Roadwork- more miles or higher intensity?

I would say alternate, but always let the objective decide. The program that most mimics the objective is probably best.

During amateur training my guess is that maximum intensity is your goal due to the short time limit. Longer the fights go as a pro career develops things like attrition and long term strategy come into play.

IMHO, HIIT is the way to go, but there needs to be some slow and low training in the program. Some type of split is ideal. I like to do slow and low on days I am sore from HIIT then rest. Seems to help quite a bit.

 

What?
Obviously if somebody performs high intensity interval training that's going to improve how fast they recover, it's far better aerobic training than any distance work. If you're performing repeat sprints with little recovery then that is the best value aerobic training. Nothing is purely anaerobic or aerobic.

 

Btw I know a guy who recently improved his half marathon time by doing purely interval training, no long distance runs.

 

No its not. You need time at the aerobic threshold not intensity. When you go beyond that threshold you are not training the pathways needed to recover.

 

And I know someone who improved his marathon time by doing long distance runs. Stop with the anecdote.

 

What a load of ****, go read a textbook. The more efficient your CV system the faster you recover, that's all it is.
You don't have to train at a certain intensity for recovery then a certain intensity to improve fitness, it's all part of the same system.
The fact that you use the term 'Aerobic threshold' indicates to me that you've read an old internet article long ago to get your ideas.

 

Uhh.. It's kind of relevant to the topic isn't it? I was saying that it's not even necessary to do long distance runs for long distance runners to improve, it's not an uncommon thing for people to train intervals instead of miles for long distance performance now.

 

And what do you think trains your CV system better, a few minutes at 170 beat per minute or an hour at 150?

 

Very true. I incorporate this kind of training for my runs and Matt Carpenter (Record holder for the Leadville 100) does something very similar.

 

I'd say sprints over distance for me. I always find better results doing sprint intervals for distance runs than doing distance runs alone.

 

Nice one, it's always great to see someone using some intelligence to go along with their hard work :good

 

So lefty would you do purely interval training for roadwork or would you do any distance running? I understand your point that it isnt as simple as conditioning = sprints fitness= distance but would it help to do a mix of both during a week?

 

These are my thoughts Matt Ldn. A good indication(not perfect) of cardiovascular health is a resting heart rate in the low 50s and fairly decent cardiac recovery time. IF one does not meet this criteria, I feel that it is important to do the LSD training until the cardiac adaptations occur. If I am interpreting what Scrap said correctly, this is what he meant by "aerobic capacity" in a previous post. I have seen folks who try to do the more heavier based intervals without this aerobic base and it takes them several minutes to bring their HR down, they cannot do the interval work for long, they burnout, and so forth.

My assumption is that many individuals who box in some capacity and with consistency are in relatively good CV health. That being said, intervals are typically a better option in regards to quickest results but can be taxing and have negative outcomes if one does not have a aerobic base.

I had a layoff due to work for several months and upon coming back took 3 weeks out to do 50 minutes of LSD 4 times a week in addition to 3-5 sparring/bag workouts weekly. After this I typically will do a combination of HIIT, LSD, and tempo intervals(my favorites).

It has been my experience that solely HIIT sessions combined with boxing sessions leads me to burnout. I feel that LSD training and tempo intervals can help with recovery(meaning wear and tear on the body) and simply can be a pleasant change from all the time intervals.

After this longwinded explanation, I believe that yes, it would help to do a mixture of both. A very loose plan would be to do 2 HIIT sessions strategically scheduled during the week, 1-2 LSD runs or tempo intervals. I say this under the assumption that one is at the gym boxing several times per week. The most important thing is to go by feel. If you feel good, boost the intensity, if not back off.

Lefty, Scrap, and others post very smart and well thought out threads. Therefore, they may have a different opinion or research to contradict this, which is welcomed. At the end of the day we should share information to learn and improve, not be right. Too many folks around here get their feelings hurt.

 

Sorry im not great with terminology what is LSD? Im currently at the boxing gym twice a week and wanted to add one distance run and one sprints session and two light 3/4mile runs but as i havent got a huge amount of time till my next fight i dont really want to waste time if there is a more effective way of getting fit.

 

boxing is a hobby for you i guess if its not you better get yourself in the gym or just dont do it at all... you're not going far with two sessions of boxing a week

:hat