In this next installment of this series I’d like to discuss some approaches to using the high intensity training to improve conditioning.
If you are interested in the first two articles in the series, please check them out here:
- High Intensity Training Part 1: “Shock Training Cycle”
- High Intensity Training Part 2: Concentrated Loading for Conditioning
In the previous article I discussed the concept of concentrated loading, basically performing a huge whack of training in a short period of time aimed at one targeted objective in order to obtain a large increase in fitness once the training stimulus is removed. How you approach this phase of training or sequence your way into it is key. A great video lecture on this concept comes from one of the top sports scientists in the world, Inigo Mujika. Below is his three part lecture from the 2011 World Congress on Science and Football. The portion most specific to this discussion begins at 7:45 in part 1. Following the lecture I’ll add some of my own comments.
My Comments
I really enjoyed this lecture and the methodical approach that was taken to using high intensity interval training. Some key things that stood out to me:
- The coaching staff recognized a problem/limitation with the athlete and the athlete was allowed to be removed from regular soccer practice 2x/week for specific conditioning. I don’t know if most team sport coaches, particularly in the US, are in a position were they feel comfortable taking a player out of practice to do specific conditioning should the player need that. It is unfortunate because I believe that most of the team sport athletes at the elite level posses a large amount of skill and knowledge of the game yet they may sometimes lack the physical qualities to go out and display this skill night after night in competition.
- Testing was used to individualize the approach for the athlete. This is a perfect case of using the test to help determine what the athlete needs. In this case they felt that aerobic power was the limitation of this athlete based on how his test results compared with those of athletes within his sport and within his position.
- A test > train > re-test approach was used and following the re-test it was determined that the athlete still had room for improvement, despite seeing improvement from the first approach, which allowed the coaches to develop a program that targeted the athletes limitations.
- Only two sessions per week of this high intensity approach were used along with regular soccer training. As I discussed in the previous articles in this series, oftentimes coaches will do a high amount of intense interval training year round or for weeks on end and, aside from this potentially leading to a fatigued athlete, it limits the novelty of that training stimuli that you may otherwise get when it is used in a more systematic manner. Interestingly, a study by Burgomaster, et al (2007) looked at the response of metabolite transport proteins to sprint interval training and de-training. During the 6-week training phase subjects performed three sessions per week (Mon/Wed/Fri) consisting of 4 sets x 30sec Wingate with 4min rest in weeks 1-2; 5 sets in weeks 3-4; and 6 sets in weeks 5-6. This was followed by a 6-week de-training phase, which consisted of no planned sprint interval training although the subjects were active individuals so they remained active during this period. Interestingly, several transport proteins (Ex., GLUT4, COX4) were increased after just one week of the interval training and even remained elevated even throughout the de-training period. Thus, a huge amount of volume is typically not needed and I have found 2-3x/week of this sort of work to be a good place to start with individuals when implementing intense interval training in a concentrated block of training (keeping in mind that as athletes develop they may require 4 or 5 sessions of this sort of work, as I discussed in Part 2 of this series).
Application & Approach
Following Mujika’s discussion of the individual athlete he then goes into a short talk on how he implemented this approach with a few soccer teams, using individualized intensities (based on physiological testing) to program the athletes with one high intensity interval training session per week. As I discussed in Part 2, I typically have one high intensity session every 7-10 days (or 4 or 5th conditioning workout) in the initial phases of training with other conditioning sessions being lower in intensity (tempo runs, aerobic interval training, 5-10min continuous intervals just below AnT, or cardiac output sessions). This would precede the concentrated loading phase I discussed in Part 2, which would then precede the phase that is most specific to the athlete’s sport (IE, performing more of the conditioning work with the ball or running drills specific to that sport). In Mujika’s example he discussed Aerobic Power work for the athletes. I have talked about Aerobic Power previously in the article on the Power-Capacity Continuum. Generally, I think of Aerobic Power as being work that is too intense to do for a long-slow duration but not so intense that you burn out in 60sec. The typical interval combinations I use are:
5x3min @ > 85% maxHR; Rest = 3min
4x4min @ > 85% maxHR; Rest = 3min
4x5min @ > 85% maxHR; Rest = 3min
Note: Of course this is a very internal way of looking at Aerobic Power. Mujika’s example is more focused on output as the intervals are based on speed rather than HR response. But that is a blog article for a different time as I have some ideas on how I look at this stuff and determine training.
As I get into the concentrated loading phase I use these Aerobic Power sessions 1x/week as well as 1-2x/week of short duration interval work (generally 2-4 series x [5 min of 20-30sec work : 20-30sec rest] Rest = 2.5min). We typically will do this for 3 weeks before unloading the athlete in week four. The concentrated loading, highest weekly volume/frequency, of the intense interval training comes in week 2 and 3. For example:
Week 1 = 1 aerobic power session & 1 short interval session
Week 2 = 1 aerobic power session & 2 short interval sessions
Week 3 = 2 aerobic power sessions & 2 short interval sessions
Week 4 = Recovery
The other sessions during this week are set up to provide the body with some restoration and are very aerobic in nature, keeping the athlete away from work that is very lactate producing.
Hopefully that provides some ideas to play with. There are a number of combinations and things to try and I haven’t even discussed resistance training or how I fit resistance training within this sort of program yet. At the end of the day the goal is to understand the athlete, their needs, the demands of the sport, and apply the test > train > re-test model to ensure you are getting what you want.