4-Minute Magic--The Best Interval Workout
Two new papers look at a familiar and important question. You’ve trained yourself into good shape. You’ve got 4 to 6 weeks remaining before a big race.
Now what? What should you do to boost your fitness and performance potential in those remaining weeks?
Here’s the payoff first, with supporting details to follow. The best way to improve your vo2 max and sub max threshold is probably with 4-minute intervals run at about your 10k race pace.
Longer, slower intervals don’t provide enough stimulus. Faster intervals don’t last long enough.
That’s the conclusion reached by a research team that took matched groups of male and female subjects, and trained them for 6 weeks to see who would improve performance the most. Each group did a specific training session 3 times a week during those 6 weeks. The sessions ranged from “moderate,” to several of “heavy” intensity, to outright “sprinting.”
The “workout loads” were also matched. In other words, the slower your intervals, the more total time you had to run. The faster your intervals, the fewer minutes you ran.
Result: The moderate training group made essentially no gains in 6 weeks. If you keep doing the same training you’ve been doing, you won't get fitter.
Also, running a bunch of 30-second “sprints” was suboptimal at improving vo2 max and lactate threshold. The winning workout consisted of 4-minute intervals run 10 percent faster than threshold pace (tempo pace).
Subjects did 5 to 6 of these, with 3 minute recoveries between. The researchers noted that this type of effort produced good results for almost all subjects. They even argued that it should be adopted by cardiac rehab programs, since the lower intensity training of such programs doesn’t improve fitness very much.
Previous studies have also found that 4-minute intervals appear to be the right length for improving vo2 max. More at Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise with free full text.
But could you get even better results with more strength training rather than more interval sessions? A Brazilian team investigated this question with a group of “well trained runners.”
Half the runners did 4 weeks of hard intervals while the other half did 4 weeks of heavy/explosive resistance (strength) training. Result: The interval training improved 1500 meter times by about 2.4%, and the resistance training improved 5000 meter times by 1.6%-1.7% Conclusion: “Both resistance training and high intensity [interval training] constitute an alternative for training periodization.” More at J of Sports Sciences.
Super Shoe Secrets: Make Plate “Stiffness” & “Curviness” Work For You
Super shoes are faster than non-super shoes. One reason could be the stiffness or curviness of the carbon-fiber plate in the midsoles. Two new papers look into these factors.
If super shoes make you faster because they contain stiff carbon plates, then you might assume that even stiffer shoes would make you still faster. Sky’s the limit!
But, no, that doesn’t seem to be the case. As with most interactions between mechanical systems and the biology of human running, it’s the timing that matters--not the simple mechanics.
In this study, researchers asked 21 trained male runners to run in: A) a traditional, flexible running shoe; B) a super shoe with a stiff carbon plate; and C) a super shoe with an even stiffer carbon plate. The runners had the best running economy in the B shoe. There was no difference between A and C.
Conclusion: “Moderately stiff shoes have the most effective stiffness to improve RE compared to very stiff shoes and traditional, flexible shoes.” More at Scandinavian J. of Medicine & Science In Sports with free full text.
Another paper examined the difference between two Asics super shoes: one with a relatively flat carbon plate in the midsole, the other with a more curved carbon plate. Subjects were 12 “highly trained male athletes.”
Conclusion: The runners were more efficient (ie, had a better running economy) in the “low curvature plate.” More at Sports Engineering with free full text.
Fast Track To Strength Gains: Get Stronger In Less Time
I know there are plenty of high-fit athletes who really enjoy their time in the gym hefting weights. And I know we all need to do regular resistance (strength) training.
But there must be many folks like me who want the shortest, simplest program to get their strength work done. That way we can return quickly to our preferred cardio training. Several new papers provide helpful guidance.
The first, a not-yet-published preprint, compared the effects of traditional strength training vs super-set strength training. The traditional routine involved 4 sets of one exercise, followed by several minutes rest, then 4 sets of the next exercise. When doing super-sets, subjects did one set of the first exercise, followed immediately by one set of the second, then took several minutes rest. Both routines eventually completed sets on the same 6 popular strength exercises.
