I can safely say, I'm in the best shape of my life. At Sectionals I played almost every point (all but one point on Sunday), and still felt fairly fresh afterwards. I would be dog tired by the end of a point, but I easily recovered in time for the next point. Hopefully Fox will reply with how effective he thought the program was. (Also, Edelman is on the 60/50s and has been happy, hopefully he won't post though).
For Rival, I'd like to continue the intervals. Maybe let people work at their own pace moving through the different intervals, so Fox and I could keep running 20/10s while everyone else would be able to start the 90/90s whenever and move along every couple of weeks. The nice thing is that the intervals don't take very long, about 5 minutes of actual running. It's also ok to be tired when you start, so you can do other stuff before hand. My basic plan for our track workouts is going to be:
warmup
running form stuff
plyos/speedwork
intervals
We'll probably substitute some conventional long distance running (400s, 800s, etc.) for the intervals now and then. I'm also hopeful that Rivalers will be able to run intervals once a week outside of the track workouts (after summer league games maybe, or at the weekend practices).
Lastly, thanks to Lean and Hungry Fitness for finding this article that talks about interval training. Some quotes:
In the overall scheme of training for athletes participating in stop and go power sports (e.g., football, basketball, ice hockey and gymnastics) short-intense interval work has a major role to play in maximizing performance.
By maintaining the high level of training over a 5 or 6 week period one would expect a significant increase in the ratio of lean body mass to fat.
8 comments:
Wood- how often were you guys running intervals? Twice a week? More? Any preference regarding asphalt or grass?
We ran the intervals 2-3 times a week. I usually ran Monday, Thursday, Saturday. We ran in cleats on grass. I don't generally advise running on asphalt. You're not going to want to run these intervals around town anyway, better going to a track or field. You can also do the intervals on a stationary bike, or burpees. Burpees are: squat, thrust legs out to pushup position, pull legs back in, jump straight up, squat, etc.
you don't want me to post, so in the spirit of immaturity, i will. so suck it.
intervals rock. straight up. i've played soccer, tennis, basketball, run CC, etc etc, and no workout i've done for those sports has ever gotten me into the kind of shape i'm in now.
also, take into consideration 1) i had done practically 0 cardio between regionals last year and when i started the HIITs (as we so fondly call them at Emory) and 2) i've only been doing them about 4 weeks.
i would say at around the third week of doing the 4x90/90's, i noticed a VERY considerable improvement. now that i'm on the 5x60/50's, it's like i can run for entire points at full speed and not be tired. i can't wait for 10x20/10s.
i LOVE this workout, and i HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest that you do it at least 3x a week. the secret is to really push yourself hard. believe it or not, it's not very taxing on your legs, so after the first time or two, you don't really feel sore the next day. i would guess that after about a week or two of doing these, you could probably do these 5 days a week (crazy, i know, but just THINK of the possibilities!). i've done as many as 4x a week and as few as 2x a week since i've started.
seriously, guys. this workout could be the ticket to nationals (did i hear title? title?) this year.
i'll be at grady hs most days after work (approx. 630pm) running them on the track. it helps if you run w/someone else who has a stopwatch or countdown timer so when the running and resting start to deviate you can keep your times accurate.
come join me!
That article I posted suggests only 2 days a week to allow for recovery. In the original study, they were doing the 20/10s 5 times a week, but they were elite atheletes. The article does say younger atheletes can probably do it more frequently (haha).
I would suggest you start with twice a week and work up from there if everything feels ok. Personally, I think it's less stress on your knees/joints than long distance running, just because it's less ground impacts. However, if you find your muscles need a couple of days to recover, I'd suggest sticking with twice a week.
Three times a week worked well for me.
are you saying i'm not an elite athlete? while i probably won't ACTUALLY do them 5x a week, i'm just saying that it doesn't affect my legs the same way other exercises have, and that i could probably handle maybe 5x a week leg-wise. this week will be a 3x week (tomorrow 630@grady hs track).
I have nothing but good things to say about the intervals. After playing most of the points at southern poly I would fell a little sore the next monday but by tuesday I was fine. After some of the preseason tourneys with rival, I was not sore at all. Also on the field between points my recovery time was very short. They do not take that long to do and you see results very shortly. We ran something like intervals when I was in high school and I ran my best mile at 4:35. I know if anybody does them even at the best shape will be happy the did them.
Dang, Tabata intervals were one of my secret weapons, taking me from "who let the computer geek on the field" to a player can at least hang with the pack athletically (it's amazing how hard I have to train just be be of adequate fitness in this sport - damn you, genetics (at least I'm tall)). That'll teach me fer preaching the gospel. Soon everybody will be doing them and I'll be right back where I started from (relatively).
Seriously, so glad they've been working for you guys.
Oh, wood, a note on the burpees, your description: "squat, thrust legs out to pushup position, pull legs back in, jump straight up, squat, etc." leaves out the fact that not only are you kicking your legs out into a pushup position, you are simultaneously dropping into the lowermost position of a pushup with your arms. You push out of the pushup at the same time as you are kicking back in (don't bounce your chest off the ground - that's cheating).
That's the way I do 'em, anyway. Without the pushup and jump they are squat-thrusts.
Good luck with the season!
Actually, I had not been doing the pushup part. I must have subconciously repressed it. Burpees are going to suck next time. My SPSU kids absolutely hated the burpee intervals, I guess it's good for them I forgot.
Post a Comment