Happy New Year! I have decided that one of my New Years Resolutions this year would be to start posting a new coaching blog every week or two. Hopefully I will be able to keep them informative and enjoyable at the same time. So here is my first blog of the new year, it is on one of my favorite types of workouts. A "nueromuscular" workout, and this will give a little insight on what it is and why we do it.
A nueromuscular workout is essentially a way to start building some leg turnover into your base mileage to start the transition into more faster aerobic/VO2 work. After doing base mileage/tempos for several weeks we generally dread how we are going to feel after our first formal "workout" because this new type of stimulus often causes increased soreness and fatigue for several days following. This is where the nueromuscular workout comes into play.
The nueromuscular workout is a hybrid of a fartlek and a tempo run. Basically the main parts are anywhere from 30 sec to 2 min segments that are spaced about 2 to 3 minutes apart. These segments are meant to be done at about 5 to 10k race pace depending on the length of the repeat. However the key during these workouts are to keep the "off" part of the run at a slow tempo pace. Thus allowing your breathing to get back under control, but still getting a modified longer aerobic effort in the process. The turnover part of the workout helps get your legs ready for more faster paced interval workouts later, but due to the fact that you still have to run a slow tempo pace it prevents you from going too fast on the interval part. Hopefully preventing you from getting too sore the next few days.
This type of workout gets to stress two different training systems of the body in one workout, not overloading any one system. This allows for a quicker recovery, yet still a good aerobic effort. Here is an example of a typical nueromuscular workout...
20 minute warm up, 10 x 1 min "ons" at 5k race pace, with 2 minutes of slow tempo recovery pace in between. 15 minute warm down.
Hope that all makes sense. Anyway, it's a fun workout that I look forward to every training cycle. Happy Running!
A nueromuscular workout is essentially a way to start building some leg turnover into your base mileage to start the transition into more faster aerobic/VO2 work. After doing base mileage/tempos for several weeks we generally dread how we are going to feel after our first formal "workout" because this new type of stimulus often causes increased soreness and fatigue for several days following. This is where the nueromuscular workout comes into play.
The nueromuscular workout is a hybrid of a fartlek and a tempo run. Basically the main parts are anywhere from 30 sec to 2 min segments that are spaced about 2 to 3 minutes apart. These segments are meant to be done at about 5 to 10k race pace depending on the length of the repeat. However the key during these workouts are to keep the "off" part of the run at a slow tempo pace. Thus allowing your breathing to get back under control, but still getting a modified longer aerobic effort in the process. The turnover part of the workout helps get your legs ready for more faster paced interval workouts later, but due to the fact that you still have to run a slow tempo pace it prevents you from going too fast on the interval part. Hopefully preventing you from getting too sore the next few days.
This type of workout gets to stress two different training systems of the body in one workout, not overloading any one system. This allows for a quicker recovery, yet still a good aerobic effort. Here is an example of a typical nueromuscular workout...
20 minute warm up, 10 x 1 min "ons" at 5k race pace, with 2 minutes of slow tempo recovery pace in between. 15 minute warm down.
Hope that all makes sense. Anyway, it's a fun workout that I look forward to every training cycle. Happy Running!