Trainables

Inspired by Stephen Seiler and fellrnr, I was looking into how training can be specific, and what are trainable.

Trainable Factors

• VO2Max - Aerobic capacity is on the top of the list.
  • It consists of heart rate, stroke volume and oxygen concentration in blood.
  • Out of the three, typically only the stroke volume is trainable (stronger/bigger heart) to have a long lasting benefit (heart rate decreases with age. Oxygen concentration can temporarily increase with altitude adaptation, which is often short lived).
  • Its adaptation is typically achieved in weeks or months, and then becomes stable even with harder training.
  • Can be trained via High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
• Running economy
  • It can continue improve over time (many years).
  • It consists of ^[1]:
    • metabolic adaptations within the muscle such as increased mitochondria and oxidative enzymes
    • the ability of the muscles to store and release elastic energy by increasing the stiffness of the muscles
    • more efficient mechanics leading to less energy wasted on braking forces and excessive vertical oscillation
  • Major factors contributing to RE ^[2]:
    • Smaller vertical oscillation “showed significant moderate associations” with better RE.
    • A higher leg stiffness also showed “significant moderate associations” with better RE. Though some research estimate leg stiffness using ground contact time.
    • A higher cadence “showed a small significant association” with better RE.
    • No impact on RE:
      • Where foot first contacts the ground
      • Ground contact time, stride length, ankle/knee/hip angles
        A higher stride rate “showed a small significant association” with better RE.
  • Can be trained via
    • HIIT
    • Explosive (plyometrics) or maximal strength training
    • intermittent hypoxia (Breath control?)
• Endurance
  • Both skeletal and cardiac muscle endurance
  • Typically, eccentric load is the most harmful to skeletal muscles during fatigue, which should be emphasized.
  • Can be trained via
    • eccentric strength training
    • Long run
• Fractional utilization - how much O2 can be utilized
• Heat/altitude adaptation

Summary

The following forms of exercises offers specific benefits for running:

1. Long run - Endurance
2. HIIT - VO2Max, running economy
3. Strength training - running economy, endurance
4. Plyometrics - running economy
5. Hill run - can be considered as a combination of HIIT (uphill) and Strength training (downhill, focusing on eccentric load)

References