A promise made, a promise kept (finally !)
To explain the interest of interval training I have to explain before what is V02Max. Don't be afraid by this word, it's quite simple : V = Volume ; O2 = Oxygen ; Max = Maximum.
As I said a lot of times, our body and particularly our muscles work with oxygen and sugar to deliver energy and then to move. The more you can oxidize sugar the more you're able to deliver energy. Sugar ? We have it stored in our muscles and liver after feeding. Oxygen ? It depends on our Vo2Max ! Vo2Max is the Volume of oxygen (o2) Maximum which someone can consume (and transport) in an unit of time (measured in ml/minute/kg). It's really difficult to reach this consumption of oxygen, we need to do a huge effort during several minutes for that (6 up to 8 minutes depending on our capacities). After this time the body accumulates too much lactic acid into the muscles and the effort must be stopped.
Now that you know that Vo2Max is your maximum oxygen consumption, there's a notion that you ought to understand : the percentage of Vo2Max. Each effort you do suppose a consumption of oxygen. When you're running or when you're walking you're not using the same quantity of oxygen. It's possible to determine it in percentage of your own Vo2Max. For example, when you're running you're using an average of 75% of your Vo2max. Walking, probably 50%. It's easy to understand that if you raise your maximum oxygen consumption, all the intermediate absolute values will raise as well, ex : 75% of 45ml/min/kg= 33,75 ; but 75% of 55ml/min/kg= 41,25... More oxygen = more power, then speed !!!
How to improve Vo2Max ?
To improve your Vo2Max you have no choice but to reach it during several minutes. It's a tough work, very very tough... Imagine that your heart is at its maximum just as your breathing during 6 never-ending minutes. If your sport is to run, then you have to find out your "M.A.S" Maximum Aerobic Speed. In fact this is the speed you run when you reach your Vo2max. It means that you can run faster but beyond this limit all the energy supplied is supplied in absence of oxygen (anaerobic, production of lactic acid). If you have a M.A.S of 15 km/h you must to run at 15km/h during 6 up to 8 minutes. Then body will work the overcompensation (cf : I want more !). If your sport is cycling, the M.A.P can help you to raise your oxygen consumption (M.A.P. = maximum aerobic power).
In reality, the method above is far to be good because it's really tough to run at 100% Vo2max (or 100% M.A.S) during these 6 minutes, obviously it can cause injuries and it doesn't allow a great overcompensation.
So, for Usain Bolt's sake what can we do ??? Héhé... We can do INTERVAL TRAINING !!!!!!!! Instead of running 6 minutes like a fool, you're going to divide your workout in several parts. Speed activity periods and rest periods. One of the most famous interval trainings is the 30"30". It means to run 30 seconds at 100% M.A.S followed by 30 seconds of recovery (walking or jogging). Then if you do 20 repetitions of 30"30", you'll run 10 minutes at 100% M.A.S. As you can see, 10 minutes instead of 6 minutes allow a better overcompensation and it's an effort easiest to handle.
Well, interval training is not only to improve the Vo2Max. We can use it to sustain percentage of M.A.S. Ex : a Marathon is run at 80% M.A.S. If you have a M.A.S of 15km/H you'll able to run a marathon at 12 km/h. Then, it's possible to do intervals of 2000 meters up to 5000 m run at your marathon pace.
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