At the level of elite athletes, maximum oxygen consumption and the ability to use the highest fraction of oxygen for prolonged times have always been considered crucial to success in endurance competitions. For amateurs like you who do not always know the value of VO2Max and their fractions, much emphasis is often placed on endurance and athletic economy. This very often results in high training volumes set much more on quantity than quality.<\/p>\n
In my experience with amateurs, I have found significant benefits in changing the composition of the training program toward a reduction in mileage. The hardest part is the initial part. Reducing weekly kilometers in some cases seems equivalent to cutting off oxygen<\/strong>. Many of you are used to grinding out mile after mile focused only on overall volume. Inserting quality workouts of 35 to 40 minutes sometimes almost seems like an offense. I am asked to lengthen warm-up and defatigue because 40′ is too little! Instead, it always depends on what you do in these trainings. I assure you that sometimes they are more than enough. <\/span><\/p>\n Two types of work that might give you the most benefit for little time investment are short sprints at maximal intensity<\/strong> and plyometric exercises<\/strong>. I prefer the former because they are much easier to do independently. Plyometric training, introduced in the 1970s, involves the rapid succession of a concentric contraction to an eccentric one. The goal is the development of your conditional skills, particularly muscle strength. Jumping jacks, squat jumps, plyometric lunges are the most common examples of these types of exercises. However, these are very demanding exercises that, if not carried out properly, can sometimes cause injury. If you have the opportunity to be followed at least the first time to understand how to perform them, then you can incorporate these strengthening exercises into your training program as well. Several scientific studies have been conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of these working tools. I am more interested in the part about sprints because it is closer to your usual training. Maximal sprint workouts you could include them in the initial preparation phase during aerobic base building. Like any training, take good care of the warm-up part. Always remember this rule: the shorter and faster a workout (or race) is, the longer and more careful the warm-up should be. For these sessions I plan at least twenty minutes of running combined with some stretching and if you have time also some technique drills to get you cardiac and muscular ready for the middle phase of the workout.<\/p>\n Such training is to be done once a week<\/strong>. Always remember to plan your week well. A strength and quality session such as this must include the availability of energy and neuromuscular capacity. In other words, they require athletic freshness. Do not enter this workout the day after a very long or very strenuous session. A very simple protocol could be developed in six to eight weeks. The number of sets and repetitions depends on your starting level; the idea is to start with sprints of thirty or forty meters at the most and go up to fifty or sixty meters at the end of the period. If you start at a basic level, start with 3 sets of 4 thirty-meter sprints. Do at least one minute of recovery between sprints and especially at least five minutes between sets. I tell you at least because you need to be sure that the recovery is complete. In other words, you need to recharge your batteries before setting off on the new sprint. As the weeks go by, you increase the number of series once and then the distance by starting again from the initial number of series. <\/span><\/p>\n[irp]\n To tell you in numbers:<\/p>\n Always start with a 20′ warm-up complete with stretches and technique exercises and finish with 10′ of easy running for defatigue.<\/b><\/p>\n
\n“Maximal sprints,” on the other hand, replicate the specific gesture of running and therefore much more familiar to your habits at ability. In addition, short sprints in order to reach your maximum speed in a few seconds force you to search for the best possible movement and especially from the most effective thrust. Two aspects that, over time, also positively affect your running technique. Don’t forget that by taking care of the technical gesture, you may gain more seconds per kilometer than many workouts you do on a weekly basis. How often do I see amateurs who, with the excuse that they have to run slowly for a marathon, do not lift their knees or drag themselves without proper posture and struggle to lift their feet well off the ground.<\/p>\n[irp]\n