Duxx, I was going through some old posts and you stated:
"I am more proponent in tempo and shuttle runs for aerobic development for team games!
To develop VO2max in tempo runs:
DO NOT CHANGE the intensity of runs over 75% of max speed,. because it will interfere with other, more specific, high intensity work
Increase the distance of tempos and shuttles, but, I believe, under 1 mins runs (or even less)
Decrease the rest intevals —> THIS IS THE KEY"
For a basketball player, when would you want to up the tempo runs somewhere near the 1 minute mark? Also, as one’s aerobic system develops and you progressively decrease rest time, wouldn’t this just move closer and closer to steady state running, albeit at 70-75%? My question is, at that point, why is the tempo better than the steady state, when, in reality, it seems that it would just be the steady state with short break every 30-60 seconds? Thanks for clearing this up in advance as I’m sure you will.
Thanks for asking…
It is never going to become steady state, because running @ 20-22,5kmh-1 for steady state will yield awesome middle-distance runner not basketball player. (running 1500m for 3:30 is average pace @ 25,7kmh-1)
With intermittent nature of tempo you are ‘teaching’ the body to RECOVER quickly and it is important quality in team games. Since there is ultimate volume tolerance to training volume, after some progression, volume should be capped and recovery period between runs decreased.
