Training Theory and Why Roger Bannister was the First Four-Minute Miler

Abstract

The actual training and racing of Roger Bannister is compared with the training theory of his time and the subsequent development of international training. By acting like a true scientist Bannister used a very modern individualized training approach, although very often he did not yet have the modern vocabulary to go along with it and make it possible to communicate about it in present-day terms. He might have trained more, but neither more systematically nor intelligently.