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The Problem with Traditional Cardio Training and the Modern-day Solution for Endurance Athletes

 
We live in a fairly active society. At any given time you can drive down the street and see someone running, biking or walking. More and more people are competing in triathlons and 1/2 marathons. In fact, many of the more popular races (St George Marathon, Moab 1/2 Marathon, Jordanelle Tri) reach their maximum entry levels months before the gun goes off. What is it about steady-state cardio that we like? Is it the endorphin rush or “runner’s high” that keeps us coming back for more? Maybe it’s the sense of accomplishment felt when completing something both physically and mentally challenging. For some they register for a race in hopes it will motivate them to train. Most of you know that I am not a fan of steady-state cardio for fat loss. Research has found that interval training is 9 times more effective at burning body fat than steady state cardio. But, we still do it. Why? For a lot of us it is a guilty little pleasure…an escape. This last weekend I mountain biked the Three Forks trail to the hot pots up Diamond Fork Canyon. It was not a textbook form of intervals to maximize my fat metabolism, but I didn’t care. The canyon in the morning light was breathtaking and oneiric, the naturally warm water from the hot springs felt amazing at the end of the ride. Not to mention riding with old friends and the adrenaline of bombing the downhill. If you are a cardio junkie you know what I’m talking about. It’s the experience. So, can you have the ”experience” and still have the fat loss results? Yes, but you marathoners and Olympics distance triathletes may have to change the way you look at traditional endurance training.

First let me rant about the downfalls with “traditional” endurance training.
1. Lots of slow miles: While I was training for my first Olympic distance triathlon I was told I needed to build my “aerobic base”. This meant logging in enough miles to circumnavigate the globe at a 60% intensity level before I was allowed to open up the throttle and actually run or bike at a challenging pace. In fact, the common suggestion was 75% of my total training time was supposed to be devoted to 60% effort activity (which is painfully slow, whether you’re running or biking). I followed that advice and I must say I did become more efficient; I was able to survive my first few triathlon seasons. But I wasn’t killing it. My times remained about the same, but I wasn’t getting any faster.
2. Overuse injuries: Doing long workouts I started getting some typical “-itises”. You know plantar fasciatis, tendonitis, bursitis (including IT band syndrome). Most cardio junkies accept these as part of the game, they blame it on poor footwear or running surface and continue on with their training program taking some vitamin I (ibuprofen) and grinding through it. The highly repetitive nature of endurance activities breeds over-use injuries like the media breeds hysteria over the swine flu.
3. Big time commitment: You noticed I only mentioned that I did a few seasons of triathlons. That’s because it consumed my life. The time commitment to swim/bike/run was pushing 15 hours/week. I remember the end of my last season looking back at my previous year and I realized that I could count the times I went rock climbing on 1 hand!! I had sacrificed one my biggest passions for triathlons.
4. Endurance athletes don’t need strength training: This old school philosophy is dying down, but it keeps coming back like the lyrics to the freecreditreport.com jingle. Within the last year a high school cross country athlete told me her coach didn’t want her doing any strength training because it would make her gain weight and become slow. I told her that her coach’s advice was like the Sony Walkman he still listens to while he runs…outdated. Stronger legs equals faster runner.
5. Not enough soft tissue work: Every athlete needs more soft tissue/ body-work (massage), especially endurance athletes. Even if you can’t afford a professional get a foam roller and work those overused muscles out yourself to stay ahead of those pesky “itises”. Once you get on a routine with your roller, you’ll wonder how you ran or biked before without it.

Modern Day Solution

There are 2 ways to build endurance, add more distance or build more power. To put it in perspective let’s define an endurance athlete. Most people erroneously think that the best endurance athlete is the athlete who can go the longest in a given activity. Sorry, all endurance events have a finish line. Lance Armstrong did not win the Tour de France because he could go the longest. He was the FASTEST cyclist, not the cyclist who could cross the finish line and keep going. He was the person who could maintain the fastest sub-maximal effort. So, an endurance activity requires a constant, sub-maximal effort for an extended period of time.

