Combined Endurance and Resistance Circuit Training in Highly Trained/top-Level Female Race Walkers: A Case Report
Combined Endurance and Resistance Circuit Training in Highly Trained/top-Level Female Race Walkers: A Case Report
Combined Endurance and Resistance Circuit Training in Highly Trained/top-Level Female Race Walkers: A Case Report
10-02-2009
10:41
Pagina 51
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Abstract Race walking can be considered as a long-distance performance and it can be described as the technical and athletic expression of fast walking. The physiological determinants of these performances have been
well documented; moreover, several recent studies
demonstrated that concurrent strength and endurance
training can improve performance in endurance athletes.
Thus, the purpose of this report was to monitor the adaptations of a combined strength, performed by circuit resistance training (CRT), and endurance programme in two
top level female race walkers. The subjects were examined before and after 12 weeks of CRT and endurance
training and performed an incremental field test to determine maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max), running
economy (RE) and lactate threshold (LT). The results
A. La Torre G. Vernillo
Faculty of Exercise Sciences
University of Milan
Milan, Italy
P.L. Fiorella C. Mauri
Medicine and Sport Science Institute
Italian National Olympic Committee
Rome, Italy
L. Agnello
Department of Basic and Applied Medical Sciences
University G. dAnnunzio
Chieti-Pescara, Italy
A. La Torre ()
Istituto di Esercizio Fisico, Salute e Attivit Sportiva (IEFSAS)
Via Giuseppe Colombo 71
20133 Milan, Italy
e-mail: antonio.latorre@unimi.it
Introduction
The general assumption for walking said that process of
locomotion in which the moving body is supported by
first one leg and then the other. When the moving body
passes over the supporting leg, the other leg swings forward in preparation for its next support phase. One foot
or the other is always on the ground, and during that period, when the support of the body is transferred from the
trailing to the leading leg, there is a brief period when
both feet are on the ground [1].
Race walking can be described as the technical and
athletic expression of fast walking; competition walkers
attain speeds about double the maximum walking speed
of an average person with a less step increase in energy
expenditure, maybe due to two factors: (i) less mechanical work done to move forwards and/or (ii) the efficiency of positive work [2, 3]. Moreover, race walking
has some other technical aspects, ruled by International
Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rule 230,
which increase the difficulty of locomotion: (i) loss of
contact; and (ii) bent knee.
The difference between common walking and race
walking and the limits to race walking performance derive directly from these technical and ruling aspects, thus,
even endowed with extraordinary physiological qualities,
051_058_LaTorre:Sport
10-02-2009
10:41
Pagina 52
52
Subjects
Two highly trained females with 111 years experience,
who competed in the IAAF Race Walking Challenge and
World Race Walking Cup 2008, were analysed in the present study. The averages of the subjects physical and
physiological characteristics before and after the training
period are presented in Table 1.
All participants were fully informed about the aims of
the study, the procedures and the training, and gave their
voluntary consent before participation. The experimental
procedures were in agreement with the Declaration of
Helsinki on human experimentation.
Training project
The experimental training period lasted for 12 weeks. The
total training volume was 120030 h/year but 10% of
training hours were replaced by CRT.
CRT sessions lasted for 2030 min at a frequency of
3 times per week. The programme included eight different exercises (Fig. 1) without additional weight or with
low loads but high or maximal movement velocities
(64160 contractions/training session and 812 repetitions/set). The load of the exercises ranged between 0 and
40% of the one-repetition maximum.
Experimental group
Before
Age (years)
Height (cm)
Body weight (kg)
BMI
Training background
Training (h/year)
Circuit training times/week
Values are meansSD
23
171.50.5
53.43.6
18.11.4
111
120030
2
After
524.1
17.71.5
051_058_LaTorre:Sport
10-02-2009
10:41
Pagina 53
53
100 %
strenght
90 %
aerobic endurance
95% of the LT
80 %
above LT
70 %
60 %
50 %
40 %
30 %
20 %
10 %
0%
Fig. 2 Relative volumes (%) of different training during course of 12-week simultaneous CRT and aerobic endurance training
Measurements
Highly trained race walkers were examined before and after 12 weeks of training. The tests were performed in
February and then in April before the competition peri-
051_058_LaTorre:Sport
10-02-2009
10:41
Pagina 54
54
Results
The VO2max before and after 12 weeks of CRT was
3209436 vs. 2882651 mlkg1min1, respectively
(Fig. 3). Before and after the 12 week programme, immediately after the end of the VO2max test, mean blood
lactate concentration was 8.751.06 mmolL1 and
8.850.64 mmolL1, respectively (Fig. 4). The LT at velocity corresponding to 4 mmolL1 was, before and after the protocol, 12.40.2 kmh1 and 12.90.1 kmh1,
respectively. There were no changes in RE (Fig. 5). The
maximal heart rate was, before and after training, 1898
vs. 1907 beatsmin1, respectively (Fig. 6).
