VO2max

The monthly newsletter of RunCoachJason.com

Dr. Jason Karp, running & fitness coach, consultant, freelance writer

October, 2005

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In this issue:

Integrating Science with Application—Lactate Threshold

A Brief History of Interval Training

In Press

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Integrating Science with Application—Lactate Threshold

If you’re a runner, chances are you’ve heard of the lactate threshold (LT) almost as much as you’ve heard of VO2max.  Although VO2max has received most of the attention among runners, from the time of the classic study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise in 1979 by some of the biggest names in exercise physiology (Farrell, Wilmore, Coyle, Billing, and Costill), research has shown that the LT is the best physiological predictor of distance running performance.

 

LT is a physiological variable that demarcates the transition between exercise that is almost purely aerobic and exercise that includes significant oxygen-independent (anaerobic) metabolism.  LT can therefore be considered the fastest speed that you can sustain aerobically.  When you run at a pace faster than the pace at your LT, you fatigue sooner because of the associated acidosis (remember, lactate itself doesn’t cause fatigue) and the greater reliance on fast-twitch (and fast-fatiguing) muscle fibers.  Increasing the speed at which your LT occurs allows you to run faster before you fatigue because it allows you to run faster before anaerobic metabolism begins to play a significant role.  The benefit to being able to run aerobically at 5:30 pace compared to 6:00 pace is obvious. 

 

Research has shown that LT is more responsive than VO2max to training.  The longer the race you are training for, the more important it is to train your LT because the closer the race pace will be to your LT pace.  So, for the marathon and half-marathon, your LT should be the focus of your training.  While LT increases along with VO2max when you run intervals, you can target your LT by running at or near your LT pace.  Research has shown that runners who do specific LT workouts have a significantly greater improvement in their ability to hold a hard pace compared to those who train only with long or short intervals.  This research underlines the notion that the ability to sustain a hard pace for a long time is greatly influenced by your LT. 

 

I typically use four types of LT workouts with my athletes: 1) continuous runs at LT pace, starting at about 3 miles and increasing up to 7-8 miles for marathoners; 2) intervals run at LT pace with very short rest periods, such as 4 x 1 mile at LT pace with 1:00 rest; 3) short intervals run at slightly faster than LT pace with very short rest periods, such as 2 sets of 4 x 1,000 meters at 10 seconds per mile faster than LT pace with 45 seconds rest and 2:00 rest between sets; and 4) long runs (12-16 miles) with the last 3-4 miles at LT pace (I only include this workout with marathoners).

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A Brief History of Interval Training

As runners, we all have run intervals on the track.  After all, we all know it’s the fastest way to peak fitness.  But did you ever wonder how and when interval training started?

 

Interval training originated in Europe in the 1930s to develop fitness in track athletes.  While athletes used interval training without knowing exactly why it worked, the credit for placing interval training on a scientific basis belongs to the coach-physiologist team of Waldemar Gerschler and Hans Reindell of Germany ’s Freiburg University.  They believed that the primary stimulus for cardiovascular improvement occurs during the recovery period when the heart rate is reduced from 170-180 to 120-140 beats per minute.  Gerschler and Reindell’s original

method required periods of effort ranging from 30 to 70 seconds at a speed that elevated the heart rate to about 180 beats per minute.  The effort phase was followed by sufficient recovery to allow the heart rate to return to 120 beats per minute. 

 

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, interval training was brought into the global spotlight by Emil Zatopek of Czechoslovakia, the only runner to win the 5,000 meters, 10,000 meters, and marathon in the same Olympics.  Also during that time, Hungarian coach Mihaly Igloi developed the concept of sets of short distances run quickly to permit a greater total training stimulus.  His coaching centered on large amounts of interval training, believing that a large amount of speed training also built stamina.  This opinion was echoed by Zatopek himself in response to those who told him he was spending too much time training with short distances as if he were a sprinter: “...but if I run 100 meters twenty times, that is two kilometers and that is no longer a sprint.” 

 

It wasn’t until the 1960s that famous Swedish physiologist Per-Olaf Åstrand discovered, using a stationary bicycle in the lab, what Coach Igloi and many other coaches and runners already knew—that by breaking up a set amount of work into smaller segments, you can perform a greater volume of work at a higher intensity.  For example, you can run 5 x 1,000 meters faster than you can run 5,000 meters, you can run 10 x 500 meters faster than you can run 5 x 1,000 meters, and you can run 20 x 250 meters faster than you can run 10 x 500 meters.  Sounds obvious, but Åstrand’s simple observation is important when designing workouts at specific race paces to meet specific needs.

 

So next time you’re completing an interval workout and your heart feels like it’s going to pound out of your chest, you’ll know who to thank for your misery.

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In Press...

This fall, I became part of a new column in Shape magazine called Workout Express, which details a 30-minute cardio workout, an accompanying playlist of songs, and a single “must-do” strength exercise.  Rotated every month among three personal trainers around the country, my first column appears in the November, 2005 issue of Shape, on newsstands now. 

 

Ever wonder how you can obtain the training benefits of hill running if you live in a flat place?  My response to this question appears in the “Ask the Experts” section of the November, 2005 issue of Runner’s World magazine, on newsstands now.

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©2005 Jason Karp.  All rights reserved.