One thing I/we forgot: Speed skaters don't have to worry about the temperature (nowadays) since champ competitions are always indoors and AC makes the "weather" totally predictable. They don't have to worry about waking up on finals day to find the temp somewhere inbetween a sunny humid 100°F or a 30°F with hailstorms and sleet - hence they don't have to train for all those eventualites and can go more monotonous instead.
Biking For Far Greater Training Load wrote:
You hit the nail on the head. The real revelation here is not the 5-2 approach but the fact that he did almost all of his training for speed skating on the bike. Would this work for running?
What does everyone think? Do you think there’s any sense to applying this approach? Before citing the fact that cycling is not specific, think about point that this athlete makes… He took the specificity principle to the absolute extreme and only did his speed skating at world record pace. Anything slower was not SPECIFIC to the goal event, and so he eschewed longer, slower skating sessions favoring cycling instead. The idea being that cycling is easier on the body and you can rack up a much greater training load to develop the aerobic base.
could you not make the same case with running?
Compare quad sizes between skaters, cyclist, and runners.... There are definite benefits from general aerobic conditioning but over developing the wrong muscles doesn't seem like a win.
I could imagine some program of 50 mpw of running and then 10-20 hours of elliptigo, alter G, and pool running getting you in peak fitness.
You can also question this whole do everything in a week model and then repeat. Instead of running say 70mpw, would you get in better shape and have the same injury risk by alternating 90mpw and 50? Doing your 70mpw in 6 days instead of 7? Doing 2 days of workouts and then taking 3 days off . The research among elites in all this type of stuff is far from conclusive
This might be a little off-topic, but I am curious of input here. Has anyone changed their weekly training regimen from weekly to a 10 or 12 day cycle? As I get older (55), I am finding my body needs more time to recover from speedwork and long runs. Was wondering if a change of approach like this has worked for anyone else? Pros/cons?
StillRunnin wrote:
This might be a little off-topic, but I am curious of input here. Has anyone changed their weekly training regimen from weekly to a 10 or 12 day cycle? As I get older (55), I am finding my body needs more time to recover from speedwork and long runs. Was wondering if a change of approach like this has worked for anyone else? Pros/cons?
I have. No cons except for fewer long runs.
I have done 9, 10 and 12 day microcycles, with the long run in the last day. Easier for me to get the speedwork I wanted and to recover well from the long runs.
Biking For Far Greater Training Load wrote:
You hit the nail on the head. The real revelation here is not the 5-2 approach but the fact that he did almost all of his training for speed skating on the bike. Would this work for running?
What does everyone think? Do you think there’s any sense to applying this approach? Before citing the fact that cycling is not specific, think about point that this athlete makes… He took the specificity principle to the absolute extreme and only did his speed skating at world record pace. Anything slower was not SPECIFIC to the goal event, and so he eschewed longer, slower skating sessions favoring cycling instead. The idea being that cycling is easier on the body and you can rack up a much greater training load to develop the aerobic base.
could you not make the same case with running?
I used to do 3 hours/wk biking in the 60 to 65% hr zone. I felt zero difference in my aerobic ability when I quit that. There could have been maybe a 1-2% improvement... Imo core, strength training and mobility exercises are a way better use of time over biking. But if you're scrolling let's run or watching videos then it probably can't hurt