Result: Strength grains were equal both ways, but the super-sets took 36% less time overall to complete the full routine. Thus, “supersets appear to be a time-efficient alternative for eliciting muscular adaptations.” More at Sport RXiv with free full text.
The next paper, a systematic review and meta analysis, compared traditional strength training to “drop set” training. When performing drop sets, the subject lifts a weight to volitional failure once, then slightly decreases the weight, and lifts to failure again.
Result: Muscle gains were equal with both forms of strength training, but drop sets took 33% to 50% less total time. Thus, “Drop sets present an efficient strategy for maximizing skeletal muscle hypertrophy.” More at Sports Medicine Open with free full text.
Don’t Get Bushwhacked By These Running Myths
Here’s an intriguing subject that comes up every once in a while. What do we actually know about running, what do we think we know, and what’s absolute BS or mythology? Three big buckets.
Let’s start with an example of each. We know that running is a vigorous activity that provides multiple health-fitness benefits at moderate doses. Okay, that’s endorsed by every scientific group around the globe.
We think that running can actually slow cognitive decline including progression of Alzheimers. But we need a lot more research in this arena before we can be certain. There’s bucket # 2.
Now, how about bucket # 3--the myths? These might include the “10 Percent Rule” with regard to increasing your training mileage each week. Or maybe this briskly debated topic: Do ice-water baths improve muscle recovery from hard workouts, or decrease muscle adaptation after hard workouts? (Please let me know when you’ve got a definitive answer to this one.)
Anyway, I like these Truth vs Myth debates. They force us to think more clearly about important topics, and to re-evaluate our personal convictions. Sometimes we might even change our mind as the evidence evolves.
The Myths question has come up in several places recently. At LetsRun, message-board posters have questioned: NSAIDs, the “No Pain, No Gain” philosophy, training with double workouts, the 180 strides/minute guideline, heart-rate training, 20-mile long runs for marathons, the best pace for “easy-day runs,” rearfoot vs forefoot landings, and much more. You might be interested in the different perspectives here and here.
Over at Endure IQ, exercise physiologist and top Ironman coach, Dan Plews, digs in hard on “6 Endurance Sports Myths” that he doesn’t believe. Several of these include the currently popular strategies of taking more carbs and sodium during long training and/or racing efforts. Plews lists 36 references to support his positions, so he seems to have studied the subjects in great depth.
The Step-Up Solution: Build More Speed & Hill-Running Power
It’s easy to understand why step-up exercises can improve your running, especially your hill running and speed efficiency. First, they’re a one-legged exercise that simulates the way we hop from one leg to the next when running.
Second, stepping up is basically the same as running up a hill, or pedalling your bike hard. Third, step-ups build the knee and hip muscles you need for strong, injury-resistant running.
Here’s an article explaining simple, effective step-up exercises and routines you can do in the gym, a room of your house, or outdoors. It recommends that you try to incorporate some step-up training once or twice a week. More at Triathlete.
Healthy (Exercising) Pregnant Mother = Healthy Baby
It’s been a long time, thank goodness, since we discouraged women from running during pregnancy. It’s a time for caution and listening carefully to the body, for sure, but overall there are many positive effects. Here’s a recent systematic review that finds “numerous favorable health outcomes.”
The more interesting recent research looks into outcomes for the child rather than the mother. These are termed “intergenerational effects.”
A new study reports on the association between a pregnant mother’s exercise habits and the energy expenditure of her child. If the child has a low energy expenditure, that would seem likely to increase his/her chances for packing on extra weight--a global concern, given ever rising rates of obesity at all ages.
On the other hand, if the child has a high resting energy expenditure (“calorie burn”), that should prove protective against weight gain. And that’s precisely what was noted in this report. The researchers measured resting energy expenditure of 1-month-old infants born to women who exercise during pregnancy vs those who did not.
Conclusion: “These findings associate maternal exercise with increasing infant energy expenditure which could be protective of subsequent infant adiposity gain.” More at International J of Obesity with free full text.
The Making of Champions: How Roger Federer & Katie Ledecky Got To The Top
When many of my friends began sharing links to Roger Federer’s graduation speech at Dartmouth, I had to take a look for myself. I’m glad I did.
