The above link to a recent story in the NY Times discussing the “surprising” benefits of introducing intensity into your weekly workout.
A group of fit and sedentary athletes participated in a study to compare the effects of lower intensity training and higher intensity interval training.
The results were striking similar for fit and non-fit alike; significant improvement in just a couple of weeks in the following:
- Endurance – how about that? Training more intensely also build endurance! Jeez!
- Fat burning – meanwhile standard training dogma says you gotta train slow to supposedly burn fat.
- Ability of heart and lungs to deliver oxygen to the muscles. Again, standard coaching regurgitation is to explain how slow training builds capillaries that improve ability to deliver oxygen to the working muscles.
Of course we who practice M2 training methodology have known the above to be true for many years now. My indoor cycling classes is perhaps the broadest proofpoint, where we have had virtually every ability represented in class. Novices, Iroman professional champions, age-groupers, and heck, even a Tour de France Champion.
In any case, interesting to see mainstream thought begin to see a bit of light on more thoughtful ways to train than mindless repetition of training mantras that are at odds with real-world experience.