Discussion
The main purpose of the present report was to test the
effects of a CRT on race walking performance. As showed
by Paavolainen et al. [13], the combined explosive
strength and endurance training improved force, running
velocity, RE and 5-km running performance in well
O2max,
trained endurance athletes without any changes in V
according to what we find in the present report, where
the aerobic capacity of the subjects does not improve after 12 weeks of combined CRT and endurance training.
Moreover, in the literature there are discordant data
about the possible changes of the LT after concomitant
endurance and strength training. Several studies have
shown no changes in LT after the training protocol [13,
40], while Marcinik et al. found an improvement in the
subjects LT [42]. Along with Jung [41], we hypothe-
4000
pre
post
VO2max (mLkg-1min-1)
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
12.00
13.00
14.00
Speed (kmh-1)
Fig. 3 VO2max and speed relationship before and after 12 weeks of CRT. Values are meansSD
15.00
16.00
051_058_LaTorre:Sport
10-02-2009
10:41
Pagina 55
55
12.00
pre
post
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
0.00
11.00
12.00
13.00
Speed
14.00
15.00
(kmh-1)
Fig. 4 Blood lactate curve before and after 12 weeks of CRT. Values are meansSD
300.0
pre
post
RWE (mLkg-1min-1)
250.0
200.0
150.0
100.0
50.0
0.0
11.00
12.00
13.00
Speed (kmh-1)
Fig. 5 RWE and speed relationship before and after the 12 weeks of CRT. Values are meansSD
sise that after CRT the muscle fibres are capable of producing more absolute force, working at a lower percentage of maximum strength during endurance activity compared with pre-training. This decrease in effort
may have resulted in a decrease in anaerobic energy production, resulting in a decrease in blood lactate concentration [42].
Regarding the RE, but in our opinion it would be better to refer to race walking economy (RWE), in contrast
to the literature [35, 39], we found a worsening. This may
be due to the intrinsic factors of race walking, as the technical and biomechanical aspects may require a longer period of adaptation after the training.
In conclusion, we have shown that 12 weeks of a combined circuit training and endurance programme improve
the 5-km performances but there were no corresponding
O2max.
alterations in V
Further research is needed to establish whether such
race walking improvements derive from an increased
stride length or stride frequency or both and, as suggest-
051_058_LaTorre:Sport
10-02-2009
10:41
Pagina 56
56
pre
post
200
190
180
170
160
150
11.00
12.00
13.00
Speed
14.00
15.00
(kmh-1)
Fig. 6 Heart rate and speed relationship before and after 12 weeks of CRT. Values are meansSD
0.24.46
0.24.29
5 km performance (hmmss)
0.24.12
0.23.54
0.23.37
0.23.20
0.23.02
0.22.45
0.22.28
0.22.11
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Years
Fig. 7 Average of the 5-km performance from 2005 to 2008
development and muscle hypertrophy when strength training is performed concurrently with endurance training.
Instead, in our opinion, explosive strength development in
the subjects seems to be due to an improvement in the rapid
neural activation of the trained muscles. In addition, according to Nummela et al. [51], the results of the present
study support the idea that distance runners performance is
related to neuromuscular capacity to produce force.
051_058_LaTorre:Sport
10-02-2009
10:41
Pagina 57
Practical applications
Collectively, these findings add further support to the interpretation of the results of the training study in which
combined endurance and CRT improved skeletal muscle
forcevelocity characteristics, such as, maybe, motor unit
recruitment and synchronisation.
Further research is needed to determine whether
more intense or more prolonged circuit training improves RE and the performance of highly trained race
walkers.
Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the athletes and
coach Vincenzo Fiorillo for his assistance in data collection and
technical support.
Conflict of interest statement The authors declare that they
have no conflict of interest related to the publication of this
article.
