Running Up That Hill - Sprinting Salvation For Tall People - Critical MAS

Running Up That Hill - Sprinting Salvation For Tall People - Critical MAS

Jan 26, 2012 by MAS 27 Comments

There was a time when I really loved running.
Well I loved it during those rare times when my body wasn’t in pain,
which was not as often as I would have liked. By the middle of 1995, I
gave up running. It was just too hard on my 6 foot 2.5 inch body.

My first clue that I probably shouldn’t be doing distance running
came in 1992. The USA Olympic trials for the Men’s Marathon came to my
hometown of Columbus, Ohio. I clearly remember flipping through the
program which highlighted the 125 runners that were invited. Only one
runner was over 6 foot tall and he didn’t place in the top 3. If 14.5%
of all men in America are over 6 foot tall, why were less than 1% of
our elite distance runners that tall? Some of us gravitate towards other
sports that reward height, but the rest of us just experience too much
pain when we run.

Sprinting is Superior

The past few years I’ve been a regular reader of Conditioning Research, which has had numerous articles on the benefits of sprinting and high intensity interval training. Here are a few examples.

• Intervals (HIIT) and the Heart
  – This post is about a study that showed interval training was superior
  to low or moderate aerobic training for cardiovascular function and
  aerobic capacity.
• Exercise and brain health : just sprint for new mitochondria?-
  Sprinting or interval training may protect the brain from dementia or
  other central nervous system diseases by increasing mitochondrial
  biogenesis in the brain.
• Is sprint exercise a leptin signaling mimetic – By sprinting in a fasted state you could trigger the leptin hormone which controls appetite.

A few months ago I got fired up to start sprinting. Right from the
beginning I was having pain issues. I adjusted my warm-up and tried to
improve my stride. It helped, but whenever I tried to dial up the
intensity, something would happen and I’d be sidelined.



I understood why distance running was hell on my tall physique, but
why was sprinting a problem? Thankfully, the search engines were able to
answer this question for me. From the article Taking Sprinting to New Heights by Edward McClelland:

Traditionally, height has been seen as a detriment to
sprinting. The formula for speed is stride length times stride rate. If
the longest legs always won the race, then Yao Ming would have the world
record in the 100, and lions wouldn’t eat giraffes.

And:

Big guys have physics working against them. According to
the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, “[T]he acceleration of the
body is proportional to the force produced but inversely proportional
to the body mass, according to Newton’s second law. This implies an
inverse relationship between height and performance in disciplines such
as sprint running.” In other words, it’s hard to produce enough power to
overcome the drag of a big body.

The article discusses how 6-foot-5 Usain Bolt became an amazing
sprinter only after he shortened his stride. But I have no interest in
working on my technique or becoming a great sprinter. I just want the
health benefits without feeling pain.

Running Up That Hill

The problem with running for tall people is the long stride. One way
to shorten the stride is to wear minimalist shoes. That is a good start,
but the best way I discovered is to just run uphill.
Unlike my first two hometowns of Columbus, OH and St. Petersburg, FL,
which were were flat as a pancake, Seattle has some amazing hills inside
the city. One of those hills just happens to be less than 100 meters
from my front door.





My uphill running course.



I’m not the first to figure this out. Conditioning Research also did a post on hill sprints titled The single best exercise. For the past month or so, I’ve been experimenting with just running uphill.
My body loves it. My stride is shorter, the intensity is much greater
than flat ground sprinting and my body doesn’t take a pounding when my
foot lands. And it is time efficient.



I’m using Phil Campbell’s Peak 8 protocol
as a template. Go all out for 30 seconds and then rest for 90 seconds.
Repeat this 8 times. For me this means sprinting uphill and then slowly
walking back downhill to ready myself for the next sprint. I’m easing
into this program and expect to be at 8 sets within two weeks.



I’m running again. Only this time I feel great.

High intensity "Sprint 8" - Burpees

Sprint on the Spot

Published on 15 Apr 2013

To get the most out of this exercise, you'll want to to keep the torso as steady as possible, only really driving through the arms and the legs.

Remain tall and engage your core, so that you don't rock about and lose energy. Look straight ahead, drive the arms, and lift the knees, staying light on your toes. Go for time or number of steps taken.

