Well, your body doesn't know if the race is 2 miles or 10 miles. So say a woman runs 6 minutes in a mile and a man runs 5 minutes in a mile. Are they using different physiological systems because of the time run? Or is that only for same gender (a woman running 6, and another running 5, and same with men)... reasoning for same gender being that women and men have different "limits" (or however far to improve) so relative to their "top" limit, they use similar energy? If that made sense...
queston.... wrote:
Well, your body doesn't know if the race is 2 miles or 10 miles. So say a woman runs 6 minutes in a mile and a man runs 5 minutes in a mile. Are they using different physiological systems because of the time run? Or is that only for same gender (a woman running 6, and another running 5, and same with men)... reasoning for same gender being that women and men have different "limits" (or however far to improve) so relative to their "top" limit, they use similar energy? If that made sense...
Your body doesn't know about the limits of your sex, only its own limits.
So no, it only has to do with the time spent running.
This is not a gender issue, it's a performance issue. Obviously for someone who runs a 400 in 44, that event is "less aerobic" than for someone who runs it in 1:50.
This is a really interesting point. Without trying to hijack the thread I've often wondered if training by time really is the best way to train. Sure, the body only knows if it's running for say an hour and a half but if you're training to race for 40 minutes as opposed to 30 minutes, shouldn't you train longer as well?
No this not a good question. Let's see what different physiological system might they be using? They are both using their cardiovascular system, pulmonary, nervous systems, endocrine and many more.
This applies if the woman is running 100, 400, or 800. In the 100, there needs to be more emphasis on speed endurance, because the portion after 7 seconds (which starts the SE phase of the race) is a larger portion of the race for a woman. In the 400 or 800, there is greater need for aerobic assistance for the anaerobic portion, so, once again, the female needs more overdistance work.
But if you're talking about 5000 and up (>98% aerobic), I doubt that there's much difference. A bit more interval traning for males (testosterone advantage).
what about a guy running 60 sec 400s and a female running 70 sec 400s... comparable abilities, but is it in some ways a different workout since the 70sec runner is running an extra 10 sec?
Well the guy is weighted down by his balls and penis but I guess the weight of the boobs of most women more than make up for it. Therefore they are using more energy to run slower times.
It is time that matters. A woman running a 5000m race will run it more aerobically than a male since she is running for a longer period of time.
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a723919891
Bump for a good topic.
I've followed this time approach with my athletes for quite some time. They don't really notice the difference, but on days we have intervals scheduled, if I have the guys do 4x1600m @ 5k Race Pace w/3 min rest I will have the women do 4x1200m @ 4k Race Pace w/3 min rest. So a guy who runs 5k in 15:35 would be running around 5:00 for each mile repeat and a female who runs 5k in 18:45 (it would take just under 15 min for her to run 4k) would be doing her reps around 4:25. I also have the guys to 5 mile tempo runs while the women do 4 mile tempo runs (takes men 27 to 30 min and women 26 to 28 min). I've noticed that the average women can cover 75% of the distance of an average guy in the same time. Note - I don't make adjustments for intervals that are being run faster than mile race pace.
Having said that, you also have to look at the distance you are preparing them to run. If it takes the women (on average) 3 min longer to run 5k than it does a man (thus more aerobic), then they could benefit from a bit more aerobic work. Why would a man run 4 miles of intervals to prepare for a 3 mile race and women only run 3 miles of intervals to prepare for a 3 mile race.
Having said that, everybody is different. I've had women who run significantly more than men, even though they run the same events. It's about finding what works for each athlete. If the athlete responds well physically and psychologically to training by distance, train them that way. If the athlete respondes well to training by time, then train them like that. As a coach YOU have to be the one that's flexible. Find something that works for the athlete and continue to develop and progress the plan so the athlete reaches new levels of fitness.
*Generally though, the body has no idea how much ground it's covering. All it knows is how hard (intensity) it's working for a given period of time. Training should be designed with TIME and INTENSITY as the two primary components.
The more interesting question:
If a man and a woman both run 18:00 for 5K, are they using different systems to do it.
darkwave wrote:
The more interesting question:
If a man and a woman both run 18:00 for 5K, are they using different systems to do it.
I would say in general no. There are enough individual variations that you might see some small differences, but with a large group the avg would be similar.
But the woman is far more fit and efficient