In my triathlon example above I tried building my aerobic base by running and biking long distances somewhere between 50-70% of my maximum effort and hoping come race day to compete at 75%. At what intensity do you think I competed? You’re right about 70%. I had practiced that intensity for months. When I tried to go harder I couldn’t maintain the bump up in intensity. I trained slow, therefore, I raced slow. But, what if I had increased my power output? In other words, let’s give my max effort a point rating of 100. I competed at 70% so that would be 70 points. What if I improve my max effort to 130 points? Seventy percent of 130 is 91 which is far better than even 80% of 100. Get it? The bigger the motor the easier sub-maximal effort becomes. To put it in terms of weight training, if I have a guy that can 1 repetition max squat 300lbs and another that can 1 repetition max squat 250lbs who will be able to squat 225lbs twenty times the fastest? Barring some technique flaw or freak injury, the stronger athlete will tire more slowly. You don’t become a stronger runner or biker training slow. Solution? You guessed it intervals.

Here are some sample programs:

Minimizing Rest Interval at Race Pace
Let’s say you can run a 10K at a 7-minute mile pace. You would finish the race in a little less than 44 minutes. If you want to shave 5 minutes off your time you would need to maintain a 6-minute mile pace. After a proper warm-up, run at a 6 minute mile pace for as long as you can (this is best performed on a treadmill where you can set your pace). If that were 2 miles, it would take you 12 minutes. At that point jog or walk for 6 minutes (half the time it took you to run the 2 miles) then resume your race pace for as long as you can again followed by your recovery pace for half as long as you were able to maintain your race pace. Continue with race the pace/recovery pace circuit till you have completed 10K (6.3 miles) then cool down. Perform this workout 1 or 2 times a week for 2 weeks then reduce your recovery by 1 minute. So if after 2 weeks you were able to maintain your race pace for 2.5 miles or 15 minutes (at a 6 minute/mile pace) then take half that time minus 1 minute so you would perform your recovery pace for 6.5 minutes. After 2 weeks with that equation start taking 2 minutes off your recovery time. Keep taking another minute off each 2 weeks till you can run the entire 10K without rest.

This can work with longer endurance activities as well. But limit your interval training to 10-12 miles. As with any exercise if the activity is 60 minutes or longer utilize proper nutrition to maintain performance and reduce recovery time.

Minimizing Rest Interval at Max Output
Divide your scheduled distance into 3 or 4 segments. If you’re training for a 5k (3.2 miles) break it into three 1-mile segments. After a proper warm up, run 1 mile as fast as you can. Rest for half as long as it took you to run the first mile. Then run the next mile again as fast as you can, rest and repeat. Every week reduce your rest time by 30 seconds. So after 2 weeks your rest phase will be 50% of your mile time minus 1 minute. Feel free to walk around and stretch during this rest phase to help assist in recovery.

Sprint Sets
Choose a course that is 40-60 yards. After a proper warm up sprint maximally for the entire distance, should take 5-10 seconds depending on the distance. Turn around and jog back. It should take you 3 times as long to get back. So if on a 40m sprint it takes you 5 seconds to complete jog back to the starting line in 15 seconds and repeat 6 times. This should take about 2 minutes to complete, and then take a minute to rest and stretch. Repeat another 6 reps and then take a 2-minute rest. Repeat this 7-minute circuit 3 times for a killer 20-minute workout. This is not for the mentally weak. You can use this system for just about any training distance just maintain the same work/rest ratio. This workout is no joke so be prepared.

These workouts apply to biking as well, and can work with swimming if your technique is solid. Swimming is so technique dependent that it pays for a beginning swimmer to become more efficient with their stroke first. It makes no sense to add endurance or power to poor technique.

Due to the intensity required for these workouts, recovery is paramount. I would recommend performing 3 workouts a week with a days rest in between. Realize the recovery from the workout is more important than the workout itself. You must allow your body and psyche to recover to ensure the same intensity in your next workout. This is a hard concept for most cardio junkies to accept. You do not need to train everyday. Remember we are working on developing a bigger engine by performing shorter, higher intensity workouts. On the off days perform mobility work, soft tissue work (foam roller) and strength training. Your training will involve fewer repetitions so fewer overuse injuries and less time required for training. One of the most important components to endurance training is efficiency. Less time training and better results…now that’s efficient.

