Will Kirousis | @willkirousis | 978*466*5151 | will@tri-hard.com

www.tri-hard.com

Long Slow Distance OR High Intensity: What’s Better? (For you)

Getting Started

• Discuss volume and intensity in the context of the training process overall.

• This starts out general…• Then we will look at issues

which lead to specific variations/adjustments in how YOU could apply volume and intensity within your training program.

• Finish up with a review of a few “Second Level” strategies that can help you perform your best.

“What is a training program?”

A systematic approach to stressing an athlete such that they

progressively adapt to specific workout stress in a way that

allows them to perform at their best at a specific competitive event or series of competitive events at a predictable time.

For best results: Set up training to facilitate recovery,

not just to maximize work accomplished.

The Variables Constituting a Training Program

Volume Intensity Frequency Load

Total accumulated training via duration or distance

How much work (velocity/power/HR) you accomplish per unit time. Not effort, which is how you the accruing stress of a workout feels knowing what you have done, and still plan on accomplishing.

How many times you workout during a specific period of time.

The combination of volume and intensity.

Assessed via TRIMPS, sRPE, TSS

Builds aerobic enzymes, mitochondria density, capillary density, decreases (good) type I fiber diameter, increases IIa fiber aerobic ability, increases glycogen content of muscle, increases time to fatigue, increases VO2mx and “threshold”.

Same as volume, but also increases acid buffering ability, economy, aerobic ability of IIa/b fibers and fatigue resistance of IIaand b fibers and in high level athletes, it’s the primary thing to increase “threshold” and power or velocity at VO2mx.

Ties volume and intensity into a tangible plan.

Intermingles with both volume and intensity improving fatigue resistance and technical skill acquisition.

Text book:Only based on training stress.Real World:INCLUDES non training specific stress like PT, work stress, life stress, dietary stress, chriopractic adjustment, self massage, random activity (soccer with your kids) etc…

Clarifying Intensity

Low Medium (Med)

High (HI)

Feels verycomfortable unless done for a very long

time

Feels like your doing something and feels

fairly fatiguing.

Feels very powerful and sharp, longer

(30”+) efforts have produce a lot of

fatigue fast!

Below the “Aerobic” Threshold or

roughly below 75% of MLSS/FTP/OBLA

Between aerobic and

lactate/anaerobic thresholds (if

measured in a lab)

MLSS/FTP/OBLA up to max.

Long workouts, moderate intensity workouts, steady ,comfortable all day

long workouts.

Tempo workouts, long intervals, race

intensity work.

Time trialing, 5-10K races. Shorter

interval workouts, “VO2max” training,

“Anaerobic” training.

High Intensity TrainingHigh Energy Muscle Action

High Volume Low intensity Training

Repeated Contractions

AMPK CaMKPGC-1α

Increased aerobic ability in ST, FOG, FT muscle fiber, glycogen storage, mitochondria #’s, aerobic enzymes, fat oxidation rate,

Master Adaptation Switch

Adaptations triggered that improve endurance performance

Both volume and intensity trigger different adaptive switches to get the SAME result!

Stimulates Stimulates

If Intensity and volume do the same thing… then what’s the difference?

The amplitude and angle of the adaptations caused by each approach!

• High intensity training – Increases the rate of energy production you can accomplish.

– Increases your ability to handle the byproducts of fatigue.

– Increases economy and work capacity, thus making lower intensities less challenging mechanically and metabolically.

• Low intensity (volume based) training– Reduces the build up of the byproducts of fatigue.

– Increases overall recovery rate.

– Increases the rate of energy produced from fat during exercise.

NOTE: These adaptations overlap!

The Impact of Intensity and Volume on Training and Recovery

Factor Hi Intensity Volume (low intensity)

Recovery TimeNeeded

Hi Low-Moderate

Training Stimulus Hi Low-Moderate

Adaptation lifespan Long Short

Frequency Needed Low-Moderate (3-6) High (5-9)

Duration Needed Low-Moderate High

Summary: Training with low intensity requires a relatively high frequency and volume of work to work best. Training with high intensity requires a relatively low amount of high intensity training to work best.

You can not train @ high intensity as often as low intensity due to the recovery demands placed upon you by each.

The harder you work, the more muscle fibers you fatigue and fuel you use, thus, the greater the stimulus for adaptation, the need for

recovery and the duration of training effect are hi with HIT.

Building on the single workout model just reviewed…keep in mind that when…

Intensity up, volume down…Volume up, intensity down!

Lower Intensity Higher Intensity

Low

er

Vo

lum

e

Hig

he

r V

olu

me

The fitter you get, the less duration of intensity is needed, but the higher it needs to be to improve

endurance performance.