Uploaded on 11 Sep 2011

http://www.sixpackfactory.com : High Knees or sprinting on the spot is a cardiovascular exercise that will help you to improve your cardiovascular endurance.
To perform high knees stand upright and bend your arms slightly at your sides. This movement is exactly like that of a sprinting action. Bring your knees up high towards your chest as quick as possible and combine with an alternating arm action. The key to this exercise is speed and height of the knees.
For more ab exercises go to: http://www.sixpackfactory.com

Sprinting: How to Burn Fat Without Losing Muscle

How to Burn Fat Without Losing Muscle - How to Build Muscle | Strength Training Workouts | Mass Gain Diet | How to Build Muscle | Strength Training Workouts | Mass Gain Diet





To burn fat without losing muscle there are two options when it comes to cardio and they’re at extreme opposite ends of the spectrum.

You can either do very high intensity cardio (sprint).

Or you can very low intensity cardio (walk).

It’s the midrange stuff that presents a problem for most people.

When you hop on a machine and go at it with moderate-high intensity for 30-40 minutes you will get all of the negative effects associated with cardio (increased cortisol, muscle loss, overuse injuries, decreased power output- meaning you’ll be less explosive, etc.).

Why I Hate “Interval Training”

Many people know that traditional cardio sucks so they recommend intervals.
I personally hate intervals.

On a bike, stair climber, ski machine thingy and whatever else they stock Bally’s and Gold’s with these days…

Especially the rowing machine. Thirty minutes of repeated spinal flexion sounds fun but I think I’ll pass.
According to typical interval training prescriptions you’re supposed to push as hard as you can for 30 seconds followed by a lower intensity period of 90 seconds, or something along those lines.
No matter what anyone says that will also sap your power production because the lactic acid buildup is massive.
Lactic acid is the arch enemy of fast twitch muscle fibers.

Sprint to Lose Fat & Keep Your Muscle

A better option for intervals would be to rage against the machines and get outside and sprint.
But who do you know personally that can sprint for thirty seconds straight? That would be over 200 yards! Talk about an injury waiting to happen.

Yet that’s what interval training enthusiasts regularly advise their normal 40 year old office worker client to do.

To sprint for 30 seconds, followed by a 90 second rest period, over and over for 10-20 minutes straight is nearly impossible for most non-Olympians. And risky as hell.

If you want to sprint like a sprinter.

Not a nitwit.

Start Slowly

Start with short distances and slowly work your way up over time. Take adequate rest periods and slowly decrease them as you get in better shape.

If you’re an average dude it will take you in the neighborhood of 6-7 seconds to run a 40 yard sprint. And that would be a very far distance for your first time sprinting.

I’d recommend sticking with 20’s your first few weeks.

So instead of the silly recommendation of sprinting for 30 seconds straight I advise you to sprint for two or three seconds straight.

HUGE difference.



It’s funny that intelligent strength coaches who work with high level football players rarely let their athletes sprint at balls out intensity, 40 yards or more during the off season (because the risk of injury is too high), yet fitness trainers recommend that the average lay person head right out to the track and start running 100’s from day one.

People have got to be more responsible than that. It’ll take months to work up to that distance.
Assuming you are sprinting proper distances and taking care to be safe the next question is how long should you rest?

The truthful, nonspecific answer is… as long as you need to.

Keep track of it and try to improve over time. Everyone’s different.

That’s why when people ask me about specific guidelines for hill sprints I tell them I don’t know. I don’t know what kind of shape you are in and what hills you have available to you. Because you’re really limited by the hills you have.

If I told you that you should be sprinting for 15 seconds yet you could make it up the only hill in your neighborhood in eight seconds would you not sprint up the hill?

Don’t Over-Complicate It

You can’t always be a slave to exact prescriptions; sometimes you need to just man up and do work… son.

Your sets, reps, intervals, whatever, are based on your hill and your fitness level.

Now, eventually you may work your way up to being able to sprint your hill for 30 seconds, followed by a 90 second break and repeat that for 20 minutes straight.

So I guess you could say you’re doing intervals at that point. But who cares?

I call them hill sprints. Like Walter Payton did. If you’re sprinting on a football field or a track just say you’re sprinting.


Don’t actually say to anyone that you’re “doing intervals.” That’s so 2004 and so not cool.

If you had absolutely no other option, for whatever reason, than to do intervals on a bike I’d keep the sprints very short and the rest periods as long as necessary, removing almost all tension from the bike while cruising.

You really want to avoid that extreme lactic acid buildup if you want to maintain your power.

A Better Way to Do Interval Training

The best way to come close to traditional interval prescriptions is achieved by performing a variety of exercises such as swings, burpees, med ball slams, battling ropes, mountain climbers, etc. in a circuit.
Mixing it up prevents the massive accumulation of lactic acid in any one area and is far more beneficial than be locked into the versa climber for twenty minutes.

