The Norwegian Method Applied: Threshold Training and Intensity Control for Faster, More Durable Running at Every Level

by Marius Bakken MD, Steve Magness (Foreword)

Genres: Fitness, Sports, Nonfiction

328 pages, Paperback

Published March 17, 2026

Reviews

[Thaïs Rolly]

An excellently written protocol to the Norwegian Method of training from decades of experience and clinical studies. This changed how I approach training—it’s interesting to learn that working easier can yield better results. All this knowledge could be overwhelming but ultimately, the overall message is quite simple: consistent threshold training in the correct zone with progressive loading allows for progress.

[Cian Aherne]

A book that’ll shape my training almost entirely, great detail. At the same time, I prefer it as a companion to NSM as some of this can be used overly precise/repeated whereas NSM offers a helpful antidote to that.

[Halle]

so great! already using in my training plans and excited to see how it works with my team

[Tim]

Bakkens Buch wird eine Trainingsbibel werden, auch wenn es vielleicht etwas zu spät kommt: Die Ambitionierten haben längst Norwegian Doubles eingebaut und die Hobbyjogger trainieren nach Copelands/Sirpocs Norwegian Singles Method. Zum Glück kommt Bakken ganz ohne lange Tabellen mit Pace-Umrechnungen und ohne Woche-für-Woche Trainingspläne aus. Die genaue Planung bleibt einem selbst überlassen, so dass das Buch eine gute Vertiefung zu planlastigeren Büchern ist. Gefreut hat mich, dass es ein Kapitel für Hobbyjogger wie mich gibt, also für alle, die so 5-6h/Woche trainieren und keine Doubles laufen wollen oder können. Überraschend, aber einleuchtend war der Fokus auf Muskeltonus zur Trainingssteuerung. Leider fehlt ein Index fürs Nachschlagen. Offen ist für mich geblieben, wie Load gesteuert werden kann, wenn man kein Laktatmessgerät zur Verfügung hat. Ich hatte gehofft, dass Bakken zumindest zum Einstieg bzw. Groborientierung auf Trimp/CTL/ATL o.ä. eingeht. Aber nicht so schlimm: Das Buch ist toll für das, was es verspricht, und eine gute Vertiefung zu Copelands Buch.

[Sean McGorty]

“It’s not variety that drives progress. It’s precision.”

[Nicholas Su]

I enjoyed this a lot. Bakken ties in a lot of cutting edge research, but the overarching training philosophy he presents is straightforward, and all chapters are structured around this. Will have to revisit certain sections, especially the intro chapters, training chapters, and discussions on double threshold and muscle tone.

Specifically will also need to try incorporating double threshold at very conservative paces as well as 45/15 reps into my upcoming training.

There are lots of details in here that are probably meant for runners at much higher levels than myself, but the overall approach is presented in a way that all levels can get value from it. One thing I'll probably never do is actually measure my blood lactate regularly.

Now i am curious to read Copeland's NSM book.

[James]

Dr. Bakken revels in sharing his hard-fought, deeply personal knowledge of the human body under immense stress and thoughtful conditioning, the result of decades of running and pushing himself to the limits. I found The Norwegian Method Applied to be illuminating and thought-provoking, with an awareness of how double-threshold workouts acutely push the body in the exact right way, a far cry from simply running more miles, pushing yourself to the absolute limit every time, a philosophy which drove me for a long, long time. Bakken's science is carefully explained, his ideas broken down into their core components for maximum application. Anyone who knows Dr. Bakken knows that his emphasis on control is central to his own running career. Control and precision. The book is practical and applicable, designed for many different kinds of runners and kinds of training. I am keeping it on my shelf, next to books from Joe Newton and Peter Coe as a reference to turn to as I train and grow in knowledge. He unpacks The Golden Zone and how it drives everything through the one simple question: "Can you keep going?"

When should we push? When should we rest? Dr. Bakken examines the underpinnings of his training philosophy done through decades of self-study and lactate tests.

Do I want more? Yes, of course. I want to know more about landing in La Paz with no hotel reservation and tooling around in high altitude searching for training spots. I want to know about running in Kenya for the first time in 2000. I'm hungry for stories of his coach Olympian Per Halle, contemporary of Pre and Viren, stalking him on Sandefjord hills in Norway, or Coach Sam Bell at Indiana. I want to know more about the recollections of the exchange year in the United States (full disclosure: Marius was my teammate and deep, deep friend) as well as staying in Chelsea with Peter Coe in Sebastian Coe's old room! I want to draft alongside him as he runs an overgrown hill by the Thames that served as a basis for systematic hill traning. I want to know if, perhaps, my teammates and I were chasing him as he embarked upon his first double threshold on the Illinois Prairie Path in the winter of 1995-1996, a particularly cold one in my memory. Dr. Bakken is a student of the sport AND a medical doctor, a potent combination, a scholar and a scientist, someone who has been in the room where it happens, pushing himself to his absolute limits in World Championships and Olympic races. There is also, of course, no shortage of Nordic pride as Dr. Bakken presents Norway's outsized output in athletics, a feat confirmed at this year's World Cup: "Norway has 5.5 million inhabitants, about the same as Minnesota. Yet the level Norwegian athletes achieve in middle distance, long distance, and triathalon is world class."

