Less training for faster running times? Danish study says it's possible
With the summer sport season well under way, runners across Europe are taking advantage of the longer evenings and getting in plenty of extra training sessions while the good weather holds out. But how would they react if they were told increasing their training schedules will actually do nothing to help them improve their personal bests? That's the view of a team of Danish researchers who has just published a study exploring a new type of training concept that can improve both a person's running performance and health, despite a significant reduction in the total amount of training time. Writing in the Journal of Applied of Physiology, the team from the University of Copenhagen present their new '10-20-30' training concept. Runners in their study improved performance on a 1 500-metre run by 23 seconds, and on a 5-km run by almost a minute, despite a 50% reduction in their total amount of training time over a 7-week period. The 10-20-30 training concept consists of a 1-km warm-up at low intensity, followed by 3 to 4 blocks of 5 minutes' running, interspersed by 2 minutes of rest. Each block consists of 5 consecutive 1-minute intervals divided into 30, 20 and 10 seconds of running at a low, moderate and near maximal intensity, respectively. The study involved 18 moderately trained runners; in addition to enhancing their running performance, they also all experienced a significant decrease in blood pressure and a reduction in cholesterol in the blood. 'We were very surprised to see such an improvement in the health profile considering that the participants have been running for several years,' says project leader, Professor Jens Bangsbo from the University of Copenhagen's Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences. 'The results show that this very intense training has great potential for improving [the] health status of already trained individuals.' The 10-20-30 training concept can be easily incorporated into a busy daily schedule, as the time needed for training is relatively low. A total of 20 to 30 minutes, including the warm-up, is all that is needed. To boot, since the 10-20-30 concept involves relative speeds and includes low-speed running and 2-minute rest periods, individuals with different fitness levels and training backgrounds can train together. Thomas Gunnarsson, who also worked on the study, adds that the emotional well-being of the participants also improved over the span of the project: 'We found a reduction in emotional stress when compared to control subjects continuing their normal training, based on a recovery-stress questionnaire administered before and after the 7-week training period.' One of the running study participants, Katrine Dahl, comments on this improvement in wellbeing, and in particular the sociable nature of the training concept: 'The training was very inspiring. I could not wait to get out and run together with the others. Today, I am running much faster than I ever thought possible.'For more information, please visit:University of Copenhagen:http://www.ku.dk/english/
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Denmark