In the circle of runners, the most controversial and discussed topic is what kind of training method is best, and how to improve running speed more effectively.
often sees three distinct factions when it comes to such issues. The first type of runners believe that a slower pace should be used to accumulate more runs; the second type of runners believe that only speed is the king, and the performance cannot be improved without speed training; the third type of runners I prefer to run all training at the expected pace of the game, thinking that this will allow the body to adapt and run the expected results in the game. Comparing these different viewpoints carefully, you will find that the focus of the debate is the impact of training intensity on the body and the impact on the performance of the competition. The training intensity of cumulative running volume with easy pace is not strong, the body is easy to accept, and it is good for endurance building; the speed training intensity is high, and it is often necessary to run to the maximum heart rate zone to stimulate fast muscle fibers, which can increase the maximum oxygen uptake and improve running efficiency . These views of
have their own supporters, and many research results have been proposed to prove the validity of the views. But for a long time, there has not been a statement that everyone can agree with. Why is this?
The hard-to-dig training truth
Sports science has done a lot of research, has proved aerobic exercise, especially the running activity that can make the heart rate reach the aerobic zone and close to the lactic acid threshold level. For those who lack training, the daily sedentary is different The cardiovascular health of the population is very beneficial. But what difference will the same pace training make for runners who are used to long-term exercise?
has some studies that have come up with data to prove that speed training is the basis for improving competition performance. However, looking at the daily training of many professional runners, we will find that they are more inclined to run at a slower pace. This contradiction arises from the main question to this type of research: the length of the research on is too short for .
Usually the average length of this type of research is 4 to 8 weeks. For runners who train for a long time, the conclusions of short-term training are too focused on the immediate effect, and the impact on the long-term level cannot be seen, nor can they be observed after specific intensity training. Negative effects on the body.
For researchers, it is not impossible to extend the research time, but it is difficult to find suitable research objects willing to provide scientists with long-term data support. Especially those runners who are already very good, let them give up their training habits and provide research data according to the experimental requirements for several months, which will indeed discourage many people.
Five months of research conclusions
In 2007, four sports science experts from the University of Madrid in Europe, the University of Wisconsin and the University of Agode in Norway jointly published the results of a study (Note 1). They overcome the limitation of the short research time in the past and used five-month sample data to conclude: in the endurance exercise (long-distance running), the research group with easy pace running accounted for 80% of training, and finally The average grade has increased by 23%. The research time of
is long enough to satisfy a complete training cycle, so it is very convincing. The athletes participating in the study are also a group of high-level runners in Spain, and their individual scores for 10 kilometers are between 30 minutes 30 seconds and 35 minutes.
These runners are equally divided into two groups, each using a different training plan. The first group of
uses a low-intensity training plan: 80% of the running activities in training consist of running at an easy pace. It requires an easy pace slower than the lactate threshold pace to keep the training heart rate zone in the aerobic zone. The other 20% of the training activities are equally divided into medium-intensity training (lactate threshold pace) and high-intensity speed training (reaching the maximum heart rate interval)
lactate threshold pace, that is, when the lactic acid in the body has just formed and has not yet reached the accumulation state speed. It can usually be calculated simply by 1.12 times the pace of the five-kilometer race (Note 2).
For example: assuming that the pace of a five-kilometer race is 4 minutes and 30 seconds per kilometer, the lactateThe threshold pace is about 5 minutes and 2 seconds, and the easy pace should be 15-20 seconds per kilometer lower than the lactate threshold pace. The second group of
used a high-intensity training plan: 65% of the training activities consisted of running at an easy pace, 25% for a medium-intensity pace (lactate threshold pace), and 10% for a high-intensity training. The individual training activities of
will be different every week, but the training intensity distribution always maintains a consistent ratio. Running pace is also controlled by heart rate monitoring. The training volume is still in accordance with the ordinary running volume of the general research, maintained at about 80-90 kilometers per week.
