Interval training

[Bigun]

Interval training

Interval training can help elite athletes improve both anaerobic and aerobic fitness.
To develop anaerobic fitness, an athlete would work very intensely, - running, swimming, cycling or rowing very fast – possibly above race-pace, before resting for a moderately long period, then repeating the exercise a number of times, for example 10x 30secs, with 90secs rest.This is proven to develop anaerobic endurance.

It’s also possible to use interval training to improve aerobic fitness. By setting the pace and intensity of endurance training correctly – which requires scientific knowledge about an athlete’s maximum heart rate and maximal oxygen capacity (VO2max) and the pace that is equivalent to – an athlete can be given a programme with equal work or rest intervals, for example 1 minute at maximum intensity followed by 1 minute’s rest, which targets aerobic fitness extremely effectively.

For endurance athletes, there is a limit to the level of fitness that can be achieved through steady-paced training and for games players and the fighting sports like judo/boxing, interval training is useful because you can get quick results and effective improvement in endurance, without the need for masses of volume.

For a player on a mixed training programme where they have to work on strength, endurance and speed – like a rugby or netball player – during interval workouts, they can effectively improve their endurance in one or two workouts each week. Also, that is more compatible with their training programme because it removes the need for time-consuming runs or long cycles, which would interfere with their strength development.

It’s impossible to do interval training every day of the week, because it’s too intense and the body would break down – maybe two or three high-quality workouts per week, integrated with a normal training programme.

Next time you are conditioning as a player or a coach, remember that rugby is an interval based game where periods of high intensity exertions are mixed in with periods of active recovery. Therefore your training protocols should reflect this.

Remember the Principle of Training - Specificity and make your training specific to the type of game you play, intensity, and movement pattern wise.