Interval Training Has Its Benefits and Can Help You Run Faster and Avoid Injury. Here is Some Advice From Runners World Magazine.

Many of you are now getting out for your spring run and perhaps are training for your next race. One of our patients did a 50K this past weekend, which is over 30 miles on trails. Nothing can be worse than to injure yourself training for a race or even during one. Runners World Magazine offers some advice on something called Interval Training. Read about it below.

Run Faster with High Intensity Interval Training

Build power, speed, and fitness with fast efforts.

Cindy Kuzma

If you want to run fast, the saying goes, you’ve got to run fast. To stoke speed, most runners do traditional speedwork: aiming for near race pace over distances of 400 meters or more, with recovery periods equal to the length of the repeat (or slightly less). Or you can get fast even faster with supershort, superfast efforts, sometimes referred to as high intensity interval training (HIIT).

While HIIT definitions vary, repeats are generally 10 to 60 seconds long, run nearly full out, and are followed by a rest period lasting one to four times the length of the effort (so you’re recovered to do the next repeat at the same speed and with good form). Researchers have found the low volume, high intensity approach of HIIT training can boost your speed and fitness.

“For the athlete who’s already doing intervals,” says Martin Gibala, Ph.D., a McMaster University researcher, “upping the intensity with short bursts of speed may provide new benefits.” Your cardiovascular system gets stronger and pushes more oxygen-rich blood through your body. Muscles get better at using that oxygenated blood. Your stride becomes more efficient as coordination between the muscles and nervous system improves. The perks may even extend to reducing your risk for chronic diseases by improving blood sugar control.

Running superfast does increase the risk of injury, however. You need to be strong and flexible and have a solid base of both mileage and speedwork to safely do this training, says Joe McConkey, M.S., an exercise physiologist and coach at the Boston Running Center. You’re ready for HIIT workouts if you’ve been running four to five times a week for at least four months, regularly doing some runs at paces 60 to 90 seconds per mile faster than easy pace, and completing a weekly long run of at least 50 minutes. In terms of strength and flexibility, you should be able to hold a squat position for 90 seconds and, while standing, grab and touch your heel to your butt, feeling only a minor stretch in your quad. Start with one HIIT session a week, and build up to no more than two in a 10-day period.