Quality, not Quantity!
How many times have we heard that before?!?!
Funnily enough, strength & conditioning is based on simply implementing these principles.
My post yesterday was on the minimum training required to maintain/improve endurance and strength performance. Today I want to elaborate a tiny bit more on the use of interval training.
Interval training has many scientific advantages over continuous training. Yesterday I based my post on the time constraints of continuous training vs interval training in relation to the winter weather that is fast approaching us. But, there is more to interval training than just being condensed.
Read these brief points:
- Interval training in any form (running, bike, rower etc…) is intensity dependent. You have to put the effort in by working at high percentages of you VO2Max in order to reap the rewards of reduced training time. What’s good about this is it helps promote fast, powerful and efficient movements upon which all sports are dependent. Remember, train fast, become fast! If you only perform slow continuous movements, like jogging for miles and miles on end, you’ll become slow. Simple.
- Generally, when we move fast, we are mechanically at our most efficient. Think of this in terms of sprinting compared to jogging. Our foot contact times are shorter, our limbs move quicker, our foot strike is more forefoot dominant, we make more use of our stretch-shortening cycle and elastic energy through tendon recoiling (more plyometric) and the list goes on… So if we train by performing these more efficient movements, our motor skill develop will make it easier for us to replicate this at other intensities. In other words, if I train by performing fast efficient movements such as maximal sprinting. When it comes to performing these movements slowly (e.g. Distance Running) I will be able to replicate these mechanics easier. Think, the more you do something, the easier it becomes. This is the principle which most of Alberto Salazar’s coaching at the Nike Oregon Project in Portland is based on. His training methods with Mo Farah and Eugene Rupp are aiming to make them as efficient as a 100m sprinter. But, over much much longer distances. At top elite level running, cycling, rowing etc…, economy is the key.
- The principle of overload is a simple one. Everyone knows that if you push yourself harder than your event, you’ll develop as a result of the general adaptation syndrome. So, why do so many people still continue to perform only long slow continuous training sessions? I always think back to the original marathon runners who started including interval training in programmes. They realised that overload, in terms of training for a 26.2 mile race, didn’t work too well due to time constraints and needing sufficient recovery for your next training session by performing a 30+ mile training run. So they broke up their mileage and overloaded each run by training at a faster pace than they’d run their marathon in. They overloaded their training by focusing on QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY. Funnily enough, they got better.
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So, hopefully the above points might make some sense to you and help you understand that your training sessions don’t have to be a long time consuming slog. As long as you push yourself and maintain a good intensity, you can get results from a concise block of quality training.
Train smart.
Joe Bullen MSc ASCC CSCS
