To succeed in endurance events, you require various physical attributes. However, for an endurance athlete wanting to perform at an elite level, a high level of aerobic power (typically referred to as VO2max) is a minimum requirement.
Cardiovascular power is crucial for any endurance athlete wanting to perform at their very best. A high level of aerobic power lets you run, cycle or swim faster for longer.
Achieving an advanced standard of performance in almost any endurance event requires many years of training, which is required to establish a stable foundation of fitness. Having said that, there exists an expanding body of research to suggest that you can significantly boost your aerobic power in 3 weeks or less.
Interval training has formed a large part of professional athletes exercise routines for many years. It involves rounds of intense activity (i.e. sprinting) interspersed with phases of low intensity exercise (i.e. walking or jogging).
In the last few years, a division of interval training known as high intensity intermittent exercise (HIIE) has developed a track record of providing rapid gains in aerobic power – in some instances employing workouts lasting only 4 minutes. High intensity intermittent exercise (which has also been referred to as tabata intervals – http://muscleevo.com/tabata-intervals-fat-loss/) involves brief bouts of all-out activity lasting thirty seconds or less. Rest periods may last anywhere between 10 seconds and five minutes.
Leading exercise specialists think that high intensity intermittent exercise programmes can play an important role in increasing your VO2max in the period before a race or event.
By way of example, scientists at the University of Barcelona tested a high intensity intermittent exercise programme lasting only fourteen days. The plan required daily workout sessions comprising 15-second all-out work intervals, accompanied by forty five seconds of recovery. Following just fourteen days of exercise, VO2max had increased by a notable 11% – a change normally connected with routines lasting much longer.
Even more persuasive is research from a team at Japan’s National Institute of Fitness and Sport. They reviewed 2 exercise routines, the first comprising traditional moderate intensity exercise (cycling) for 60 minutes, five days per week. The next programme involved high intensity intermittent exercise, and was comprised of 8 maximal effort work bouts lasting twenty seconds, with ten seconds of rest. Even though each training session lasted just four minutes, aerobic power gains in the high intensity intermittent exercise group were 55% greater than those in the traditional steady-state cardio group.
Comparable findings have been reported in numerous other studies, some involving just ten maximal effort work periods lasting 30 seconds each. Even the investigators were surprised by their findings, describing such spectacular gains in VO2max as unexpected, in light of the short duration of each exercise session.
Not only has high intensity intermittent exercise exhibited remarkable effects on VO2max, research indicates it may also improve your endurance performance. A research group from South Africa’s University of Cape Town Medical School analyzed the effects of 5 unique variations of interval training on a 40km time trial. The duration of the work bouts varied between 30 seconds and 8 minutes. Each cyclist performed a total of six sessions over a 3 week time period, carrying out their usual training on separate days. You
The thirty second work periods produced a large improvement in performance, while intervals lasting 60 seconds had no effect. Although the scientists weren’t absolutely sure why the 30-second bouts were so effective, they propose that short, more intensive work bouts can make the body more resistant to fatigue.