There has been quite a bit written on the benefits of interval and sprint training. However, the decussion invariably describes interval training as "paddling as hard as you can" for brief periods of time. This may seem like a novice question, but in "paddling as hard as you can" during interval training, should a paddler maintain a normal cadence at inncreased (100%) intensity, or is "hard as you can" to be interpreted to mean "as hard (intensity) and fast (speed) as you can" while maintaining efficiency? During some group OC-1 outings, a club member has jokingly paddled at what looks like a 100+ cadence. Its the funnniest thing to watch, but boy does he move for those few seconds he can sustain it.
Submitted by Hawk on Sun, 09/04/2005 - 6:45am
Aloha Hawk,
This is a question than almost every paddler encounters at some time or another. Except those who go hard everyday without thinking about it :D
How hard you go (intensity) and how fast your rate goes varies on what the goal of the workout is. Let's look at both parts; intensity and rate.
INTENSITY
Intensity varies as a function of duration. For short durations you should be able to work much harder than you can for longer duration. In other words, an all out 30 second effort is faster than an all out 5 minute effort, which is faster than a 2 hour effort.
That's assuming you go at a 100% effort for that duration. if you go slightly easier then things get confusing. 80% of an all out 30 seocnd effort may well be 100% of a 5:00 minute effort, and 80% of a 5 minuute effort may be a 100% 2 hour effort.
A good coach working with well trained athletes will use a variety of effort levels and durations in intensity workouts to achieve certain objectives;
Assuming a 100% effort;
[list]20 sec to 1:00 min anaerobic effort
1:00-2:00 mix of anaerobic & peak aerobic effort (where peak indicates you'll achieve your highest possible HR and oxygen consumption that day
2:00-6:00 min peak aerobic efforts
6:00+ less than peak aerobic efforts (less then peak HR, VO2, etc.)[/list:u]
RATE
As a rule of thumb, the higher the overall intensity the higher the rate. You can also think of this as short duration means higher rate. However, if your rate get's too high your technique fails and you get slower (ironically while still working harder).
The best rate for each individual is very unique to them. It will vary with muscular strength, speed, age, fast twitch/slow twitch muscle fibre, training back ground, height limb length, wind, waves, etc. Likewise, crew boats and individual boats will differ in rate for the same event.
Hope this helps a little
Alan
MSc Applied Exercise Physiology
www.EAScoaching.com
#1 Mon, 09/05/2005 - 8:53am
Aloha Alan:
Bro, you gotta learn how to dumb it down for those of us without a PhD in Exercise Physiology.
If I understand you correctly, you are saying that the level of perceived intensity depends on the adaptive response you are trying to trigger, correct? So, if you are trying to get a response from the ATP/CP energy source, you need a full, all-out effort for 6-12 seconds (multiple repeats to really hammer it home, with 1:3 work to rest ratio). If you are trying to trigger the anaerobic energy sytem, you need an all out effort for 0:30 to 1:00, again with repeats after a sufficient rest interval to allow the lactic acid to be removed from the muscles (work to rest ratio depending on whether you are trying to build anaerobic capacity or anaerobic power). If you are trying to trigger the aerobic system, you need to first understand where your aerobic threshold is and then design repeats with rest intervals that allow you to either build aerobic capacity or aerobic power (1:2 work to rest for power, 1:1 or 1:<1 for aerobic capacity), without exceeding your aerobic threshold (so you don't build up lactic acid too quickly). If you are trying to build cardiac capacity, you need to work with a HR between 115 and 130 for long durations without rest intervals (durations exceeding 1 hour minimum). So, in summary, the type of interval training you design will depend on what adaptive response you are trying to trigger. There is no "one size fits all" solution, so stop looking for that. You need a variety of training regiments to adequately train all the energy systems to maximize performance. How you build them is a little tricky and probably requires a PhD in Exercise Physiology to do it correctly (or a lot of trial and error).
Hmmm, now that I read this again, I don't know if it's any clearer. 'Bout the best advice I can give is advice I stole from Alan, which would be to get a copy of Ernie Maglishco's Swimming Fastest. Everything you need to know about training is in that book (if not everything, certainly most). You can skip the first 3rd of the book, unless you want to know how to swim correctly. The last 2/3 of the book cover training in great detail (ad nauseum), but if you really want to know how it's supposed to be done... buy the book and read it. Just beware, it's not written for the "basic" athlete. It's written for guys like Alan... you know, the PhD types, or guys with more grey matter than me. I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but with a little imagination the principles apply to paddling fairly easily. I've certainly found it educational.
