How short of an AeT workout is too short??? | Uphill Athlete

How short of an AeT workout is too short???

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    Topic
  • #54661
    jasdeep.bal
    Participant

    Dr Seiler indicates that there are primarily two ways to improve fitness in purple patch podcast #170.

    1) Intensify
    2) Extend

    I train about 8 hours a week and I would like to increase my AeT volume (Zone1/Zone2). Seiler says that to Extend, one must train for two hours just as a prelude to improving AeT fitness. So once a week, my goal is to train 4 hours nonstop.

    Trying to add impactful AeT volume, would adding a 15 minutes training session, although the body is probably just warming up, add to my AeT volume for the training week? Or would 30 minutes training here and there as time permits going to have a significant value to my weekly volume or should it be a 40/45/50 or 60 minute minimum training duration???

    What is the shortest that an AeT training be to be effective?

    Any opinions please?

  • Participant
    Shashi on #54664

    Jasdeep,

    Welcome to the Uphill Athlete forum.

    What is the shortest that an AeT training be to be effective?

    It depends on your fitness level/training background. You also need to consider what is feasible for you. Check this post where Scott has answered a similar question. Hope this is helpful.

    Participant
    jasdeep.bal on #54705

    Hi Shashi thanks for taking the time to reply my question… though I found whats attached below, it still doesn’t quite answer my question, and perhaps there is no answer. My goal is to increase my low intensity volume (65-70% of maxHR) that I may spend more time at high intensity (90-95% of maxHR). My goal for training is a 90/10 ratio of low/high intensity… so thats the context of my question…

    ON FEBRUARY 23, 2018 AT 8:41 PM
    4nthrax;

    While Adamsc is correct that longer is better you gotta do what you can do first and figure out how it effects you and what you can handle. Certainly if you are time crunched then 2-3 x 30 min is way better than nothing. The minimum duration related to your fitness level. Do a thought experiment with me: Imagine your grandmother, who, for this experiment we are going to assume has not run a step since she was a teenager. For her a 30 minute run will have a profound training effect. Now imagine Kilian Jornet (if you can). For him a 30 minute run will not be enough training stimulus to add anything to his fitness. In fact too many days of 30 minute runs and he will LOSE fitness.

    Can you see now that it is not so formulaic like you might have read on the internet. Training must be progressive to be effective. You must gradually increase the load of your body will stop adapting. Initially a 30 min might be a great starting point and really boost fitness for you but if you are still doing 1 x 30 min run 6 months from now there is a good chance that it will no longer be a sufficient training stimulus to cause you more adaptation. In that case, first you will plateau and soon drop in fitness because your body has become used to this training load.

    I hope this helps. There is no one size fits all prescription.
    Scott

    Participant
    Dada on #54714

    Hi guys,

    I found this article a couple time ago: https://www.scienceofultra.com/blog//the-long-run

    Maybe this helps.

    Dada

    Participant
    Dada on #54715

    * a while ago 😉

    Participant
    jasdeep.bal on #54811

    Hi Dada,

    Thanks for the reply but your link is missing:

    Hi guys,

    I found this article a couple time ago:
    Maybe this helps.

    Dada

    Please try again,

    Thank you,

    Jasdeep

    Participant
    Dada on #54813

    Hi,

    Link is there in desktop mode. Mobile view does not support links.

    Cheers
    Dada

    Participant
    jasdeep.bal on #54853

    Gotcha, Dada… thanks for emailing the link! It is helpful. For others accessing this thread by mobile:

    https://www.scienceofultra.com/blog//the-long-run”

    “Can a run be too short to be meaningful? If you’re an untrained individual, probably not. Even 10 minutes is a notable stress for sedentary individuals. If you’re capable of running continuously for more than an hour then 30 minutes is the minimum duration I – and the science – would recommend for any run of steady, easy intensity aimed at developing or maintaining endurance. This is because it takes about that long for all the metabolic, structural, and organ-level machinery to be pushed sufficiently to nudge the stress response for development, or at least maintenance.”

    Cheers,

    Jasdeep

    Participant
    Participant
    akash.smartsightai on #54881

    Anything less than 10 mins duration is frankly too short IMO.

    Inactive
    Anonymous on #55342

    Remember that all of these factors interact. The answer is almost always, “it depends.”

    Seiler says that to Extend, one must train for two hours just as a prelude to improving AeT fitness.

    This totally depends on training history. A sedentary person likely won’t be able to go for two continuous hours. But for theme even 30 minutes, applied consistently, will improve their aerobic fitness (if it’s easy enough and they don’t get sucked into a HIIT intensity.)

    So once a week, my goal is to train 4 hours nonstop.

    That may be appropriate, but 50% of your weekly volume in one day sounds like a lot. I would start with one day at twice your average daily volume and see how you handle it (during and afterward.)

    Trying to add impactful AeT volume, would adding a 15 minutes training session, although the body is probably just warming up, add to my AeT volume for the training week?

    Do you mean 15 minutes totally on its own? If your average is eight hours per week, then I suspect not. Thirty minutes is probably a good minimum.

    Or would 30 minutes training here and there as time permits going to have a significant value to my weekly volume or should it be a 40/45/50 or 60 minute minimum training duration???

    Don’t drown yourself in details. If there were an official list of rules, coaches wouldn’t be required. It all depends on the state of fitness in the individual. For example, a program that would make me super fit will detrain Kilian Jornet.

    What is the shortest that an AeT training be to be effective?

    This is totally individual. The bigger the base, the bigger the minimum duration required to contribute.

    Participant
    jasdeep.bal on #55375

    Thanks for your kind response, Scott and everyone. I reached out to Seiler who also recommended 1/3 of weekly total volume as a long EXTEND ride. So I am now riding 1.5 hours 4 days a week and one 3 hour ride for a total weekly volume of 9 hours (upped from the 8 hr/wk: 4-1hr-rides + the 4hr-long ride).

    I was trying to scheme a way to increase to a weekly volume of twelve hours, and thats why I began contemplating two-in-a-day workouts and throwing in some short AeT workouts to extend my weekly volume.

    But I’ve come to the conclusion that I am happy at 9 hours for now. So gone for now is my 4 hour AeT ride.

    Btw, on another note, thanks for your articles that inspired me to purchase the Lactate Plus. I had successful first run.

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