On the other hand, I didn’t hear anyone talking about an expansive NY Times article on superstar swimmer Katie Ledecky. I stumbled across it in the print edition. It also is noteworthy.
Federer had three main messages for the graduating Dartmouth students: 1) Effortless performance is a myth; 2) It’s only a point; and 3) Life is bigger than the court.
Meaning: 1) Effortless follows only on the heels of grueling hard work; 2) The game and match are more important than any single points; and 3) His work promoting education for African children means more than all his tennis victories.
Federer offered one unforgettable sports stat: He won 80 percent of his matches, but only 54% of the points during those matches. Some points may be “only a point,” but they are apparently more important than other points. Champions win when it counts.
He also made countless funny comments to keep his message lively, and, in closing, demonstrated the best grip for the forehand stroke. Because … well, it was comical, and the perfect counterpoint to his 3 big messages.
The article on Ledecky, who has won 7 Olympic gold medals and 21 World Championships golds, didn’t even appear in the Sports pages. It was in the Styles section. Not that there is anything the least stylish about Ledecky, although her new book came out several weeks ago--“Just Add Water.”
Ledecky says she has never consumed a drop of alcohol. She doesn’t mind swimming endless laps every day until she hits 5 miles or so. She’s quiet, doesn’t enjoy parties, and doesn’t talk about herself. Everyone admires her. “I can name on one hand the number of swimmers that nobody dislikes,” said Rowdy Gaines, the three-time Olympic gold medalist who is now a swimming analyst for NBC Sports. “There is nobody that dislikes Katie Ledecky.”
That’s enough to put me in her rooting section at the Paris Olympics. Why don’t you join me? More at NYTimes.
The Sex Debate: Who’s Better In Ultra Endurance Races?
The sexiest question in running is literally the sex question. Are females catching males in endurance performance, particularly in ultra-endurance?
The discussion was first broached in a 1992 “Scientific Correspondence” in Nature (with free full text.) The authors pulled together a few data points to show that women marathoners would likely catch their male counterparts in 1998, and soon surpass them.
Well, no, that didn’t happen. But a lot has changed in running, particularly women’s running, over the last 30 years. So where does the male-female sex difference stand in 2024?
If we look at the sex difference between the current world marathon records (2:00:35 and 2:11:53), we see that it stands at 9.4%. That’s close to the 10% gap that has long separated male runners from female runners.
However, these real-world comparisons face a significant problem: There are far fewer women than men in ultra races, usually just 10 to 30% of the total field. This tilts the scales of fairness, so to speak. Things might be different if females made up 50% of all ultra runners.
That’s an issue that researcher and ultra-runner Nick Tiller tried to answer in a recent journal paper and online article. Tiller’s a “skeptical scientist” and book author, as well as a columnist at Ultrarunning Magazine, so his ideas carry substantial weight.
Tiller began by digging into ultra-running race results until he found two events with essentially equal numbers of male and female finishers. His subsequent analysis produced both an academic paper at Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism and a lengthy column titled “Are Women Closing The Gap?” at Ultrarunning.
What did Tiller find? In a 50-mile race, there was no significant overall finish-time difference between the sexes, but the top-10 males were much faster than the top-10 females.
In a longer race,100 miles, there were no significant differences in either analysis: overall, or top-10. Conclusion: “The sex-based performance discrepancy shrinks to 1-3% in ultramarathons when males and females compete in comparable numbers.”
If that number holds up, it’s a lot less than 10%, and lends credence to the female-endurance hypothesis. For social-cultural reasons, women were slower than men to begin entering traditional road races, 5K to marathon. But now they have mostly caught up.
The ultra world lagged still farther behind. It was once seen as the province of strong, testosterone-driven men. That too is changing rapidly. As the change accelerates, we’ll learn more about the sexy subject of sex and endurance performance.
SHORT STUFF You Don’t Want To Miss
>>> Back on track: Strategies to help you limit low back pain while running
GREAT QUOTES Make Great Training Partners
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
--Mahatma Gandhi
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. RLRH will not be published next week. You’ll receive your next newsletter on July 11. Amby