CHALLENGING, "ANAEROBIC" STRENGTH TRAINING PRODUCES
IMPROVEMENTS IN AEROBIC ENDURANCE
It's a Shock to Conventional Ways of Thinking about
Training
Recent research indicates that very demanding
strength training, the kind of work which utilizes
fairly heavy resistance, is likely to lead
to major gains in endurance running
performance.
At
first glance, of course, this proposition would appear
to be absurd. After all, heavy-duty strength
training revolves around high-load efforts, slow
movements, and small numbers of reps. In
contrast, competitive endurance running is
associated with nothing more than body weight for
resistance, relatively quick movements, and
incredible numbers of reps (180 to 200 steps per minute,
or 6300 to 7000 "reps" in a 35-minute
10K). In addition, high-resistance strength
training is carried out for a few seconds at a time,
with a relatively low rate of oxygen consumption,
whereas 10-K running is usually sustained for 30 or more
minutes, with an oxygen consumption rate of more than 90
percent of maximal. How can there be a close
connection between anaerobic strength training and
aerobic endurance running?
To find out, let's look at the
actual research. In a study carried out at the
Norwegian University of Science and Technology in
Trondheim by Jan Hoff (at right) and his
colleagues, 19 cross-country skiers were randomly
assigned to either a training group (nine skiers) or a
control group (10 athletes). The training-group
members carried out three high-resistance,
close-to-maximal strength-training sessions per week for
eight weeks, while the control athletes conducted their
usual strength work with much-lighter resistance;
otherwise, the two groups trained in identical fashion
(1). The
maximal strength training was carried out with a
modified cable-pulley apparatus which was designed to
simulate the double-poling movements required for
cross-country skiing.
For the maximal-strength-training group,
about 45 minutes per week out of a total weekly training
time of approximately 10 hours were devoted to the
pull-downs on the cable-pulley apparatus (thus, each of
the three weekly strength-training sessions lasted for
about 15 minutes).
The beginning intensity for these resistance
workouts was set at 85 percent of 1RM, i. e., 85 percent
of the resistance which could be lifted (with a
pull-down movement) one and only one time; the 1RM was
established before the eight-week training period
began. When
an athlete could perform three sets of six reps @ 85
percent of the original 1RM, the resisting load was
increased by three kilograms for the next training
session.
As
mentioned, control-group members conducted traditional
strength training with lighter resistances; both groups
averaged close to 10 hours per week of endurance
training, which revolved around regular skiing, roller
skiing, and running.
After
the eight weeks of training, the changes in the
maximal-strength-training group were impressive. For one thing,
the high-resistance group upped maximal strength
(measured on the cable-pulley skiing device) by 10
percent, while the control group failed to boost max
strength at all.
In addition, the peak muscular force produced
when the athletes were working at 80 percent of 1RM
increased significantly by 34 percent
over the eight weeks for the max-strength athletes but
stagnated for the control individuals.
Very
importantly, changes in the rate of force
development were also significantly different
between the groups. The key variable
used to assess the rate of force development is
something called TPF (time to peak force), which
basically quantifies the amount of time required for
muscles to reach their highest force production during a
movement.
As you might expect, very brief TPFs
are associated with explosive performances and high
rates of motion, while fat TPFs are linked with sluggish
movements.
Even though the rate of movement utilized in the
max-strength training (i. e., during the pull-downs on
the modified cable-pulley apparatus) was quite slow
(since the resistance, at 85 percent of 1RM, was set so
high), the max-strength group reduced TPF by 50 percent
at a resistance of 80 percent of 1RM (from 180 down to
just 90 milliseconds) and pared down TPF by 60 percent
at a resistance of 60 percent of 1RM (from 200 to only
80 milliseconds)!! In other words, it was taking
much less time for the max-strength trainers to
generate substantial muscular
forces.
Meanwhile,
the control group failed to improve TPF at 80 percent of
1RM and improved TPF at 60 percent of 1RM by a smaller
amount, compared with the max-strength Norsemen. To put it
simply, the max-strength trainees were much quicker and
more powerful during skiing-specific movements.
How about actual performances,
though?
No problem: The max-strength
skiers upgraded their average time to exhaustion during
a very rugged test from 6.5 to 10.2 minutes, a
56-percent upgrade; this test involved working
for as long as possible on a ski ergometer at an
intensity which produced VO2max (in effect,
at vVO2max). Control skiers
got better, too (after all, they carried out a
lot of skiing and ski rolling during the eight-week
study), but their 25-percent improvement was
significantly smaller, compared with the gain achieved
by the max-trainers.
Despite the whopping expansion of
performance, the max-strength athletes enjoyed no
positive upswing in VO2max, but they did
manage to enhance economy (by 28 percent!) while skiing
at an intense pace (control skiers failed to move either
VO2max or skiing economy). After the
top-end strength training, it was costing the
max-strength skiers considerably less oxygen to move
along at high-quality speeds.
