Polarized training

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Dec 2016
2:07pm, 21 Dec 2016
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Canute
HOD, that sounds like good progress. Maybe for peak race performance a few more interval sessions would help, but you are clearly building a good aerobic base
Dec 2016
9:29pm, 21 Dec 2016
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Hills of Death (HOD)
Thanks C I aim to build more base in Jan/Feb plus I will look at stepping up the tempo.

Need to be disciplined to do more intervals can't do the club sessions at moment
Dec 2016
3:53pm, 23 Dec 2016
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Canute
As a follow-up to my recent review of the evidence that polarised training might produce a more beneficial balance between catabolic and anabolic hormones than threshold training, I have recently posted a review of the evidence indicating how polarised training with only a small about of threshold training might nonetheless be effective in enhancing ability to minimise lactate accumulation.

canute1.wordpress.com
Dec 2016
8:10am, 24 Dec 2016
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Ninky Nonk
Another great article canute.

Given the importance of zone 1 training i would be interested to hear of any research into comparison of training at different points within zone 1 - are strong aerobic efforts required as suggested by hadd and Lydiard or can it all be jogging?
Dec 2016
8:13am, 24 Dec 2016
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Raptors Claws are coming to town
I am enjoying these articles very much :)
Dec 2016
1:22pm, 24 Dec 2016
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Hills of Death (HOD)
Canute is a fountain of knowledge (we should drink from it )
SPR
Dec 2016
2:23pm, 24 Dec 2016
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SPR
Canute - I'm a supporter of intervals in base but not sure about HIIT.

Gerschler intervals are very different from HIIT as per what your gym personal trainer might get you doing. If you read Pirie's book, when he went on to do hyper fast runs in the previous comp phase where high levels of lactic would be incurred he would take as much as 20 mins recovery.

In terms of using intervals in base training understanding that intervals are not just one thing is very important in knowing how to use them.

The other thing about all these studies is they are short term. We expect HIIT to be better than MICT in the short term as that's why we increase intensity to peak, but what about over a long period of time?

In terms of the science on HIIT I found this on Science of Running while looking for something else. Have you seen it before and has it been refuted since?

scienceofrunning.com

journals.lww.com
Dec 2016
2:47pm, 24 Dec 2016
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Ninky Nonk
If I remember correct the seiler paper advocates 4x8minute bouts at 90%v02 max? Which I guess is about 10k pace? I don't think it describes the recoveries?
Dec 2016
2:51pm, 24 Dec 2016
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Hills of Death (HOD)
You sure that's not 5k ?
Dec 2016
2:55pm, 24 Dec 2016
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Ninky Nonk
Depends how far you'd go in 32mins I suppose.

About This Thread

Maintained by Canute
Polarised training is a form of training that places emphasis on the two extremes of intensity. There is a large amount of low intensity training (comfortably below lactate threshold) and an appreciable minority of high intensity training (above LT).

Polarised training does also include some training near lactate threshold, but the amount of threshold training is modest, in contrast to the relatively high proportion of threshold running that is popular among some recreational runners.

Polarised training is not new. It has been used for many years by many elites and some recreational runners. However, it has attracted great interest in recent years for two reasons.

First, detailed reviews of the training of many elite endurance athletes confirms that they employ a polarised approach (typically 80% low intensity, 10% threshold and 10% high intensity. )

Secondly, several scientific studies have demonstrated that for well trained athletes who have reached a plateau of performance, polarised training produces greater gains in fitness and performance, than other forms of training such as threshold training on the one hand, or high volume, low intensity training on the other.

Much of the this evidence was reviewed by Stephen Seiler in a lecture delivered in Paris in 2013 .
vimeo.com

In case you cannot access that lecture by Seiler in 2013, here is a link to his more recent TED talk.

ted.com
This has less technical detail than his 2013 talk, but is nonetheless a very good introduction to the topic. It should be noted that from the historical perspective, Seiler shows a US bias.

Here is another useful video by Stephen Seiler in which he discusses the question of the optimum intensity and duration of low intensity sessions. Although the answer ‘depends on circumstances’ he proposes that a low intensity session should be long enough to reach the point where there are detectable indications of rising stress (either the beginning of upwards drift of HR or increased in perceived effort). If longer than this, there is increasing risk of damaging effects. A session shorter than this might not be enough to produce enough stress to achieve a useful training effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GXc474Hu5U


The coach who probably deserves the greatest credit for emphasis on the value of low intensity training was Arthur Lydiard, who coached some of the great New Zealanders in the 1960's and Scandinavians in the 1970’s. One of his catch-phrases was 'train, don't strain'. However Lydiard never made it really clear what he meant by ‘quarter effort’. I have discussed Lydiard’s ideas on several occasions on my Wordpress blog. For example: canute1.wordpress.com

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