6 Minute Training Week?

The New York Times ran a piece about a study done in Japan that showed rats that were forced to swim super hard for 6 minutes a week had the same fitness gains as another group that swam 6 hours a week at a slow endurance pace. They also cited a similar study done in Canada with untrained college students and stationary bikes.

Gotta love scientific studies that prove what is already known. Intervals work. Duh. Now before you go and bail on your long ride this weekend it is important to recognize the subjects used in this study were not athletes so really it is not surprise that both control groups showed similar increases in fitness from baseline. I would like to see if these results would be replicated with athletes. My guess is they would not. The take away from this is that if you are not incorpotating some sort of interval training then you are not goingto perform up to your potential.

Long training sessions are the foundation that a good race season is built on. The way your body prioritizes and burn fuel is enhanced with endurance training. There are no short cuts for this if you want season long fitness. 1-2 long training sessions a week are essential if you want to Live the WUKAR Life. For the busy professional or family man/woman it can be hard to find the 3-4 hour block of time to do these types of workouts. The WUKAR way is to get creative. You can ge the same training effect by splitting your endurance workouts in two. 2 hours before work and 1-2 hours after work will do the trick.

WUKAR Life!