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Science Corner

The Minimum Effective Dose (MED) is often talked about in medicine and pharmacology - it’s defined as the smallest amount of a drug or treatment that will achieve the desired outcome (like lowering your blood pressure or getting rid of your sniffles). This concept applies to sports and exercise too: the MED is the least amount of exercise required to elicit a specific training adaptation.

Research indicates that fitness benefits can be achieved or at least maintained with concise, focused sessions - and it’s often less than you think. Whether you are looking to start conditioning training outside of HEMA, or already are relatively fit and are facing a sudden decrease in training volume and/or frequency, here’s what you need to know:

• Cardiorespiratory Fitness:

  • Reducing the intensity seems to be more detrimental than reducing the days per week or minutes per session when it comes to VO2 max and training endurance.

    • Time: In general populations, as little as 13-26 minutes per session may be enough to maintain VO2 max as long as it is at adequate intensity. In elite cyclists, reducing training time by 33% (from 60 to 40 minutes) did not impact their endurance as long as participants continued to exercise the same number of days per week.

    • Frequency: In the general population as little as 2 sessions per week seems to maintain VO2 max for up to 15 weeks. For elite athletes this number is likely a little higher. In one study, elite cyclists reduced their biking sessions per week from 6 to 4, and after 15 weeks maintained their VO2 max and long distance endurance.

    • Intensity: In general, the fewer the amount of exercise per week, the more important intensity becomes. Eliminating high intensity training (82-87% of max heartrate) from exercise sessions has a notably detrimental impact on short term endurance after 15 weeks. This may be less important for some sports but would have a notable impact in HEMA and other combat sports where bouts are high energy and last only a few minutes.

• Strength: Although 2 or 3 training sessions per week is typically recommended to see big changes in your strength or body composition, the MED is actually quite low:

  • Younger Adults: Performing even just one set per exercise per week at sufficient intensity can effectively maintain muscle strength in the general population. In other words, you could get ONE 30-60 minute workout in a week at the gym that hits the entire body and not lose out on strength. Studies lasted 32 weeks but likely this is true for even longer.

  • Older Adults (50+): due to age-related physiologic changes,  maintaining muscle mass may require two sessions per week with 2 or 3 sets per exercise.

  • Athletes: The MED is sport dependent, which intuitively makes sense (a powerlifter would struggle with 1 weight-training session per week compared to a runner). There is insufficient data to conclusively make recommendations for each sport, but if you had to ask me I would recommend 2 session per week with 1-3 sets per exercise as a long-term MED.

Spiering, Barry A.1; Mujika, Iñigo2,3; Sharp, Marilyn A.1; Foulis, Stephen A.1 Maintaining Physical Performance: The Minimal Dose of Exercise Needed to Preserve Endurance and Strength Over Time, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research: May 2021 – Volume 35 – Issue 5 – p 1449-1458 doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000003964

HEMA Hot Take: Reflection Drives Progress

When time is scarce, it's crucial to prioritize exercises in the gym that offer the most significant benefits for fencing performance. Here’s my top 3 suggestions for what to do in a training session that is 30 minutes or less:

1. Strength: Compound Strength Movements in a Circuit

   • Why: Engages multiple muscle groups and improves inter-muscular coordination and strength in less time

   • How: Full-body exercises like squats, pull-ups, overhead pressing, chop, and rowing motions done back-to-back in a long circuit

2. Fencing: Footwork with Ghost Sword Drills

   • Why: doubles as cardio, and doable almost anywhere since there’s no equipment to worry about.

   • How: Practice fundamental fencing movement patterns like advance-lunge or multiple disengages with advancing footwork while focusing on precision and speed. Pick 5-7 movement patterns, and work on BOTH left and right sides even if you are a 1H fencer.

3. Cardio: Tempo Intervals:

   1. Why: Trains your body in recovering between bouts, effective even in small doses

   2. How: Choose a piece of fitness equipment (rower, bike, elliptical, or treadmill) and get going at a relaxed pace. Begin to alternate between 10-12 seconds of high intensity (sprinting, high resistance), and then 60 seconds of rest. Repeat this cycle for 5-10 minutes, focusing on lowering your heartrate and controlling your breathing during the rests.

Coach’s Corner

Prioritizing Quality Over Quantity

When structuring a fencing class, it’s easy to fall into the trap of more is better—more drills, more reps, more complexity. But research on skill acquisition and motor learning suggests that doing too much in a single session can actually reduce retention and effectiveness. Instead, applying the Minimum Effective Dose (MED) concept to fencing instruction helps students progress faster and with better skill retention.

Applying MED to Fencing Class Design

Here’s how coaches can structure classes for maximum effectiveness without overload:

✔ Introduce fewer concepts per session. Aim for 1-2 main themes, not 5+ different plays. When fencers are introduced to too many new techniques at once, they struggle to retain them and separate them in their minds.
✔ Use shorter, high-quality drill blocks. Long, multi-step drills may seem beneficial, but if students can’t perform the basics consistently, layering complexity too soon leads to frustration and poor execution. In a 90 minute class, try three 30 minute blocks that focus on different things rather than 90 minutes of the same increasingly complex set of drills.
✔ Prioritize retention over sheer volume. For adult learners, spaced out repetition is king. Make it a regularly scheduled part of class to briefly review key topics from the prior week.
✔ Watch for cognitive fatigue. Monitor as you go - if the students look fatigued or like they’re not getting it, modify your lesson plan. Often we are excited to get to the most complex drill, but consider skipping it or changing tactics if engagement is flagging.
✔ Use feedback-based training. Encourage self-correction and asking questions. Make sure every student receives feedback on a drill, even if it is simply to confirm they are doing the sequence correctly.

Key Takeaway:
Good coaching isn’t about cramming as much training as possible into a single session—it’s about giving students just enough to make real, lasting improvements without overloading their brains and bodies.

Health & Fitness Tips

Making it Personal

For those who really are budgeting their time, the best workout plan is ultimately going to be one that focuses on addressing your deficiencies. Take a hard look at your fencing and be real about where you struggle most right now. Focus on that and forget the rest.

Struggling to lift your rapier? Skip the cardio programming and focus on a 30 minute workout for core, back, and shoulder strength.

Flagging in bouts? Forgo the barbell and try 30 minutes of high-intensity interval training or tempo intervals to build your endurance and ability to recover.

Tripping over your feet? Spend 15 to 20 minutes on fencing footwork drills and stability exercises to improve your balance and coordination.

All the above? If you don’t have time to hit everything but feel like everything could use work, make a plan to train once or twice a week and alternate between different activities (strength, cardio, balance and stability, footwork). A little dedicated training can go a long way - you’d be amazed at what many of my clients who are novice exercises can accomplish in as little as 40-60 minutes a week!

Conditioning Move of the Week

TRX / Suspension Jump Lunges

Adding a TRX or suspension trainer into your home gym setup can be a great choice for crosstraining without breaking the bank. Here’s three reasons I love the TRX for this exercise:

✔ Leg Power & Speed: Plyometric lunges build explosive strength in the quads, hamstrings, and glutes—key for lunging and quick footwork.
✔ Stability & Balance: The TRX system forces your core to engage while doing the exercises - getting the double bonus of strength and stability training together.
✔ Joint-Friendly Plyometrics: Unlike regular jump lunges, the assistance from the TRX minimizes impact, making this a great way to reduce strain on the joints.

P.S. Don’t forget to forward this newsletter to a HEMA friend—it’s the perfect way to spread the word and grow our amazing community!