For athletic purposes I prefer to keep the intervals or work times/set duration lower than 30 seconds. Ten to twenty seconds would be a better idea for power athletes.

This type of “interval training” is often associated with the training of combat athletes.

Low Intensity Cardio



As far as the low intensity stuff goes you can walk with a sled, a light weighted vest, walk up hill, walk through the woods or trails or just walk the streets like Omar from The Wire.

Be sure to whistle The Farmer and the Dell to let the suckas know you’re coming.



The best time to do it is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

Try to keep your heart rate at around 65% of max for 30 minutes.


The nice thing about this is there is no negative effect at all. No cortisol, no muscle loss, nothing. And you start your day with some nice fresh air which is great for your health and your mind.

This should be done three times per week, minimum. This will help keep you lean while you’re in the process of trying to gain size and will also help you recover more efficiently.

The old days of bulking and cutting are dead.

A smarter approach is to include some high and low intensity cardio methods year round, skip the traditional cardio machines and never let yourself become an out of shape fat ass.
***

Sprint Exercise Improves Learning - Art De Vany on Line - Blog

Sprint Exercise Improves Learning

10/13/2012

0 Comments

 

Why do I sprint? It is to alter my hormones and engage FT muscle fibers. This leads to superior body composition and a poise that can only come from those quick fibers that give you instant reaction. Sprinting improves your posture and movement economy because the motor maps in the brain enlarge and improve in fine and quick movement control. Jogging simply cannot do the same thing because the motor areas of the brain learn a different form of movement. I have found that sprinting improves my dynamic balance far more than practicing more static balance moves, such as some Pilates exercises or just balancing on a Bosu Ball. There is a huge difference between static and dyanmic balance. This is more or less obvious since dynamic balance involves all channels of the cochlear system.

I said sprinting alters hormones, which is my main point. Aside from GH and an acute spike in cortisol (which quickly disappears with brief exercise) other hormones such as the catecholamines (dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine) are released. So are the so-called myokines (signalling molecules released by exercising muscle) that include IL6, a cytokine that is inflammatory in chronic release, but that is antiinflammatory in acute release. Last, there is the most important hormone of all. Sprinting releases BDNF, the growth hormone for the brain. When BDNF is released, new connections form in the brain as the BDNF attracts new dendrites from nerve cells to connect to other cells or their synapses. As the brain cells "fire together", they "wire together." Wiring together new networks is how memory is formed and consolidated. A neural network is a thought, a memory, or a new skill.

If sprinting releases BDNF then it may "prime" the brain for learning. That is the finding of
"High impact running improves learning" in Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Volume 87, Issue 4, May 2007, Pages 597–609. The effect is traced by the authors to BDNF as this abstract explains (bolding added).

Regular physical exercise improves cognitive functions and lowers the risk for age-related cognitive decline. Since little is known about the nature and the timing of the underlying mechanisms, we probed whether exercise also has immediate beneficial effects on cognition. Learning performance was assessed directly after high impact anaerobic sprints, low impact aerobic running, or a period of rest in 27 healthy subjects in a randomized cross-over design. Dependent variables comprised learning speed as well as immediate (1 week) and long-term (>8 months) overall success in acquiring a novel vocabulary. Peripheral levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and catecholamines (dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine) were assessed prior to and after the interventions as well as after learning. We found that vocabulary learning was 20 percent faster after intense physical exercise as compared to the other two conditions. This condition also elicited the strongest increases in BDNF and catecholamine levels.

More sustained BDNF levels during learning after intense exercise were related to better short-term learning success, whereas absolute dopamine and epinephrine levels were related to better intermediate (dopamine) and long-term (epinephrine) retentions of the novel vocabulary. Thus, BDNF and two of the catecholamines seem to be mediators by which physical exercise improves learning.

What The World's Sexiest Hurdler Can Teach You About Fat Loss - Lose Stubborn Fat!

What The World's Sexiest Hurdler Can Teach You About Fat Loss

Besides this video being awesome, there is a great lesson here:

Michelle Jenneke got that Lean and Hot While Training For
a 13 second race

I bring this up because I still run into people who think that to take their fat loss to the next level they need to
be training for a Marathon or Oly Distance Triathlon.  Nothing could be further from the truth.
Now I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with training for longer distances - I'm just saying that it's absolutely not necessary.
The clients I train tend to have very busy lives, and want to maximize the time they put into their fat loss workouts.  They want to get as lean as possible with as little time in the gym as possible.
Training for longer distance races necessitates longer distance training.  Longer distance = more time.

