Has anyone ever tried very short, intense, workouts combined with short shakeouts 4x a day to speed a return to form after a layoff in an athlete over 40?
With formerly trained athletes, doesn't workout frequency play a larger role in adaptation?
Wouldn't very short, intense, workouts also serve to increase insulin sensitivity and provide an older athlete with a more conducive hormonal profile?
I was just looking at some of body hacker Tim Ferris's experiments with an implanted insulin meter and he contends that even a very small amount of exercise pre-meal ,say 8x 60 yards or 45 "air" squats, can have a drastic effect on insulin levels.
IMO I always find when I return to lifting weights, even if I do very little volume, if I am consistent with my workouts, I grow rapidly, seemingly disproportionally, until I return to near my former peak.
Then, of course, I immediately make very, very slow progress, and start getting tendonitis...sucks to be old.
So for a return to 10k racing in my late 40's, what about?
Workout #1-- 2 miles and 6 200 yard strides
Workout #2-- 6 100 yard strides
Workout #3-- 6 60 yard hill sprints.
Workout #4-- walk 10-15 percent incline for 15 minutes.
After two weeks I would switch to a more traditional once a day training pattern and focus on building mileage but not add a long run until I felt comfortable running 1 hour. Run 3-5 miles a day with one day off.
After two more weeks, I would return to a 4x workout pattern a day but I would make sure to take one day off and every other training day would include a Tabata style intervals working to 4 minutes x3, or 3 minutes x4.
Two more weeks and I'd return to regular running but add a long run. Mileage would stay below 60 miles a week.
Repeat two week 4x routine.
Repeat running but add a day of intervals?