

For the next month, train in silence in all easy sessions. You might need that long to get comfortable with it.

1. Turn off all notifications. (And do so every training session, forever.)
2. Synchronize your breathing and cadence.
3. Immerse yourself in "boredom". Let your mind wander.
4. Mind not wandering? Slow down.
5. Observe your movement patterns. What could you improve?

1. Years later while working with Scott Johnston, we recommended nasal breathing as a natural way to stay below aerobic threshold. But we found that it only worked reliably for athletes with a well-developed aerobic system—those with less than a 10% gap between aerobic and anaerobic thresholds. Athletes with underdeveloped or damaged aerobic systems (usually from too much high-intensity training) could still nasal breathe above AeT. As a result, we stopped using nasal breathing to target AeT.
2. I still wear a heart rate monitor so that I don't delude myself with RPE, but the main driver of intensity for 90% of my training is ventilation.
3. "In a study on triathletes ... the higher pain tolerance was related to higher associative coping skills and lower dissociative skills." (The Science of Running, Steve Magness) Meaning: Increase your ability to deal with discomfort by immersing yourself in it when you don't need to.