Fight or Flight Fitness

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Alex Hutchinson, over at Sweat Science, when discussing the article that came out (and covered by many blogs) about the optimal running pace, asked a question I have found interesting for a while:

Well, I’ve often pondered the scenario where you’re stranded in the desert with no food, 100 miles from the nearest aid, and you have to decide what your strategy is. Do you run? Walk? How fast? Seems like if you know your optimal pace, you can maximize your odds…

This same question is part of the impetus for this blog. Can a human travel by food 100 miles without food, without food and water? And since biking is 4-6 times more efficient what about traveling 500 or so miles by bike without food (and/or water)?

I have searched around and haven’t come across any mention of anyone having accomplished or even tried these tasks. No doubt our ancient (maybe not so ancient) relatives were faced with having to travel a 100 or so miles without food.

Now maybe most people would think it is impossible to travel 100 miles without consuming any calories – but I guess we won’t know until somebody is willing to try.

We do have enough energy in our fat stores for 11 days of walking or 3 days of running (on average).

Are you up to the challenge?

(H/T to Andrew)

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A 4 minute workout can improve your aerobic fitness to the level normally associated with 60 minutes per day (5-6 days a week). And you will also improve your anaerobic fitness which the traditional 60 minutes of moderate work (70% of Vo2 max) will not.

Would you be interested in cutting your workout time – but getting the same or even better results? But I will warn you during those 4 minutes you will suffer, and it will seem a lot longer than 4 minutes.

Previously, I outlined an effective interval training regimen that centered around 30 seconds of near all out work (be it running sprints, bike, etc) followed by a 4 minute rest period. You repeat this 4-6 times, the problem some people would find is those ‘wasted’ 4 minute rest intervals. If you want to have even a more efficient work out session you can turn to Tabata intervals.

Tabata intervals:

Tabata intervals consist of 20 seconds of all out sprints (170% of Vo2 max) followed by 10 seconds of rest/recovery. You repeat this for 7-8 sets. The total time taken to complete this workout is only 4 minutes. Simple, short and sweet. You can run these sprints (I suggest slight uphill slopes), you can do stairs, bike, rowing, etc.

Peak Performance has a very good article on Tabata intervals (and other intervals), giving details about the science.

The first study consisted of two training protocols using a cycle ergometer. The first protocol used a constant workload of 70% of VO2max for one hour (traditional aerobic training), 5 days a week. After 6 weeks the VO2max had increased from 53ml/kg/min to 58ml/kg/min, but there was no significant change in anaerobic capacity.

The second protocol worked on high-intensity intervals of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest. The work rate was at 170% of VO2max and 7-8 sets were done each day for 5 days a week. In the second protocol VO2max increased by 7ml/kg/min (ie more than steady state) and anaerobic capacity improved by 28%. When you look at the total time spent in training for the two sets of subjects, the first protocol involved 30 hours training, while the second involved only 2 hours!

Tabata then compared this highly effective interval workout with a protocol using 4-5 repetitions of a 30-second workout at 200% of VO2max and 2-minute rest intervals. He looked at both the accumulated oxygen deficits of the two protocols and the peak oxygen uptakes during the last 10 seconds of each interval. It was clear that the 20:10 seconds work:rest ratio taxed the anaerobic and aerobic systems maximally. The advantage of 20:10 Tabata intervals is that they are very effective and do not take a long time at all. The disadvantage is that they are very hard work and it takes a highly motivated athlete to work at the high levels of intensity required!

So now you have another arsenal in your interval training regimen. You can pick the short Tabata intervals (20 sec. work, 10 sec. rest) or the more traditional 30 sec. work, 4 min. rest. In reality a wide variety of intervals session with different work to rest ratio will work. The trick might be to mix them up so you do not become so bored. The downside of high intensity interval sessions is they require high motivation. Therefore, you might want to mix them up with more traditional relatively easy endurance sessions (think long easy run or bike).

But if you want to make the most of your time (or do not have a lot of time to spare) give Tabata intervals a try.

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‘Survival of the fittest‘ goes the famous saying.

But what type of fitness will increase your survival? Just by flipping this famous and apt saying, the most useful fitness is one that will increase your chance of surviving. That seems an obvious point, once you think about it.

There is the general health fitness that will reduce your chances of dying of the epidemic world wide rise of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and obesity which all contribute to cardiovascular disease, among a host of other diseases. Any fitness plan that improves the above condition would contribute to better survival in our modern world – and fight or flight fitness will accomplish this (I will explain in future articles).

What are the other situations/conditions that fitness will have an effect on surviving? In the past you needed it everyday of your life just to survive the day. You needed to out-fight attackers and outrun predators (defined by something or somebody you would lose a fight to) – fight or flight. You also probably needed to throw various weapons (stones, spears, etc) for the same past two reasons.

Now humans society developed first at the kin level, but grew to include tribe, village, town, city, nation, etc and arguably our level of individual fighting decreased (though I am sure there could be competing arguments). What is accepted that our modern developed world physical fighting is limited. However, there can still be the situation when you might need the skill and ability to defend yourself.

Fight or Flight choice:

Now in a modern day situation of a confrontation – be it you are being mugged, or just got yourself in the wrong situation – you have two options; fight or flight. You must make an educated decision of what is the best choice. But if you think you are less skilled, size disadvantaged, out gunned, or out numbered – you best choice might be flight – and you better be quick about it.

Flight:

You are not going to be able to stretch, limber up, or warm-up before you have to bust your butt out of your current predicament. Hence one of the most important aspect of fight or flight fitness is sprinting at the drop of a hat (should trademark this). We will be talking about sprint training as well as doing extensive sprint training (if you follow along with the training posts). Of course there will be a gradual buildup to sprinting at a drop of a hat (but once you get there you will have it when you need it).

When was the last time you really sprinted in your life?

So without babbling anymore today I will offer my suggestion for today’s exercise routine (with all the disclaimers of you should see a doctor before starting a new exercise program, you should gradually build up both distance and intensity, etc, etc).

Try sprinting (does not have to be all out – judge based on your current fitness and the last time you actually sprinted in your life) with limited to no warm-up (but don’t go full out if you are not use to this new form of exercise). I would suggest sprinting up a slight incline for 2 reasons: one sprinting up hill will reduce impact (and hence reduce chance of injury) and two by sprinting uphill you will also get more a strenght workout.

Tomorrow, I will tell you how I made out with my sprints and continue detailing the ideas and implementation of fight or flight fitness.