Why
did economy improve in Hoff’s skiers? Most likely, the
motor units (collections of muscle cells) involved in
the poling action were stronger after the eight weeks of
max-strength training. As a result,
fewer motor units needed to be recruited to carry out
various intensities of work, lowering overall energy
(and oxygen) cost. In general, if you can
make yourself stronger during the movements involved in
your sport, you will need to activate fewer motor units
for any specific speed, your economy will be better, and
your fatigue-resistance will consequently head
north.
What
is the explanation for why max strength training – with
slow movements – manages to improve TPF, i. e.,
quickness of force production? When high
resistance (i. e., 85 percent of 1RM or more) is
utilized during a movement, all or at least most of the
motor units involved in the motion are immediately
activated in order to handle the heavy load. This includes
the so-called high-threshold motor units, the ones which
are rather reluctant to get involved in activity. Motor units
which contain fast-twitch muscle fibers are
high-threshold, and thus the high resistance causes the
fast fibers to become highly trained in the movement,
increasing the rate at which force is
produced.
What
if you believe that you are a slow-twitch
"slug", with few or no fast-twitch
muscles? It
is reasonable to argue that the instantaneous,
all-the-motor-unit-activation effect (associated with
the initiation of a movement against heavy
resistance) will enhance your TPF anyway,
since all-possible motor units are “in on the action”
from the start (they are not recruited gradually as the
movement proceeds). Indeed, it is
likely that the skiers in Hoff’s study possessed muscles
which were composed primarily of slow-twitch cells, and
yet Hoff's acolytes upgraded TPF to an
incredible degree!
How
would you put Hoff’s findings into practice in your own
training as a runner? Naturally,
pull-downs on a cable apparatus are not going to be the
premier movement you want to emphasize. While it is
clear that max-strength training works as a means of
improving TPF, a “neural component” must be involved in
the max-strength work for it to be effective. Just as Hoff’s
cable-apparatus movements bore a strong resemblance to
the poling motions of cross-country skiing, the
strengthening movement(s) you select should be closely
allied with the gait cycle of running. If that is not
the case, the coordination component of strengthening
will be lost, and the effects on TPF, economy, and
performance will be considerably smaller, if not
non-existent (2).
Squatting is perhaps the
top-of-the-line strengthening movement for athletes who
run, and so it is reasonable to begin with squats. First, of
course, it is important to get a feeling for how much
squatting strength you already have. You can
experiment in the gym until you find your 1RM for
two-leg squatting and then proceed as Hoff’s athletes
did, beginning with an attempt at 3 X 6 @ 85 percent of
your 1RM and adding two to three additional kilograms of
resistance whenever you can actually complete all three
sets of six repetitions.
Finding 1RM
can be tough for some runners, though (and can also
increase the risk of injury), so another approach would
be to simply choose a resistance which produces a
challenge when you attempt three sets of six reps; this
resistance should be pretty close to your current
85-percent-1RM intensity. Once you have
managed the full 3 X 6, you can then increase the
resistance for the next workout (by approximately 2.5 to
five pounds).
Two- to three-minute recoveries are fine between
sets. Note
that it is wise to carry out a warm-up, with 10 minutes
or so of jogging, before the squatting actually begins;
it is also sensible to perform a warm-up set of
squats, with very light resistance, before the three
tough sets are actually attempted.
You can perform your squats on a light day
of running training or before you begin a quality
running workout; it is important not to do them when you
are fatigued. Over time,
you will shift from two-leg to one-leg squats to enhance
specificity. Naturally, you will add other
running-specific exercises to your routine, as
well.
When
in your overall training cycle should you perform
challenging strength training? One
logical time is during a period when you are about
to introduce higher-speed training into your overall
program. By
boosting TPF to an incredible degree, by enhancing
coordination (as long as the exercises you choose
mimic the movements of running), and by enhancing
efficiency of movement, max-strength training creates an
incredible platform upon which high-intensity training
can by played out – and race PRs
achieved.
***********************
This week, I have
some very exciting news for you! RRN
publisher Teressa Blanchett, exercise-expert Walt
Reynolds, and I have combined to produce a new DVD
titled, Strength Training for Athletes Who
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To put it bluntly, there is no
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gait cycle of running. Thus, Strength Training for Athletes Who
Run can help you achieve major gains
in max running speed. After practicing the drills
in this DVD, you will apply more propulsive force
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Run will enhance your running economy, so
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Very
kindest regards,
Owen
References
(1)
"Maximal Strength Training Improves Aerobic Endurance
Performance," Scandinavian Journal of Medicine &
Science in Sports, Vol. 12, pp. 288-295,
2002
(2) “Coordination,
the Determinant of Velocity Specificity?” Journal of Applied
Physiology, Vol. 80(5), pp. 2046-2052, 1996 |