Aloha!
#2 Wed, 09/07/2005 - 9:03am
This is only my opinion and has no scientific base....
If I'm doing sprints my goal is primarily speed-- i'll bring my GPS (can get them for like $100 now) and do-- for example-- .12 miles where i will repeatedly try and beat my previous time. So if i get 58 seconds the first sprint i'll try as hard as i can to get 58 or 57 seconds the next sprint-- and on and on. Of course you'll end up slowing down in a lot of the sprints but the point is to go all out to TRY and beat the time. So i interpret all out to purely mean speed. Go with good technique and just work on going as fast as possible. Can still get your stroke rate up to 100 if that is the best way to get your hull speed up, cause it's alright to be a little inneficient as long as you can hold it for a minute-- too inneficient and you'll die out in twenty seconds. I look at sprinting as conditioning for catching bumps-- when you go for a wave you don't think about making a perfect stroke you just go as hard as you can to get it, so sprints should be just a way to train your body to be able to repeatedly get the boat moving into waves.
But again.... this is not based on anything but my opinion--
#3 Wed, 09/07/2005 - 10:46am
Luke has a good point when he says he does 1/8 mile repeats (~200 m) in just under a minute then tries to hold that speed based on his GPS feedback. This is a workout that will build lots of surfing specific fitness, as will the very short stuff. If you can accelerate your hull super fast you can catch your wave is less time, thus saving energy for when you need it, such as those you have to really work to catch!
I'd also argue that an emphasis on efficiency and technique would be a must.
All this is what is so important about high intensity training its all about quality. if Luke does his first piece in 58 seconds and he is trying for all out efforts each time AND is trying to keep his speed high, some top coaches would say that when his speed drops too much (say 2.5-5%) then the workout would be over unless they can pull the speed back up in the next 1-2 repeats.
In this case if he does repeat #1 in 0;58 that's his benchmark. As long as each repeat after that is within 2.5-5% he is maintianing quality. On 0:58 sec pieces he would have to maintain 0:58 to 1:01 to stay within 5%, or 0:58-0:59 to stay within 2.5%.
Being realistic, 2.5% can be anything from a rough spot of water, a missed stroke, too much rudder. 5% may be more realistic in rough water, 2.5% in flat. For more highly trained paddlers 2.5% may be best, and 5% fo less skilled, even 10% for newbies.
As an aside, what is the biggest challenge of sport science is what Dmheling inferred, keeping the language at a level we can all communicate through.
Many coaches and paddlers with real experience know the same stuff as PhD and eggheads do. They just don't know the why. Likewise those PhD guys know the why but not how to apply it. It is only through encouraging the two groups to work together that sport training, technique and boat design moves forward to break records.
As for Dmheling's feedback, I'll work harder to keep it simple without loosing content. And you had it right except for a couple of minor areas, but those are mostly insignificant in the big picture.
I'll pull up a list of principles of training later and post those. These illustrate how to guide the creation of a training plan.
Alan
www.EAScoaching.com
#4 Wed, 09/07/2005 - 1:17pm
Alan,
I think you make perfect easy to follow comments mate. Thanks for all the top level info again.
Stay cool in the big ocean pool,
Koka
#5 Wed, 09/07/2005 - 2:28pm
[b]Fundamental Principles of Training[/b]
[list]1. Progressive overload
2. Super-compensation
3. Recovery
4. Specificity
5. Frequency
6. Periodization
7. Maintenance
8. Fatigue[/list:u]
[b]Progressive overload[/b]
The principle of progressive overload states that, for athletes to improve they must slowly and methodologically encounter workloads and stresses (physical and mental) that exceed their current abilities. This overload does not necessarily occur on a daily basis, but should span successive days, months and years. Overload will result in fatigue (principle [8]), which in turn will trigger fitness super-compensations (principle 2). If an athlete’s abilities (physical, technical, and psychological) are not overloaded, they soon and more improvements occur.