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock you know that strength training is good for everybody. But somehow true cardio diehards seam to think they fall into the “super-human” category and don’t need strength training. Let’s review some of the benefits of strength training (these are just a few of many).
1. Helps maintain lean muscle tissue (which is negatively affected by endurance training)
2. Enhances endocrine and immune function (also compromised by endurance training)
3. Improves functional capacity despite aging by maintaining maximal strength and power.
4. Improves bone density (something most endurance athletes suffer from due to poor dietary practices, in spite of being at a high risk to stress fractures.)
5. Allows us to improve muscle imbalances, which is evident from the fact that good physical therapists use strength training to correct these imbalances. (most endurance athletes have some sort of muscle imbalance and arguable mental as well).

So to find out whether you truly are a super-human cardio junkie and don’t need strength training reread the 5 points above and ask yourself 1. Do I have muscles and do things that require strength and power? 2. Do I have an immune system? 3. Will I get old? 4. Do I have bones? 5. Do I have muscle imbalances? If you answered “no” to any of these question grab your cape and trusty sidekick because you truly are super-human and should be off fighting crime and saving the world.

At one time I thought I was a super hero...LOL

In case you’re still not convinced check out these studies

-A University of Alabama meta-analysis of the endurance training scientific literature revealed that 10 weeks of resistance training in trained distance runners improves running economy by 8-10% (1). For the mathematicians in the crowd, that’s about 20-24 minutes off a four-hour marathon – and likely more if you’re just a recreational endurance athlete.

-French researchers found that the addition of two weight-training sessions per week for 14 weeks markedly increased maximal strength and running economy while maintaining peak power in triathletes. Meanwhile, the control group – which only did endurance training – gained no maximal strength or running economy, and their peak power actually decreased (without a strength training program your performance can actually get worse). And, interestingly, the combined endurance with resistance training group saw greater increases in VO2max over the course of the intervention (2).

-Scientists at the Research Institute for Olympic Sports at the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland found that replacing 1/3 of regular endurance training volume with explosive resistance training (BTW, Pilates and yoga do not constitute “explosive” strength training) for nine weeks improved 5km times, running economy, VO2max, maximal 20m speed, and performance on a 5-jump test. With the exception of VO2max, none of these measures improved in the control group that solely performed endurance training (3). How do you think they felt knowing that a third of their entire training volume was largely unnecessary, and would have been better spent on other initiatives?

-University of Illinois researchers found that addition of three resistance training sessions for ten weeks improved short-term endurance performance by 11% and 13% during cycling and running, respectively. Additionally, the researchers noted that “long-term cycling to exhaustion at 80% VO2max increased from 71 to 85 min after the addition of strength training” that’s over a 15% increase in the cyclists’ ability to maintain high intensity exertion. (4)

The take home message here is that everyone including endurance athletes should strength train. And everyone should be performing interval training especially if you’re interested in fat loss and faster performance times. You really can have the “experience” and the results.

1. Jung AP. The impact of resistance training on distance running performance. Sports Med. 2003;33(7):539-52.
2. Millet, GP, Jaouen, B, Borrani, F, Candau, R. Effects of concurrent endurance and strength training on running economy and .VO(2) kinetics. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Aug;34(8):1351-9.
3. Paavolainen, L, Hakkinen, K, Hamalainen, I, Nummela, A, Ruski, H. Explosive-strength training improves 5-km running time by improving running economy and muscle power. J Appl Physiol. 1999 May;86(5):1527-33.
4. Hickson, R. C., B. A. Dvorak, E. M. Gorostiaga, T. T. Kurowski, and C. Foster. Potential for strength and endurance training to amplify endurance performance. J. Appl. Physiol. 65: 2285-2290, 1988.