Lets Take a Look At What Training for The 100 Meter Hurdles Looks Like

At a beginner level (which is what most fat-loss/marathon-or-triathlon-running clients train at), training for the 100 meter hurdles looks like this:

1.) Practicing starts out of the blocks - starting to sprint, then going over 1-3 hurdles

2.) Short hurdle intervals - again going over 2-4 hurdles, not coming out of the blocks

3.) Hurdle rhythm drills

4.) Hurdling drills

5.) Sprinting starts out of blocks

6.) Sprinting - 50 meters, 100 meters, once in a while 200 meters

7.) Strength training - Two or three days per week

Lets take a look at what all of the elements of those workouts have in common - most of them are intervals that are between 5-20 seconds.
And besides being really short intervals (5-20 seconds is pretty short), they usually have full rest between intervals.
You should add short burst intervals into your fat loss workouts.  Go to a field, a park, or track.  Do 5-10 second sprints.  After each sprint, walk back to where you started.  Catch your breath, then do another.  Try that for 20 minutes (or until your form breaks down).  Let me know how you like it.

Conventional Wisdom is That Longer is Better

Most fat loss trainees (and the media) falls into the trap of longer is better.
The thinking for runners is: If I can survive a 5k, I should run a 10k.  If I live through a 10k, I should do a half marathon.  If I only get one or two overuse injuries, I should go for a marathon.  If a marathon doesn't cripple me, I'll do it again.
Fat loss trainees doing tris follow the same format: Super Sprint Tri -> Sprint Tri -> Olympic Tri - Half Tri -> Ironman.
The only problem is that the people who are "surviving" longer and longer distances are usually skinny fat.

Racing As a Path To Fat Loss

I'm going to make this simple: If you want to lose fat, you have to run faster.
I don't even care what distance you race.  The people who are leanest are the ones who are running the fastest at that distance.

You could get lean training for marathons if you train run them fast.

Or...

You could get lean training to run the 100 meter hurdles if you train run it fast.

The distance doesn't matter at all.
The people training to be fast get lean.  The people training to survive longer get skinny fat.

One Other Thing

Back to the video of Michelle Jenneke.
Notice that before the race she's laughing and smiling and dancing and having fun...
...then when the race starts she's deadly serious...
...and then when it's over she's laughing and smiling again.
There's a lesson there too.
 -Josh Hillis, RKC, CPT, PES, ZMIS

You might also like:

Frank Miller movie 300 actor training - The 300 Workout

Fat Loss Quiz Answers!

Learning More About Fat Loss Will Cause You to Fail Faster

High-intensity aerobic interval trai... [Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2008] - PubMed - NCBI

High-intensity aerobic interval trai... [Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2008] - PubMed - NCBI

Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2008 Dec;33(6):1112-23.

High-intensity aerobic interval training increases fat and carbohydrate metabolic capacities in human skeletal muscle.

Perry CG, Heigenhauser GJ, Bonen A, Spriet LL.

Source

Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. perryc@uoguelph.ca

Abstract

High-intensity aerobic interval training (HIIT) is a compromise between time-consuming moderate-intensity training and sprint-interval training requiring all-out efforts. However, there are few data regarding the ability of HIIT to increase the capacities of fat and carbohydrate oxidation in skeletal muscle. Using untrained recreationally active individuals, we investigated skeletal muscle and whole-body metabolic adaptations that occurred following 6 weeks of HIIT (~1 h of 10 x 4 min intervals at ~90% of peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak), separated by 2 min rest, 3 d.week-1). A VO2 peak test, a test to exhaustion (TE) at 90% of pre-training VO2 peak, and a 1 h cycle at 60% of pre-training VO2 peak were performed pre- and post-HIIT. Muscle biopsies were sampled during the TE at rest, after 5 min, and at exhaustion. Training power output increased by 21%, and VO2 peak increased by 9% following HIIT. Muscle adaptations at rest included the following: (i) increased cytochrome c oxidase IV content (18%) and maximal activities of the mitochondrial enzymes citrate synthase (26%), beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (29%), aspartate-amino transferase (26%), and pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH; 21%); (ii) increased FAT/CD36, FABPpm, GLUT 4, and MCT 1 and 4 transport proteins (14%-30%); and (iii) increased glycogen content (59%).

Major adaptations during exercise included the following: (i) reduced glycogenolysis, lactate accumulation, and substrate phosphorylation (0-5 min of TE); (ii) unchanged PDH activation (carbohydrate oxidation; 0-5 min of TE); (iii) ~2-fold greater time during the TE; and (iv) increased fat oxidation at 60% of pre-training VO2 peak. This study demonstrated that 18 h of repeated high-intensity exercise sessions over 6 weeks (3 d.week-1) is a powerful method to increase whole-body and skeletal muscle capacities to oxidize fat and carbohydrate in previously untrained individuals.