In order to ensure that the overall training volume of the two groups is basically the same, the researchers adopted a training volume testing system that included training intensity, pace, and duration. They will use questions similar to: "Run 32 kilometers a week at a pace of 4 and a half minutes and run 48 kilometers a week at a speed of 5 minutes" to check the consistency of the overall training volume. The rigor of
data is also restricted by a strict system. There are two basic principles. The first is to ensure the completion of the training program must reach 98% or more. The second is that you must wear a heart rate device to record all data during each running training. If the above two points cannot be achieved, the data will be excluded from the research. In the five-month period of
, 8 samples did not fully meet the requirements. One person was injured, and the other 7 people did not strictly use the heart rate device to record every training session. This reduces the number of samples that can be compared in each group to six, which still has an impact on the research conclusions to a certain extent. The
researchers conducted a 10.4 km cross-country race at the beginning and after the end of the study to compare the results of the entire study. Of course, after five months of training, the results of all groups have improved accordingly. The surprising thing about
is that although the low-intensity training group spends less time on pace training, the performance improvement is better than the high-intensity training group. Their average performance improved by 2 minutes and 37 seconds, while the intensity training group improved by an average of 2 minutes and 1 second. The researchers believe that although there are eight data samples missing, the difference between the two groups is still very clear.
How to interpret this surprising result?
Train more slowly but run faster? How to explain this result? The
researchers believe that the body's adaptation to low-intensity training is relatively slow, and the effect can only be seen in a long-term training state. For high-intensity training interval running, fast lactate threshold running, etc., the body will respond quickly, so the results can be seen in a short time, but the speed effect will be reduced afterwards. Therefore, for long-term training runners, the benefits of maintaining low-intensity training will be greater . One of the
researchers is also a professional running coach. He believes that too much emphasis on high-intensity training may cause a serious burden on the body, and the training results will be counterproductive.
At the beginning of the research, we also tried to divide a group into a very intense training program. Most of this plan consists of activities that require maximum heart rate (intermittent running, sprinting, etc.). But soon, most of the runners in this group showed overtraining after two or three weeks, and their speed also slowed down.
Although this research has been more than 10 years old, it is believed that there are still many people who do not pay attention to the problem of training intensity and prefer to see immediate results rather than long-term gains. However, more and more people are seeing this and trying to share and promote such training practices. Matt Fitzgerad, a sports nutrition expert in
runners’ world, published a book called "80/20 Running", which further explained the practicality of the 80/20 principle in running activities and maintaining 80/20 during training. % Of the importance of low-intensity running training. In addition to this, many elite runners’ training programs follow the same principle. Before the 2011 Boston Marathon, one of Kenya’s top runners, Moses Mosop, used 70% to 85% of the weekly running volume in the training plan to run at an easy pace (1.12 times the pace of the marathon) and finally finished second.Good grades.
Summary
Although the samples studied are aimed at outstanding elite runners, they are equally important to the general public. The core of this research is the need for runners to be able to balance high-intensity training and add more relaxed pace training to the training plan to gain long-term benefits.
Mass runners should not question their own training effect because of other people's speed training, nor should they worry about whether their running speed is too slow. If you want to run faster, you can't do it overnight. First, you have to lay a good foundation with easy pace training to support yourself in completing more intense speed training.
's long-term persistence can bring the bright smile of the end! I wish every runner can get better and better results on the road of running.
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extended reading
do not have to worry about the pace, long-distance running is a heart rate game, the control of the heart rate will be the winner
running training can be slowed down, the race pace can be as fast as
Author | Qianliu
Note 1: Esteve-Lanao, J.; Foster, C.; Seiler, S.; Lucia, A., "Impact of training intensity distribution on performance in endurance athletes" .) Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2007, 21 (3), 943-949.
Note 2: Sjödin, B.; Jacobs, I., "Starting Point of Lactic Acid Accumulation and Marathon Results" Onset of blood lactate accumulation and marathon running performance.. International Journal of Sports Medicine 1981, 2 (1), 23-26.
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