Want to run faster and be more explosive?

In my last post I talked about CrossFit and bootcamps and the predominantly high intensity ethos that it mostly advocates. I believe that CrossssFit does its rationale and it does work but this should not be to the detriment of using low intensity exercise like long slow runs. There are many sports which we would like to classify as being predominantly explosive and high intensity but the real truth is that most of these sports require the athlete both at a professional and amateur level to have a strong aerobic base. I have managed to scope through the internet and found some articles that support the idea that short, intense training may be more aerobic than once thought.

There appear to be two categories of research that support this theory.

The first type of research shows that single max. efforts become dominantly aerobic far sooner than old models predict. This includes the following:

• Gastin (2001) reviewed dozens of studies on aerobic/anaerobic contributions to single max. effort sprints. He conclude that widely-accepted energy systems models are outdated/flawed and the aerobic system becomes dominant far sooner than previously understood. Though the paper estimates the crossover to aerobic dominance occurs around 75 seconds, some studies show it occurs under 60 seconds. [PDF]

• Figueiredo et. al. (2010) evaluated a single max. effort 200-meter freestyle sprint by elite swimmers. The aerobic system became dominant somewhere between 30-60 seconds and remained dominant for the rest of the sub-two-minute effort. [Abstract]

The second type of research demonstrates a progressive shift towards increasing aerobic contribution during repeated max. effort sprints. This type includes the following:

• Gaitanos et. al. (1993) evaluated ten 6-second sprint repeats and found a progressive shift toward greater aerobic contribution. [PDF]

• Putman et. al. (1995) evaluated three 30-second maximal sprints separated by four minutes rest. During the 1st sprint, aerobic contribution was 29%. By the third sprint, aerobic contribution was 63%. [PDF]

• Bogdanis et. al. (1996) evaluated two 30-second maximal efforts separated by four minutes of passive rest. They found that the the aerobic system generated approximately 34% of the energy produced during the first 30-second sprint and increased to 49% for the second 30-second sprint. [PDF]

• Trump et. al. (1996) evaluated three 30-second maximal efforts with four minutes rest between. They found that aerobic contribution during the first bout ranged from 16-28% and increased to ~70% in the third bout. [PDF]

• Parolin et. al. (1999) evaluated three intervals of 30-seconds maximal effort separated by four minutes of passive rest. Total average aerobic contribution was 34% for the first interval and 58% for the third. [PDF]

Together, this research establishes that short, intense training becomes predominantly aerobic very quickly and increasingly aerobic during high-intensity intervals. So people the CrossFit and bootcamps methods do work but the idea is to mix them up with some good old road runs for example. In my next post I will provide you with some examples of workouts you can use to improve your aerobic fitness.

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