LOW 50%

Med 25%

Hi 25%

LOW 65%

Med 15%

Hi 20%

LOW 75-80%

Med 10%

Hi 10-15%

New AthleteMid Level

AthleteAdvanced

Athlete

• Youtubeification of Sport (Ie, it plays well on youtube)

• Often the middle is believed to be high/very high intensity

• Provides instant gratification

• Visible fatigue is glorified

Uh Oh… “We” like the middle – it feels like “we

are doing something”.

Aim for a “polarized” hard – easy pattern spread over the training period rather than doing monotonous load.

Avoid Chronic Load Syndrome

Source: Derek Hansen

We train with more than 1 workout… How does that impact the influence of intensity and duration on performance?

• What have you done? (Training history)

• Do you recover fast or slow?

• Life logistics/stress? (how much time do you have)

• Training/racing goals? (what are you trying to do)

• ST / FT???

Since they work best in conjunction with each other, the question then becomes: volume or intensity…

What’s best for you?

Your History?

• Training history impacts performance– Where you have been, provides insight on where you can go.– How long have you trained in your current sport?

• The longer you have done your sport, the harder gains will be, and the likely hood that you can do a greater total training load is higher.

• Provides clues to your injury resistance.

– How long have you trained consistently in a similar sport?• If you ran competitively in high school and college and after college

prior to cycling, you are more aerobically ready than a total newbie to endurance sports.

– What sports have you done for significant periods in your life?• High school, college, out of college? Soccer? Track? Cycling?

Swimmer? Hoops? Football? • Provides clues about your movement abilities, injury resistance, fiber

type dominance, and injury history

How do you recover?

• Your adaptation “profile” (slow / fast responder)

– Slow recovery rate = less intensity is possible. Longer low intensity training focus is likely best for you.

– Fast recovery rate = more frequent intensity. Even if training for very long races, doing frequent intensity bouts will be best for you. (not every day!)

– Based on questions on or observations of your past.

NOTE: Changes over time (fitter = faster relative to you, increases in age and life stress slow recovery down relative to you)

What’s your non training load?

• Your life (stress load and logistics)

– All the time in the world / low stress = higher volume and intensity

– Some time / moderate stress = moderate volume / greater % of total time at high intensity

– Minimal time / moderate stress = low volume / high % of total time at high intensity.

– High stress regardless of time = low volume / a high % of time at high intensity, but minimal total amounts of training.

What are you training for (goal)?

• Short races?– Moderate amount of low intensity volume,

moderate duration of high intensity work.

• Mid distance races?– Moderately high amount of low intensity volume,

moderate-low duration of high intensity work.

• Long races?– High amount of low intensity volume, low-

moderate amount of high intensity work.

Are you ST or FT dominant?

• What type are you?– Muscle Biopsy (OUCH!!!)

– Past sport tendencies/success/likes can provide a broad estimate

– Can do some field tests (85% of 1RM strength test) but broad estimates work.

– The fiber type you possess most will impact how you respond to training, and the biases needed in your training for you to perform best.

– You still need to progress to the race you target… but how you approach it, your distribution of work, can change to improve recovery and adaptation.

Differences based on FT/ST estimation?

FT Group ST Group

More FT fibers = less able to use oxygen to fuel work.

More ST fibers = more able to use oxygen to fuel work

Faster rate of carbohydrate metabolism during exercise

Carbohydrate use rate increases morerapidly at higher intensity exercise.

Quicker to accumulate acid during exercise as intensity climbs

Slower to accumulate acid during exercise as intensity climbs

Greater ability to accelerate rapidly. Not extremely good at acceleratingrapidly.

Given lower aerobic potential, recovery rate is slower from all intensities of work.

Higher aerobic potential means that recovery rate is faster from all intensities of work.

Inte

nsi

ty

FTx

FTa

ST

Head wind or slight climb

Significant climb

Sprint to the finish

DurationFT dominant power/paceST dominant power/pace

ST and FT dominant athlete fiber use differences during the same performance

Log what you do including the “subjective” to prevent excess load and help understand your adaptation profile… IE: How does what you do

impact how you can do!

Next Level Strategies: Race Modeling + Sprinting

Summing Things Up

• You need volume and intensity to fully prepare for endurance sport.

• The amount of each, is dependent on your training age, training status (current), lifestyle, genes and goal.

• You need to respect YOUR recovery needs as a major priority in your training!

• You can use “tricks” to create additional gains or be better prepared for a specific race.

Will Kirousis will@tri-hard.com

978.466.5151@willkirousis