Over the last few years I have heard a lot of athletes and coaches tell me that running and cycling is all about volume, volume, volume. Lower intensity, lots of miles...that's how you become a great endurance runner and rider. While there is definitely some merit to the old school mentality and methodology, we've also got more than enough proof that there is another road to the same place. One that doesn't involve thousands of hours or miles.
It's very simple. GET IN THE POOL
The founding principal behind all endurance sports is aerobic efficiency. The more effective your heart and lungs are in delivering oxygen to the muscles, the longer and harder they can fire. Of course, you need to have enough strength to put the hammer down for whatever level of exertion you are trying to maintain, but at the end of the day...it's your aerobic system that drives the sustainability of the muscles.
The conventional wisdom on improving aerobic fitness is that one should head for the mountains and bang out a concentrated training block at altitude. The lack of O2 forces your body to raise it's red blood cell count/size...and the athlete gets to feel like they are breathing through a coffee straw for a few days while training. All good things right?! Unfortunately, not all athletes have the time nor the resources to just pick up and play professional athlete for a weekend.
So let's talk about another way to get yourself aerobically fit. THE POOL.
The minute your face hits the water, you're in an oxygen deprived state. To reach the same level of deprivation while running or riding, you need to exert yourself at an extremely high level which can lead to injury, over-training...a whole host of bad things. If you want to become a better runner or rider, you need to increase your aerobic capacity so you can sustain faster pacing or more power for a longer period of time.
I say, protect your legs, they've been good to you! You're going to need them a lot longer than your next big race. Grab a snorkel (tape it off if you're tough)...hold your breath...do some hypoxic workouts. These various ways of restricting your breathing will give you a creative way to get an edge on your competition without risking injury or burnout in the process.
Try this one on for size: 1 x 100 in the pool. 3 breaths, 2 breaths, 1 breath, NO Breath by 25! If you can do a few of those without stopping between laps...you're heading in the right direction. Then you can work on no breath 50's...
Next time you head out for a run, check your watch and tell us it doesn't feel easier to run your normal pace...
Heart.Soul.Passion.Battle
