unCoachJasonTM
VO2max
The
monthly newsletter of RunCoachJason.com
Jason
Karp, professional coach, consultant, freelance writer
January,
2005 (Premiere Issue)
HAPPY
NEW YEAR!
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In
this issue:
What
is RunCoachJason.com?
What’s
in a Name?
Integrating
Science with Application
Research
In
Press
Athlete
Spotlight
New
Year’s Message
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What
is RunCoachJason.com?
RunCoachJason.com
is a professional coaching, consulting, and freelance writing company founded
in 2003 by Jason Karp, a Ph.D. student in exercise physiology at Indiana
University. For more information
on RunCoachJason.com’s services, go to http://www.runcoachjason.com.
*******************************************************************
What’s
in a Name?
Although
it sounds like a disease (“Honey, you better stay away—I have VO2max”),
VO2max is the maximal volume of oxygen
that muscles can consume per
minute, and is regarded as the gold standard of aerobic
fitness.
Although a high VO2max alone is not enough to attain elite-level
performances, it gains one access into the club.
An athlete simply cannot attain a high level of performance without a
high VO2max. Physiologists, myself
included, are fascinated with the use of oxygen—VO2max is the most often
measured variable in exercise physiology.
As a physiologist and coach, I spend a lot of time concerned with
oxygen consumption. It is thus a
fitting name for this newsletter.
*******************************************************************
Integrating
Science with Application
Each
month’s newsletter will present an issue in science and training to generate
thought and discussion among athletes, coaches, and the running community.
Mileage:
Quantity vs. Quality
It
seems that everyone thinks more mileage is better.
But how much mileage really is necessary to reach one’s potential as
a distance runner? I have a friend
who missed the 2004 Olympic Trials in the 1,500 meters by four seconds.
During his base phase of training, he ran 100 miles per week.
Frankly, I thought he was nuts. And
I began to wonder, “Do you really need to run 100 miles per week to run a
race that takes 3 minutes and 45 seconds?”
Since a lot of successful runners regularly run that much, it must be
necessary, right? Since all
training must have a purpose, the first question that needs to be asked is
“What is the purpose of running lots of miles?”
At its surface, it seems like an easy question to answer.
More miles improve aerobic metabolism (and the production of ATP) by
increasing blood volume, mitochondrial density, the number of capillaries
perfusing the muscle fibers, and the number/activity of
What
if someone ran less, but ran faster? What
would happen to aerobic metabolism then? Could
you still increase the number of enzymes?
I propose that running fewer miles but at a faster aerobic pace—in
fact, the pace associated with the highest
sustainable rate of aerobic
metabolism—is a superior stimulus for improving aerobic performance.
This pace is commonly referred to as the lactate threshold, the speed
above which lactate and the associated acidosis begin to rapidly accumulate in
muscles and blood. It can be
thought of as the fastest speed that can be maintained almost solely by
aerobic means. It seems to me that
if you want an organism to respond the most it can, you push it to its limit.
Marathoners do this all the time by increasing the length of their long
run to deplete muscle glycogen stores. In
the presence of ingested carbohydrate following the long run, the skeletal
muscles respond to the “empty tank” by synthesizing and packing in more
glycogen, thus increasing endurance for future efforts.
So it stands to reason that if you spend a lot of time running at the
sustainable limit of aerobic metabolism, it will respond and adapt by raising
its limit (via all the adaptations noted above).
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Research
Chocolate
Milk as a Post-Exercise Recovery Drink
My
recent research compared the ingestion of chocolate milk to a fluid
replacement drink (Gatorade) and a carbohydrate replacement drink (Endurox)
between workouts on endurance cycling performance. Trained
cyclists were able to ride a bike significantly longer at 70%
VO2max after drinking chocolate milk and Gatorade compared to after
drinking Endurox during a 4-hour recovery period from an initial
exercise bout. Chocolate
milk has a high carbohydrate and protein
content, two nutrients needed for optimal recovery following a hard
training session.
This
research was presented at the American College of Sports Medicine annual
conference in June, 2004 (the chocolate milk that was handed out was a big hit
with the attendees). The abstract
of the study was published in the May, 2004 issue of Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise.
A full-length manuscript is in the works and will be submitted for
publication soon.
*******************************************************************
In
Press
2004
ended with my first published book, Directions
for SPSS®: A Manual for Students in Statistics.
My
recent writing may also be seen on the pages of Fitness
Plus magazine (July &
October, 2004) and in Medicine and Science in
Sports and Exercise (May,
2004).
Look
for articles in Running Times and Marathon
& Beyond in 2005.
For
a complete list of my publications, go to http://www.runcoachjason.com/publications.
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Athlete
Spotlight
Doug
Trueblood
Following
a stress fracture in the winter of 2004, Doug returned to the track for a
successful outdoor season that culminated in August with his first experience
competing at the USA National Masters Track and Field Championships, where he
placed 15th in the 800 meters (2:39) and 13th in the 1500 meters (5:11) in the
50-54 age group. Having since
moved up to the 55-59 age group, he is currently training to return to
Nationals in August in Honolulu, HI.
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New
Year’s Message
Every
year, people make new year’s resolutions and, every year, people break them.
Humans, like most animals, are creatures of habit.
This year, choose one thing you want to do or change and make it
happen. No excuses.
By year’s end, you will be richer for having done so.
May this new year bring you PRs, both in and out of your running shoes.
Jason
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unsubscribe from this newsletter, e-mail jason@runcoachjason.com
with the word “unsubscribe” on the subject line.
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©2005
Jason Karp.
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