Fight or Flight Fitness

—–

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.

——

Alan Couzens over at endurance corner writes a very good piece (click here for the full article) about the overall importance of including sprint intervals in your training even if your overall goal is an ultra endurance even like an Ironman.

He gets into the detailed physiology as you can see from this passage:

In the figure above (adapted from this study), the x axis represents intensity (%VO2max), the y axis represents aerobic adaptation in the form of cytochrome c concentration (nmole/gm). As you can see, slow twitch fibers were maximally (aerobically) trained at an intensity of ~83% of VO2max (approximately equal to the anaerobic or ‘functional’ threshold. FOG fibers were maximally trained at anywhere from 83-116% of VO2max, while FG fibers weren’t significantly trained until the workload exceeded 100% of VO2max, and weren’t maximally trained until the workload reached 116% of VO2max.

But beyond just the interval work he also discusses the importance of long slow stuff (which I have mentioned previously but haven`t gone into the details).

An additional study that has particular relevance to the optimal duration/intensity combination for slow twitch fibers was that of Harms and Hickson (1983). In this study, the researchers found a near linear relationship between duration of work and adaptation of slow twitch fibers. In other words, providing a minimal intensity of training was maintained (60%VO2max), doubling training volume elicited performance improvements of 40-100%. When we compare to the improvements in Dudley’s study, it becomes clear that in the case of slow twitch fibers duration and frequency trump intensity.

Therefore, you can see the benefits of both sprint intervals and long slow endurance stuff that could even include long serious walks.

Now what does he actually prescribe for sprint intervals (for your base training):

Essen (1978) found that providing the length of the training interval was kept short (15-30s), exercise performed in excess of VO2max elicited glycogen depletion patterns and lactate levels much more in accordance with tempo or threshold training, i.e. 2-4mmol/L lactate even when continued for 30-60 minutes (i.e. 30-60 repetitions). These intervals do not provide the same level of stress on the central systems as long intervals, therefore long intervals or time trials are indicated for a short period of time prior to competition to truly peak an athlete, however, in terms of maximizing peripheral adaptations in FG fibers, 30-60 reps of 15-30s with a 15s-1min rest period is optimal.

This at least give you some of the physiology behind interval training and some guidelines (30-60 reps is a lot so I would say gradually build up to this level), with the additional reminder of also including some low intensity endurance work.

Sprint intervals:

One reason people give for not engaging in exercise is they do not have the time. Well if time is your main limiting factor sprint intervals is the perfect ticket for you.

A currently equaling pressing issue for many people is lack of extra funds so they can not afford to join a gym. Then sprint interval training is the perfect ticket for you.

Sprint training will save you immense time and money – no driving 10-40 minutes to the gym (time and financial cost), no gym membership.

You simply need an open area of anywhere from 50-200 meters long. A nice uphill grass slope is one great choice, but not the only one. If you don’t like sprinting in the rain or snow you can easily use a stairwell of any building (you only need about a 5 flights of stairs to get a great workout). Even a parking lot, sidewalk (but don’t plow down the strollers), or side street can provide an avenue for your sprint intervals.

The science:

The reality is any form of sprint training will be good for you. Some people point out, just look at sprinters physiques. The problem with that argument is was in the sprinting that make them look that way, or they are sprinters because they have that type of physique (lean and muscular).

But there are a series of scientific papers that point out the efficiency of sprint intervals.

Burgomaster et. al., 2005 used 4-7 ‘all out’ 30 second sprints (which are painful I can tell you from experience) followed by 4 minutes of recovery performed every second day for a two week period (total of 6 sessions). In sum total the subjects performed approximately 15 minutes of exercise over the 2 week period.

Results:

Citrate synthase increased by 38%, resting muscle glycogen levels increased by 28%. More importantly cycling endurance at 80% of Vo2 peak was significantly improved compared to the control group (26 +/- 5 minutes for the control group, 51 +/- 11 minutes for the sprint training group). Hence, endurance performance doubled in 2 weeks. The authors point out the increase in citrate synthase seen with 15 minutes of work is similar to what is observed with more traditional endurance paradigms of 6-7 days a week of an hour or more of moderate level aerobic exercise (65% of Vo2 max).

A followup study by Gibala et. al., in 2006 found similar results. In this study they directly compared the above sprinting paradigm training done for 2 weeks versus 90-120 minutes of continuous cycling at 65% of Vo2 max over the same two week period in young active men (university students that already did recreational exercise 2-3 times a week, e.g. jogging, cycling, etc). The total time commitment for the two groups was 2.5 hours (including recovery periods – with only 15 minutes of actual exercise) for the sprint training versus 10.5 hours for the endurance based training.

Results:

Both groups improved their endurance ability in a 750 kJ cycling test, and there were no statistical difference between the two groups (the sprint group improved 10.1% and the endurance group 7.5%). Mean power output was in the range of 212 to 234 Watt range for the approximate 1 hour of cycling (which just to give you a baseline is the wattage a serious but not top age group athlete would push for the entire ironman leg of the bike portion - 5-6 hours). Additionally, muscle buffering capacity and glycogen content increased similarly in both groups (with the un-statistical overall advantage trending to the sprint group).

Bottom line in a direct comparison in already active young men the sprint training which required 4 times less time produced equal level of aerobic improvements.

But there is a cost to sprint intervals:

It saves you time and money – but they are somewhat painful. Not only can your muscles hurt but also a more visceral hurt in the guts that can occur with serious physical exertion. You have to teach yourself to tolerate this discomfort. It is not going to kill you – it will make you stronger

Another very popular form of interval training is called Tabata intervals. Tabata intervals consist of 20 sec of sprints (be it rowing machine, bicycle, sprints, or stairs) followed by 10 seconds of rest intervals (which will even save more time since you have less resting period – but you pay in higher overall level of pain). I will save the discussion about these intervals for another time – but feel free to try them out.

Get ready for the new year with a new resolution to improve your fitness and health. Sprint intervals might be one answer for you.

——————–

‘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.