[b]Super-compensation[/b]
The principle of super-compensation is based on the fact that an athlete will adapt to training stress. In order to experience super-compensation, an athlete will pass through a period of fatigue (principle [8]), then a period of enhanced fitness once recovery (principle 3) is allowed.
[b]Recovery[/b]
The principle of recovery states that for fitness to improve and even be maintained, a period of reduced effort is necessary. The need for recovery is inherent at all levels of training;
[list]within workouts,
between workouts,
between days of training, etc. [/list:u]
By allowing differing amounts of recovery, a program can direct an athlete's preparation towards a specific goal; be it psychological, aerobic, anaerobic or technical.
[b]
Specificity[/b]
Specificity is an expression of how close your training is to your competitive requirements.
[quote]Paddling is part of a unique group of sports (including swimming, rock climbing, and cross-country skiing) that require unique and unnatural movements. Consequently, only a limited amount of non-specific training will enhance performance and as athletes become more experienced, the benefits of non-specific training are greatly diminished. Thus, the specificity of fitness training increases in importance for the more experienced and elite athletes.
In other words, to become a better paddler you need to paddle. [/quote]
[b]Frequency[/b]
The frequency with which an athlete trains is always important. Frequency needs addressing both within and between workouts. Within a workout, frequency is defined by the duration of work and rest intervals. The frequency of workouts in a given day, week, or month will be important in more advanced athletes, not so much with novice paddlers unless fatigue (principle [8]) plays a role.
[b]Periodization[/b]
One of the most important aspects of training is the systematic assembly of training into a cohesive unit. Periodization is the process by which a season or year is broken down into a number of phases that address specific training needs or goals.
[b]Maintenance[/b]
The ability to maintain fitness and performance between training bouts is essential for top athletic performance. Modified and reduced workouts administered at the appropriate time will allow an athlete to maintain performance levels with minimal training.
[b]Fatigue[/b]
While not a principle of training in itself, fatigue is a consequence of all training programs. However, chronic fatigue or overtraining is more often attributed to poorly designed or poorly monitored programs.
[quote]Overtraining is defined as a chronic and long term decrease in both performance and fitness that requires a long time to overcome. The causes and symptoms of overtraining are often interwoven so tightly that identifying causal relationships is nearly impossible.[/quote]
Enjoy!
Alan
www.EAScoaching.com
#6 Fri, 09/09/2005 - 3:19pm
Alan,
Is it true that once one has reached a high level of fittness, that person would need to do roughly 60% of the workout it took to get them to that level to maintain the high level of fittness reached?
Regards,
Koka
#7 Sat, 09/10/2005 - 3:22pm
Hmmm, tough question.
In the short term I will say [b]yes[/b] you can maintain high performance levels on reduced training efforts. As long as that was only for 2-3 months and appropriate racing and maintenance workouts were prescribed.
In the long term though, [b]no[/b]. Detraining is inevitable and in as short a time as 3 weeks a significant loss in performance can be seen without appropriate training.
The time frame to noticeable detraining will differ with each aspect of performance (assuming no maintenance training);
[list]PSYCHOLOGY: varies widely (hours to years)
BEHAVIOUR: long lasting (months to years)
TACTICS: long lasting (years) but very subject to reduced effectiveness due to other loses
TECHNIQUE: long lasting (years) but very subject reduced effectiveness due to other loses
FITNESS:
[list]Sprint racing (less than 2:00 minutes) > within days
Middle distance racing (2:00-15:00 minutes) > 1-3 weeks
Distance racing (15:00 minutes to 1:00 hour) > 1-4 weeks
Long distance racing (1:00 to 4:00 hours) > 1-6 weeks
Ultralong distance racing (4:00 or more hours) > 1-8 weeks[/list:u][/list:u]
Of course these are just general values, individual response will vary greatly from individual to individual. Usually those athletes with longer training bases will be able to maintain performance longer at reduced training efforts than those who are very new to the sport.
However, to return to full speed or improve each successive season will require as much effort as before, but will be dependent on how much detraining took place. Keep in mind that at very high levels of performance the return on training time is much lower than for new athletes.
[list]i.e. for the top paddlers to improve by 1% may require years, while a novice may improve by 5% in a season.[/list:u]
Thanks for the question,
Alan
www.EAScoaching.com
#8 Sun, 09/11/2005 - 5:46am