Dr. Bakken posits "You don't improve by training as hard as possible. You improve by training hard enough, often, enough, for long enough." To read Dr. Bakken's work is to study a person who ended up studying elite running with the runners and coaches he grew up idolizing: Peter Coe and Sebastian Coe; Vebjorn Rodal; the training of the great New Zealand coach Arthur Lydiard as filtered through the marvelous, psychologically gifted coach Mr. Joe Newton; Sam Bell's work with the great Bob Kennedy, the first non-African to break 13:00 for 5000 meters. We are, as Dr. Bakken eloquently points out, the results of "the gradual collision of influences, experiments, and questions that refuse to go away that form the bedrock of our training (and often life) philosophies.

Complete with QR codes and links to studies for further learning. Dr. Bakken analyzes pitfalls and unknowns within his philosophy. As a Texan now, I wonder about training in severe heat and humidity. Is there as he suggests, "something about the combination of heat and altitude that produced an extra benefit" in the Kenyan runners? Could heat "be a practical alternative for runners without access to altitude" as he wonders in his closing chapter, a possible balm for all of us here in Houston where the temperatures soar in the high 90's even at night. Ultimately, The Norwegian Method exists as a testament to Dr. Bakken's soaring love of running, science, and learning. He's eager to share that love and knowledge with all of us who "love to run," as he put in his year abroad application in 1995. The world, and all of us, are the better for it and because of him.

[John Lynch]

“Why would anyone do threshold for 400 meter reps? The longer you do threshold, the better”- me circa 2020. I remember seeing pros do threshold in 400, 1k or 2k intervals, taking lactate readings and being curious but also skeptical b/c it was so counter to what I was taught. Klass Lok’s “Easy Interval Method” was the first time a lot of my assumptions on run training fell apart, and then I stumbled upon Bakken…an elite runner and MD, who was trained by basically all of the great coaches or their systems (Coe, Lydiard, etc.), and whose early 2000s blog entries on threshold (and specifically double threshold) were rediscovered and became all the rage in the endurance nerd community in 2022. This book is a structured synopsis of those blogs, but adds more training prescriptions and frameworks, and can more easily reach the masses. You don’t have to follow the Norwegian Method dogmatically- I don’t- to take away a lot from this. Bakken’s training perspective prioritizes concepts like overall training load, prioritizing what training intensity you can handle and absorb, and does so in a way that is practical and easy to understand.

[Louis Porter]

Great complimentary to Norwegian Singles Approach with a much deeper dive into the gritty details.

As a hobby jogger, the NSA style fits my schedule and aims better but I gained lots of new insights from this book, like: lowering my sub threshold HR range, always erring on the slow side, calorie and carb intake, and, most importantly, information about overtraining.

It also convinced me to spend £220 on new running shoes.

[David Roesener]

Very interesting and i learned alot. No you don’t need a lactate meter to do double threshold training but it is helpful. Learning the role of muscle tension in recovery was something i hadn’t considered

Definitely a fascinating read and i will refer back to it. Also reminds the importance of maintaining year round endurance through periodization

[Joshua]

Honestly a little bit disappointing. Very obvious heavy AI use that made this a chore to read. Certainly not bad in terms of a running book: some very helpful sections on muscle tone, and I loved the 45/15 workouts, but I was expecting better from the GOAT. Just read Steve Magness or James Copeland's book instead.

[victoria]

This book took me ages to finish as I was really trying to get the most out of it to apply to my training. It is a lot of content at once, however a bit repetitive at times. As someone who doesn’t love intense and show-offy workouts, it was refreshing to hear of the many benefits to doing controlled threshold.

[Julius Lewis]

I’m glad Coach Bakken cuts through all the social media hype and gets to the point of the Norwegian training. If you want the truth, get it from the horse’s mouth. Definitely worth a read if you’re looking to optimize threshold training and minimize risk.

[Martijn]

Excellent source for runners. I've been training continuously for the past two years and I really wish I had read this book when I started. Still glad I've read it now, because it gave me a lot of insight into how a sustainable training regime looks like.

[Dominic Douglass]

I don’t know if you can ever be done reading this as I’m sure I’ll keep going back to it but wonderfully done and if I ever get back into coaching I’ll use this to guide a lot of my training decisions (hard copy)

[Simone Querceti]

This book is impressive, very nice and precise work from Marius, well written and explained, but above all, it makes accessible a method of training that was considered only for elite athletes, not anymore.
Game changer book.

[Jeff Purdom]

Very good. There is so much to take in as both a coach and a runner myself.

[Inez]

Bra grejer! Redan blivit bättre! Tröskel träning ftw!

[Joscha]

May this let me achieve a 2:47 marathon 🙏🏻

[Brian Atkinson]

A thought provoking book which outlines in detail the often misunderstood and misused Norwegian training method

[Konstantinos Paradeisopoulos]

Very good book

[Sean Mccafferty]

Tremendous read. Confirmed a lot and made me think.

[DeNae]

Oh, man, I learned so much. This book lays it out simply, and I understand my son's training and success so much more.

[Matthew Falcioni]

If you only read one book about distance running training it should be this one.

[John Brentlinger]

A good overview of threshold training with actionable concepts for runners and endurance athletes

[Danny van Kooten]

Heavily edited through AI. Typical AI prose makes it hard to take serious. Chapters about muscle tone are mostly anecdotal.