HITT and its role in your training.

All the latest rage at my home club is HITT or High Intensity Interval Training. Why is it all the rage? Because it has been reported to be the golden ticket to fat loss! The story goes that research has indicated that not only does high-intensity training burn fat more effectively than does low intensity exercise but it also boosts up you metabolism and keeps it revved up for some time after your workout. Well lets examine that statement and determine if HITT can earn a spot in your training schedule.

First, as I indicated before, I am married to a researcher so when someone says research indicates I want to find and read said research. Unfortunately I could not find any to back up this statement. Yes high intensity workouts burn more calories than low intensity workouts because you use more energy. But you can exercise longer at lower intensities and could, in effect, match the calorie burn by just going longer. More effectively, not really, just faster.

HITT proponents also point to the short recovery periods you get as the key to burning more fat. Well what in fact happens is that you are able to maintain a high output of energy for a longer period of time than if you did the workout straight through. More calories were burned due to the increase in exercise time, not the varied efforts.

But what about the fact that you will burn more calories/fat due to higher post exercise metabolism. Well there is a study that did research this effect and they called it Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption. In a 2006 article in the Journal of Sport Sciences researchers found that more intense exercise creates a higher EPOC than low intensity workouts but that this number was only 6 to 15% of the net oxygen cost. That means if you pushed really hard for an hour or so and burned a 1000 calories, post exercise burn could add another 60 to 150 more calories. About the same as if you went at a lower intensity for another 10 min or so. More importantly the better shape you are in the less post burn you get, because you recover faster.

So it doesn't burn fat what good is it. High Intensity Interval Training makes you faster! Used wisely and not over done it is a great tool to have in your training schedule. The problem comes when athletes over use it thinking the benefits are greater than they truly are and wind up injured and exhausted.

Want to trim fat before next season, eat better and pile on the low intensity/longer workouts. You will get more calorie burn at a lower risk as well as at a pace you can maintain for a month or two. Save the HITT for the fine tuning and speed gain later in your training calendar.

Man, I'm BEAT!!! The Cumulative fatigue factor.

Okay let's get one thing straight from the get go, long runs (those over 2:30) are killers! They kill you training, because you have to recover from them before you can train again. They kill your day, what you gonna do after running for 4 hours?? And they kill your relationships!! They are bad to the core.

But Coach Bobo I am getting ready for a marathon/70.3/Ironman I need to run long!?!? Pish Posh I say! Lend me your ears and let us try and save that relationship, while we still have time.

First off how could I say such bad things about such a time honored tradition. We've heard it all before, "LSD (long slow runs) are where its at man," "the Eagles (The Long Run) knew what they were singing about," "Length is everything!"  Well it seems research does not back this up and, since I am married to a researcher, I have learned a thing or three about studies. Recent research has shown that your body doesn't see a significant increase in training benefits after running 3 hours. IN FACT the majority of the physiological stimulus of the Long Run occurs between the 90 minute mark and the 150 minute mark. It further goes on to say that if you do run longer than 3 hours the aerobic benefits (capillary building and mitochondrial development) begin to actually stagnate or decline instead of getting better. So let me distill that for you, running more than 2:30 makes no freak'n sense.

So what's an endurance athlete to do?? Well meet your new best friend: Cumulative Fatigue!! Now this isn't my idea but I have been studying the concept for awhile now. This idea is one of the building blocks of Hansons Marathon Method. In short it employs the idea of active recovery in the form of easier, but still pretty good distance, runs scheduled on consecutive days. Then you head out for a semi-long run that approaches you goal race pace. The consecutive easy days (which themselves usually follow a tempo day) allow for partial, but not full, recovery. Then by the time you hit that semi-long run the primary muscle fibers are fatigued and require you to recruit secondary ones to help complete the run. In essence your semi-long run more closely resembles what you will feel like at the END of your marathon. Where as an old fashioned long run more closely resembles how you feel at the BEGINNING of a marathon. And so where do most runner fall apart during long races.... yeah you got it at the end.

Let me tell you from first hand experience, athletes FREAK out when you take their long runs away. They FREAK out even more when you tell them to run easy 2 days in a row. But once they start to follow the plan and hit that first semi-long run with a little fatigued, BAM the light bulb goes off and they see the method to the madness. This is especially important when training for tri as it allows us, as coaches, to keep things moving instead of having to schedule 2 or 3 easy days. 

So as we head toward the off season and are starting to look to build endurance, save the time and muscle damage of those old runs and start cozying up to cumulative fatigue. And as always write us here at RPM for advice, to answer any questions you might have or if you are looking for that coach to take you to the next level.