Project 1: The Fan Dance training begins.....

Today I trialled a workout designed with the below objectives in mind. I did this in my local park, looking an absolute twat carrying an 75L backpack, wearing boots and spandex. All in the name of sports science!

Training Objectives:

• Induce optimum adaptations for the aerobic and anaerobic energy systems, in a similar way to what you can expect on the Fan Dance route. 
• Get used to the backpack + weight and get the glutes working to offload the lumbar musculature. The nature and architecture of these stabilising muscles mean they will inevitably fatigue under movement with heavy load so the more we can do to get the powerful gluteus maximus to work, the better. 

I learnt......

1. My backpack admin was similar to that of a 15yr old Duke of Edinburgh contender (think objects falling off, tied on etc). I chalk this up to lack of caffeine.

2. To try and avoid dog poo. I didn't do this well.

3. I also learnt that it was not a very pleasant exercise and even my ipod malfunctioned from shock and sweat.

The idea for this exercise was born out of utter boredom and contempt for treadmill walking, with the question of how best to replicate running up Pan Y Fan, when you live in London! I have to say, incline walking on a treadmill doesn't really seem to do it for me. For the purposes of the Fan Dance, walking at an exact speed at an exact elevation isn't going to cut it. The nature of this undulating route means both the aerobic and anaerobic systems are going to be constantly interchanging. In terms of training energy systems, how best can you replicate this?

The accumulation of lactate is going to be the biggest problem here! So.......the science bit.

1. We need to induce adaptations that will optimise oxidation of lactate.

2. Encourage use of lactate as a fuel substrate as certain organs/tissues/muscles can use a variety of different substrates to produce energy (ATP). There is some evidence that Myocardial (heart) muscle can use a number substrates including lactate. (Chatham, 2002)

I'm not going to pretend Biochemistry and Metabolism are simple, suffice to say, we don't really know the extent of how metabolism and genes are upregulated and downregulated (epigenetics) to control what and how fuels get metabolised in individuals. So I will do my best to answer this question with the information I do know.

In my opinion, a careful combination of high volume/low intensity (aerobic) and low volume/high intensity training (e.g HITT/Tabata)(anaerobic), will induce the adaptations we are after. The time frame is approximately 4-6 weeks for this to occur. Aerobic training will increase both the number and mass of mitochondria and capillarization of skeletal muscle increasing the lactate threshold, so lactate will accumulate less quickly. In this way, aerobic training has the benefit of increasing the rate of recovery, both short term and long term.

In the presence of oxygen, lactate will also be "shunted" back into the aerobic pathway to produce more ATP for more work.

Too much high intensity training can be very fatiguing both on the musculoskeletal systems and on the central nervous system so a careful blend can keep overtraining and injury at bay. In terms of priorities of goals, staying injury free is at the top of the list.

There is also increasing evidence that Fast Twitch Type II fibres can be trained through high volume/low intensity training to be more "oxidative" which will slow the accumulation of lactate (Teene, K et al, 2007), a good thing for strength endurance events. These muscle fibres are predominantly designed to generate a lot of power but fatigue quickly compared to slow twitch Type I fibres.

Energy systems, Metabolism and Biochemistry are whole science's on their own, but I believe it is important to understand what and why you are doing what you are doing. Make your training relevant, specific and make it count.

Training

1. Caffeine yourself up properly. I like to stick to roughly the legal limit for a performance enhancing effect!

Primary ingredient for success

2. Bergen + weight (10kg) and boots.

3. Choose a hill about 10-15% elevation and take a 100m section that includes the peak and a plateau of about 40m. <

4. START: 70-100 walking lunges, uphill.

TIP: It is very easy just to bend forward from waist, which makes you think you are going lower but for the purposes of this exercise and off loading lumbar muscles, drop your body weight into a "mid" range lunge, staying upright.

If you are familiar with a "good morning" utilise the forward hip movement when you stand up straight i.e pushing hips forward to get good hip extension, engaging glutes.

>As you bring rear leg through, spend a good second or so on one leg to challenge stabilisation and to get strong on one leg. 

5. Straight into a jog or walk to the top of the hill, over the crest and jog across the plateau.

6. Run down fast.

That is 1 circuit. Mine took approx. 2mins 30s. 

Simple but effective!

You can take 30s rest but aim to do the circuits continuously for 60mins. Doing this "loaded" with good technique should also train the stabilising muscles of the trunk really well so actually a separate "core" workout will not be necessary. Keep trunk strong and upright in the walking lunges and not too much leaning forward will ensure glutes are in the best "portion" of the length-tension curve to "work". This will prevent lower back muscles from getting overworked. 

You can manipulate the start/stop sections of the hill and/or length of each segment to find what works best for yourself. 

References

Chatham, J.C. (2002). Lactate - the forgotten fuel. The Journal of physiology, 542, 333

Teene, T., Alev, K., Kaasik, P. and Pehme, A. (2007). Changes in fast twitch muscle oxidative capacity and myosin isoforms modulation during endurance training. Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness, 47(1),124-32.