VO2 Max – Misery and Torture

Pass the Parcel!

A good fun track workout for a special occasion (Christmas, someone’s birthday etc.); its basically 10x400m but with a twist. Wrap a small (or large) prize in 10 layers of wrapping paper, between each layer of paper put a number of seconds. This number of seconds in the first layer that will be unwrapped (theContinue reading “Pass the Parcel!”

Alternating Group Chase

This is another ‘classic’ VO2 Max improving interval set but with a twist to keep it interesting. We’re going to aim for 3 minutes hard effort (faster than 3km race pace) followed by a 3 minute walk. But to keep it interesting as a group we’re going to add in a little twist. As alwaysContinue reading “Alternating Group Chase”

Silly Team Games

There comes an odd point in the endurance running season, at least in Manchester anyway, where the track season and most of the serious road running series are finished yet it feels a long time before cross-country season starts (don’t worry its not that long!) So before we get in to cross-country training there isContinue reading “Silly Team Games”

800’s With a Hard Start

It is well established that psychology plays a significant role in running performance[1] and this workout, whilst having VO2 Max enhancement benefits, is mainly aimed at making an athlete comfortable with being uncomfortable. In order to do that we place high demands on the bodies’ aerobic and lactic systems at the beginning of the intervalContinue reading “800’s With a Hard Start”

Group Variation on Paarlauf

Paarlauf is usually done in pairs where one runner runs ‘easy’ and the other runs ‘hard’ and when they meet they swap paces, it requires quite a specific shaped layout. This variation can be done on pretty much any course and with mixed size groups. The aim of this workout is to get some runningContinue reading “Group Variation on Paarlauf”

Four By 1200

The literature suggests that interval running has a small but measurable benefit over and above continuous intensity running when it comes to eliciting improvements in VO2 Max – not only that but continuous intensity running around a track would be utterly tedious. In order to build VO2 Max it seems there is little evidence thatContinue reading “Four By 1200”

Tabata-Style Workouts

In the late 1990’s Izumi Tabata et al. ran a series of experiments to see the effect of short duration high intensity intervals with very short rest periods; the results were dramatic and showed an extremely time efficient way to increase VO2 Max. The original protocol from the experiment was for athletes to do 7-8Continue reading “Tabata-Style Workouts”