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| sprints for muscle and conditioning |
From Charles Poliquin Live
Use short sprint intervals with very brief rest periods to
get conditioned and trigger a potent hormone response. With as little as five
minutes of pain you’ll get significant gains by adding sprints to your training
program.
Research done on Iranian wrestlers in the preseason found
that short sprints with very brief recovery improves both aerobic and anaerobic
performance, while crucially avoiding a catabolic state due to the heavy
training load.
The participants performed two sprint sessions a week for
four weeks in addition to their regular wrestling practice and weight training.
The interval protocol took a total of four minutes and included six 35-meter sprints
at maximum effort with 10-seconds rest.
After four weeks, the wrestlers improved peak power output
on an anaerobic sprint test. They also improved maximal oxygen uptake by 5.4
percent and increased time to exhaustion on a graded exercise test from 356 to
471 seconds—a significant improvement that is likely due to decreased glycogen
depletion and greater muscle buffering capacity.
Total testosterone and the testosterone to cortisol ratio
improved significantly by the end of the study. Cortisol levels decreased by
12.6 percent—a small amount but still of import because it indicates that
catabolic process were decreasing while anabolic response was boosted.
The evidence is valuable because it provides a conditioning
model to use with elite athletes so that they don’t overtrain or experience an
excessive stress hormone response.
If you are using sprints to train for a long competitive
season, researchers suggest doing four weeks of sprints in the preseason
conditioning phase. Then during the season, do brief sprint training segments
for two weeks in order to peak for competition.
References:
Farzad, B., Gharakhanlou, R., Agha-Alinejad, H., Curby, D., et al. Physiological and Performance Changes from the Addition of a Sprint Interval Program to Wrestling Training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. August 2011. Published Ahead of Print.
Farzad, B., Gharakhanlou, R., Agha-Alinejad, H., Curby, D., et al. Physiological and Performance Changes from the Addition of a Sprint Interval Program to Wrestling Training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. August 2011. Published Ahead of Print.
Trapp, E.G., Chisholm, D.J., Freund, J., Boutcher, S.H. The
Effects of High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise Training on Fat Loss and
Fasting Insulin Levels of Young Women. International Journal of Obesity. 2008.
32(4), 684-691.
Source: http://www.poliquingroup.com/Tips/ta…ditioning.aspx
