Let's have a classic running debate

I like jogging recovery for endurance based workouts (like mile repeats or XC training), and standing recovery for speed (like 200s or fast 400s). When I’m working on endurance I want my lungs to be less recovered and my legs to be more recovered so I jog the recovery to flush out my legs and keep my heart rate up. When doing speed I want the lactate to build up a little in the recovery so I can build an adaptation to it and learn to flush it out during the repeats, I also want my heart rate to recover a little more so I can go as fast as possible during the reps. With speed endurance I go either way depending on the session or where I’m at in the season, often I’m forced to jog part of my recovery when I’m first starting speed endurance sessions so my legs don’t tighten up. Towards the end of outdoor I’m often laying down inside the track for my recovery during speed endurance sessions because the reps are so hard.

This was exactly my thinking.

Endurance - jogging

Speed - standing

Not just different benefits, different purposes depending on the situation. Using one or the other can change the dynamics of a workout entirely.

If you're doing slower or shorter work, jog recoveries are a good option. The motion of jogging helps to pump blood back up to the heart at a low metabolic cost, so you get a good workout in without compromising the quality of the actual reps. It also helps to keep the legs loose and warm which can be especially helpful in colder weather.

Standing or walking rest is better for workouts where full recovery (or the most amount of recovery per interval possible) is necessary to complete the workout at the appropriate effort/pace. Hard anaerobic sessions, like 800's @ 1500 pace, are difficult if not impossible to complete without standing/walking rest. Pure speed sessions like 30m flys all out are also best performed with full standing/walking recovery as the goal is to try and "reset" the nervous system a little bit even though the rep itself is not necessarily "hard."

Either way, pick the best method for the desired workout effect.

Standing rest is better for developing neuromuscular coordination and teaches you not to "slow down" when it gets hard in a race.

Standing

I like the application of seasonality idea. Jogging in cool weather, standing in warm.

Sham 69 wrote:

Standing rest is better for developing neuromuscular coordination and teaches you not to "slow down" when it gets hard in a race.

Isn't stopping running at the slowest velocity possible? You slowed down so much you stopped so wouldn't this teach you to stop when it gets hard in a race?

I like to jog for high rep Vo2Max and threshold stuff. I feel like it keeps the momentum going and pads mileage pretty nicely as well. (One of my key sessions I’ve been doing this summer is 16-20x400m with 400m jogging rest, great way to rack up 10-12 miles with WU/CD)

I like standing rest for my faster than 1 mile pace stuff. I think it’s good to hit the reset button and separate your efforts when trying to develop speed and form.

So as a lot of people are already saying, jog for endurance, stand for speed.

For sprinting and jogging:

Upside down.

Handstanding or at least putting your legs up in the air. This has two main benefits. It gets blood flowing out of the legs so you clear lactic acid. More importantly, it gets blood flowing to your brain, and since running is all mental you need all of the blood that you can get in your brain.

Luv2Run wrote:

Sham 69 wrote:

Standing rest is better for developing neuromuscular coordination and teaches you not to "slow down" when it gets hard in a race.

Isn't stopping running at the slowest velocity possible? You slowed down so much you stopped so wouldn't this teach you to stop when it gets hard in a race?

Well.......you should not just stand still. Slower movement is to prefer and jogging or walking easy is of equal benefit.

Then the old contention that there should be a demand to jog between reps to get "tough" in a race; I use to say that similarity between a race and an interval session is the race pace, but the difference is that the training interval needs rest inbetween the reps.

Jogging is better if you want to reduce/reuse lactate between reps (3k pace and slower).

Standing or walking is better for shorter alactic sprints, as it speeds up phosphate recharge.

Anything in between - I've no idea, probably does not matter that much.

Darby wrote:

Jogging is better if you want to reduce/reuse lactate between reps (3k pace and slower).

Standing or walking is better for shorter alactic sprints, as it speeds up phosphate recharge.

Anything in between - I've no idea, probably does not matter that much.

Thx, this makes sense.

Actually I have read about research checking the best lactate removal pace in the rest intervals and it was not jogging, rather moderate, approaching threshold. that makes sense since moderate/marathon/threshold pace limits the lactate production and having a high aerobic effort (including use of lactate as energy being important in lactate clearance)

I have tried moderate running in the rest interval and it works fine, but one does not have the super start energy which I have on the first rep. That indicates exactly as you say that the anaerobic ability need more time and more "standstill" or just easy jog to recharge. With enough time, also jogging will clear lactate sp the difference to moderate running should not be that large

Believe me, i’m aware how strange this sounds, but i honestly believe jogging backwards makes my legs feel better. Idk if it uses different muscles or it’s just a foreign movement, but honestly try it, it feels great :)

If it's base training and the goal isn't to go as really really fast then jogging. Or if the interval is relatively short, and you're doing a lot of them then jog recovery. Or if the race you're training for is really long, jogging helps you get in more mileage within the training.

If the race is a track race of say 1500 to 5k, I'd almost always say standing rest for track intervals to make sure the quality is really good. Sometimes do jogging recovery, like if part of the workout isn't that crazy fast.

Standing or jogging recoveries -

I tend to do more standing recoveries just because it is easier to control the recovery times and it seems to work better in group settings.

But honestly, it doesn't matter.

The sum of the training is what really matters, not just mileage, but everything.

If you want to increase your speed: Standing recovery.

If you want to sustain your speed: Running recovering.

fastboy77 wrote:

Let's start the classic debate:

Standing or jogging recoveries?

Disclaimer: I know both have benefits. Just looking for some discussion.

Neither. Half walking, half jogging for me. E.g. after 800 walk 200, jog 200, go!

This is basically how the East Africans do their fartleks/alternations. 60s on/60s off or something like that at as fast as 5K effort and floating the off portions, which forces the body to clear lactate in that state. Canova uses these too I think. Really helps develop lactate threshold.

colsellt14 wrote:

Believe me, i’m aware how strange this sounds, but i honestly believe jogging backwards makes my legs feel better. Idk if it uses different muscles or it’s just a foreign movement, but honestly try it, it feels great :)

I had a coach that would make me do this on long sessions on the alter G I would go backwards between some of the reps gives a lot of the muscles rest while still keeping blood flow high