Since there seem to be interest in just what high intensity workouts are best, I have provided some information from our website on this. Everyone can take this for what it is worth. I am sure it will not be accepted by many here. These are the ideas of Jan Olbrecht who has worked with many high level athletes as well as recreational athletes.
Olbrecht looks at most of training as the development of both the aerobic and anaerobic systems. Hence each workout is evaluated on how it affects each system. Nearly every workout will have both positive and negative effects. Some workouts could actually have only negative effects and obviously should be avoided. But there is no workout that has only positive effects. So each negative effect must be offset by another workout with positive effects. Training is thus a long process of give and take, slowly building the aerobic system and adjusting the anaerobic energy system which rarely is best when it is maximal. There are no magic workouts or sweet spots because the training process is complicated with each workout having a different objective.
The types of workouts that work best at this process seem to be at opposite ends of the intensity spectrum with occasional workouts in the middle range. Hence the concept of hi-lo or polarized training.
For a different point of view on high intensity work for a triathlete one has to distinguish between whether the athlete's aerobic or anaerobic system is the target of the workout. If the target is the anaerobic system then Olbrecht recommends sprints. See
http://www.lactate.com/...hlon/trex1.htm#exrun The athlete in this example is an elite triathlete for which one may speculate on just who it is (site written in 1998)
There are four different prescriptions on anaerobic training advice depending on whether the event that the athlete is training for is an Olympic length event or an Ironman and whether the time period is base training or pre-competition. Here are the four different types of anaerobic workouts.
Preparation for Olympic length event - base preparation
anaerobic conditioning - In a RR week (reduced training) there should be no anaerobic training sets or at most one. During a normal week there will be one or two anaerobic training sets depending upon the emphasis of running (compared to swimming and cycling) that week. The intervals should be 100-200 m, there should not be more than 6 consecutive repetitions, and the maximum distance should be less than 2000 m. It is important that the athlete do each interval at near maximum speed. If the intervals are not done at near max speed they are a waste of time. It is better to do fewer at near max speed then more at just a fast speed.
If at any time the athlete can not complete the interval at the near maximum speed then they should stop even if it is only 3 intervals. Also if the athlete does a workout consisting of 2 x 6 x 150 then the two sets should be separated by an extensive or regenerative exercise of least 50 minutes. There should be 1-2 minutes rest between each interval.
If the anaerobic capacity had been high instead, then the anaerobic training sets would be reduced but with longer intervals.
Preparation for Olympic length event -pre-competition
anaerobic conditioning - No set in a RR week (reduced training). During a normal week there will be one or two anaerobic training sets depending upon the emphasis of running that week. If the anaerobic capacity is high instead, then the frequency of anaerobic training sets will be reduced.
Preparation for Ironman length event - base preparation
anaerobic conditioning - We try to improve the anaerobic capacity by one or two training sessions per week for 3 out of 5 weeks of a mesocycle. An example of an anaerobic capacity training session is 8 sets of 6 intervals of 70-150 at nearly maximum speed. There should be 1-2 minutes rest between each interval.
Preparation for Ironman length event -pre-competition
anaerobic conditioning - Only one small anaerobic training set every 2 weeks will be needed to sustain anaerobic capacity. If the anaerobic capacity is high then anaerobic training sets will be reduced.
Now the previous was for anaerobic conditioning and most will consider this of little importance. But the anaerobic system is a necessity for a good endurance performance. Besides providing a little energy, it is the source for aerobic fuel which provides much faster energy than fats. Why all that carbo loading and glucose intake if not to feed the anaerobic system.
For aerobic conditioning which is where nearly all of the training will be, most of the work will be at low levels with a few limited sets at threshold or above thrown in. The sprints used in the anaerobic conditioning will develop aerobic capacity too but must be limited because they tend to be very stressful and may break down too much if used too much.
For most triathletes this type of detail is not available or necessary. Olbrecht has a testing system that can get at the specifics of the aerobic and anaerobic systems. He will only use it on elite athletes. See the following video which illustrates very briefly the process
http://www.youtube.com/...amp;feature=youtu.be The video is a little theatrical because it was done as a project by someone for a video editing course at a local community college.
For less than elite athletes, more traditional testing is used but the prescriptions for training will again follow the hi-lo or polarized model. For many recreational triathletes there is always the time issue as each wants to maximize the value of their training for the few hours they can devote to each discipline. Somehow training at low levels seems so counter intuitive and a waste of time. The suggestion is to experiment.
Some caveats. The website was written 15 years ago but from what I understand Olbrecht's prescriptions for optimal training are essentially the same. Jan says he is constantly learning as he gets feedback on how the athletes respond to different types of training. The examples in the website are for high level triathletes and the cycling example is dated. Nearly all cycling testing today would be in a lab. Olbrecht's testing for running takes place on a track. Unfortunately, Olbrecht who has a Ph.D from the Sports School in Cologne is not in academia and has almost no time for publishing so there is little in the literature on his methods. But there is published work that describes many of the ideas behind his approach. They are basically ignored however, But on the other hand there is probably no one in the world who has advised more top athletes than Olbrecht.
There are a lot of successful athletes and not all train the same which makes the process of providing optimal training sometimes look like a crap shoot.
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Jerry Cosgrove
Sports Resource Group
http://www.lactate.com https://twitter.com/@LactatedotCom