Matt Metzgar: Sprint less, Variations of Sprint 8

Matt Metzgar: Sprint less, Variations of Sprint 8

February 22, 2012

Variations of Sprint 8

Following up on the last post, I think there are many ways to get the benefits of sprinting. I thought it was interesting that in the video associated with the last post, Mercola stated that he only did Sprint 8 once per week instead of the recommended 3 times per week.
Along those same lines, Clarence Bass recently wrote about interval training. He writes:
"My concern, however, is that three hard interval sessions a week is too much for most people to sustain; they’ll do it—even enjoy it—under supervision (as in the Little study), but they’re not likely to keep doing it on their own. Hard training every workout is asking for trouble; it is neither fun nor productive. My own experience is that one or at most two hard interval workouts a week is all I can tolerate effectively, especially in the context of a balanced program of strength and aerobic training."
Clarence has been doing intervals for decades, and I put a lot of stock into what he has to say.
My own experience mirrors this point of view. When I've tried to do the full Sprint 8 programs 3 times per week, I can do it for a month or so, but then I burn out. Conversely, I can do hard intervals once a week and continue month after month.
So we know sprinting once a week is sustainable, but what are the other options? Chris over at Conditioning Research (who by the way just released a new book titled Hillfit) pointed to a study the other month about a minimalist sprinting routine.
Here is an interesting part of the study:
"Several recent studies have suggested that high-intensity interval training (HIT), a training model involving a series of 30-second ‘all-out’ cycling sprints (i.e. Wingate sprints) with 4 minutes of rest/recovery between each bout, may provide a time-efficient strategy for inducing adaptations that are similar to traditional cardiorespiratory training (Gibala et al. 2006; Burgomaster et al. 2005; Burgomaster et al. 2008; Rakobowchuk et al. 2008; Burgomaster et al. 2007; Trilk et al. 2010).
Furthermore, we have recently demonstrated the beneficial effects of HIT on insulin sensitivity (Babraj et al. 2009), a finding that has since been confirmed by others (Little et al. 2011; Richards et al. 2010; Whyte et al. 2010). However, whilst these observations are interesting from a human physiological perspective, their translation into physical activity recommendations for the general population is uncertain for two reasons. Firstly, the relatively high exertion associated with ‘classic’ HIT sessions requires strong motivation and may be perceived as too strenuous for many sedentary individuals (Hawley and Gibala 2009). Secondly, although a typical HIT session requires only 2-3 minutes of actual sprint exercise, when considered as a feasible exercise session including a warm-up, recovery intervals and cool-down, the total time commitment is more than 20 minutes, reducing the time efficiency(Garber et al. 2011). Thus, there is scope for further research to determine whether the current HIT protocol can be modified to reduce levels of exertion and time-commitment whilemaintaining the associated health benefits."
In short, they suggest that the benefits of sprinting could be obtained with a reduced workload.
Here is their formulation:
"It has consistently been shown that a single 30-second Wingate sprint can reduce muscle glycogen stores in the vastus lateralis by 20-30% (Esbjornsson-Liljedahl et al. 1999; Parolin et al. 1999; Esbjornsson-Liljedahl et al. 2002; Gibala et al. 2009). What is intriguing, however, is that glycogenolysis is only activated during the first 15 seconds of the sprint and is then strongly attenuated during the final 15 seconds (Parolin et al. 1999). Moreover, activation of glycogenolysis is inhibited in subsequent repeated sprints (Parolin et al. 1999). This suggests that the traditional HIT protocol (4-6×30 seconds) may be unnecessarily strenuous as similar glycogen depletion may be achieved using 1-2 sprints of shorter duration (15-20 seconds). In turn, this would make the training sessions more time-efficient, less strenuous and more applicable to the largely sedentary general population."
Thus, they are saying that traditional sprinting programs may be overkill in a way, and that you could deplete glycogen just as well by doing 1-2 sprints of 15 to 20 seconds.
This I think leads to a real insight: if you cut the number and duration of sprints (but keep the intensity), then I could see how you could be able to do this workout more frequently. So while 3 days per week of 6 to 8 30-second sprints may be too much for many people, 3 days per week of 1 to 2 15-second sprints may produce similar benefits and be more appealing to people.

Mark Sisson - Sprinting Workout Routine

from 57 year old Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple