Hey, I've been reading these forums for awhile now, and I've seen alot of good advice. I have a question I hope you all can help me out on. I recently began a more powerlifting oriented routine in order to just gain strength. A friend of mine told me that if I run using interval routines (sprinting) that this will help out in the development of power as well. Any truth to this? He said something about making the anaerobic system more effiecient. Thanks in advance for any advice.
I don't know about making the anaerobic system more efficient but the inverse is true. Increasing maximal strength usually increases sprinting force projection.
interval training wont make you faster. sprinting will. just so you know, they are completely different.
I'm not educated on how effective the Tabata method and its cousins are for aerobic endurance, but I know that interval training makes sense. Perhaps he was referring to the anaerobic alactic and anaerobic lactic systems? At any rate, the intensity of a fight varies throughout its course. It's not a treadmill flatline where you keep your heart rate at 140 beats per minute the entire time. You go in spurts, so you must condition these systems in addition to the aerobic system (to increase VO2 Max) at the lower heart rates. But many times in a fighter your heart will go above 170 and even probably 190. So to adapt, you should interval train where you also train at those intensities.
Thanks everyone, especially Madmick for the detail and tying it in to fighting. That's what it is really all about. However, does anyone have any ideas about how sprinting (which is really what I had in mind when writing this) affects power? I know its better than long-duration stuff as far as maintaining muscle mass. Any other ideas?
Your friend is right. Interval traing will help you stay strong throughout a fight because we fight in bursts, so sometimes you have to train in bursts.
i messed up my last post, but i think its pointless to edit now, so here goes: when using sprinting, ill refer to it as the follwing protocol. 10-30m sprints, all out, with at least 1 minute of rest for every 10m traveled. the volume generally wont exceed 300m in one session (100m is good to start with). these can be done on hills as well for added strength benefits. the reason it often helps is because the first 30-60 meters of a 100m sprint is used to overcome the bodys inertia from a resting point. this results in what is called 'backside mechanics,' which means an athlete is pushing backwards instead of downwards. there is a great amount of stretch reflex action, because of the explosive nature of sprinting. top speed mechanics have a horizontal force application, with more stabilization then pushing out the back happening. so basically, sprinting puts a high load in a fast motion, which makes it helpful for power, and to some extent, strength. hills multiply this effect, because a runner never attains the momentum necesary to transfer to top speed mechanics. here is a great example of backside mechanics (what you would want to use to increase strength): http://advantageathletics.com/2005/?page_id=32 notice how jon drummond is pushing backwards to build momentum for later in the race. here is an example (not the greatest) of top velocity mechanics: http://advantageathletics.com/2005/?page_id=16 if you run a line through the thigh, hip, and back of miller, youll see that while is foot is touching the ground and the leg is bent or straight, it makes a near vertical line, and rarely points much behind the sprinters center of mass. notice that when the line makes an angle backward, millers leg has already bent again, and the power has ended, putting the leg in the swing portion of a sprinters stride. obviously the average person wont duplicate that as well, but it should illustrate what im talking about.