References
1. Rose J, Gamble JG (2006) Human walking. Lippincott Williams
& Wilkins, Philadelphia, USA, p 2
2. Cavagna GA, Franzetti P (1981) Mechanics of competition walking. J Physiol 315:243251
3. Menier DR, Pugh LGCE (1968) The relation of oxygen intake and
velocity of walking and running, in competition walkers. J Physiol
197:717721
4. Basset DR Jr, Howley ET (2000) Limiting factors for maximum
oxygen uptake and determinants of endurance performance. Med
Sci Sports Exerc 32:7084
5. Billat VL, Demarle A, Slawinski J et al (2001) Physical and training characteristics of top-class marathon runners. Med Sci Sports
Exerc 33:20892097
6. Noakes TD, Myburgh KH, Schall R (1990) Peak treadmill running
O2max test predicts running performance. J
velocity during the V
Sports Sci 8:3545
7. Tanaka K, Matsuura Y (1984) Marathon performance, anaerobic
threshold and onset of blood lactate accumulation. J Appl Physiol
57:640643
8. Conley DL, Krahenbuhl GS (1980) Running economy and distance
running performance of highly trained athletes. Med Sci Sports
Exerc 12:357360
9. Morgan DW, Baldini FD, Martin PE, Kohrt WM (1989) Ten kilo O2max among wellmetres performance and predicted velocity at V
trained male runners. Med Sci Sports Exerc 21:7983
10. di Prampero PE, Atchou G, Brckner JC, Moia C (1986) The energetics of endurance running. Eur J Appl Physiol 55:259266
11. Noakes TD (1988) Implications of exercise testing for prediction
of athletic performance: a contemporary perspective. Med Sci
Sports Exerc 20:319330
12. Green HJ, Patla AE (1992) Maximal aerobic power: neuromuscular and metabolic considerations. Med Sci Sports Exerc 24:3846
13. Paavolainen L, Hkkinen K, Hmlinen I et al (1999) Explosive
strength training improves 5-km running time by improving running economy and muscle power. J Appl Physiol 86:15271533
14. Houmard JA, Costill DL, Mitchell JB et al (1991) The role of
anaerobic ability in middle distance running performance. Eur J
Appl Physiol 62:4043
57
15. Noakes TD (2000) Physiological models to understand exercise fatigue and the adaptations that predict or enhance athletic performance. Scand J Med Sci Sports 10:123145
16. Sinett AM, Berg K, Latin RW, Noble JM (2001) The relationship
between field tests of anaerobic power and 10-km run performance. J Strength Cond Res 15:405412
17. La Torre A, Impellizzeri FM, Dotti A, Arcelli E (2005) Do
Caucasian athletes need to resign themselves to African nomination in long and middle distance running? New Studies in Athletics
20:3949
18. Bouchard C, Rankinen T (2001) Individual differences in response
to regular physical activity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33[Suppl]:
S446451; discussion S452453
19. Larsen HB (2003) Kenyan dominance in distance running. Comp
Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 136:161170
20. Scott RA, Wilson RH, Goodwin WH et al (2005) Mitochondrial
DNA lineages of elite Ethiopian athletes. Comp Biochem Physiol
Biochem Mol Biol 140:497503
21. Scott RA, Moran C, Wilson RH et al (2005) No association between angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene variation and
endurance athlete status in Kenyans. Comp Biochem Physiol A
Mol Integr Physiol 14:169175
22. Kayser B (2003) Exercise starts and ends in the brain. Eur J Appl
Physiol 90:411419
23. Saltin B, Kim CK, Terrados N et al (1995) Morphology, enzyme
activities and buffer capacity in leg muscles of Kenyan and
Scandinavian runners. Scand J Med Sci Sports 5:222230
24. Scott RA, Georgiades E, Wilson RH et al (2003) Demographic
characteristics of elite Ethipian endurance runners. Med Sci Sports
Exerc 35:17271732
25. Coetzer P, Noakes TD, Sanders B et al (1993) Superior fatigue resistance of elite black South African distance runners. J Appl
Physiol 75:18221827
26. Saunders PU, Telford RD, Pyne DB et al (2004) Improved running
economy in elite runners after 20 days of simulated moderate-altitude exposure. J Appl Physiol 96:931937
27. Schmidt W (2002) Effects of intermittent exposure to high altitude on blood volume and erythropoietic activity. High Alt Med
Biol 3:167176
28. Hunter G, Demment R, Miller D (1987) Development of strength
and maximum oxygen uptake during simultaneous training for
strength and endurance. J Sports Med Phys Fit 27:269275
29. Paavolainen L, Hkkinen K, Rusko H (1991) Effects of explosive
type strength training on physical performance characteristics in
cross-country skiers. Eur J Appl Physiol 62:251255
30. Dudley GA, Djamilj R (1985) Incompatibility of endurance and
strength-training modes of exercise. J Appl Physiol 59:14461451
31. Hickson RC (1980) Interference of strength development by simultaneously training for strength and endurance. Eur J Appl
Physiol 215:255263
32. Hickson, RC, Rosenkoetter AM, Brown MM (1980) Strength training effects on aerobic power and short-term endurance. Med Sci
Sports Exerc 12:336339
33. Hoff J, Gran A, Helgerud J (2002) Maximal strength training improves aerobic endurance performance. Scand J Med Sci Sports
12:288295
34. Johnston RE, Quinn TJ, Kertzer R, Vroman NB (1997) Strength
training in female distance runners: impact on running economy.
J Strength Cond Res 11:224229
35. Spurrs RW, Murphy AJ, Watsford ML (2003) The effect of plyometric training on distance running performance Eur J Appl
Physiol 89:17
36. Mikkola J, Rusko H, Nummela A et al (2007) Concurrent endurance and explosive type strength training increases activation
and fast force production of leg extensor muscles in endurance athletes. J Strength Cond Res 21:613620
051_058_LaTorre:Sport
10-02-2009
10:41
Pagina 58
58
37. Mikkola J, Rusko H, Nummela A et al (2007) Concurrent endurance and explosive type strength training increases improves
neuromuscular and anaerobic characteristics in young distance
runners. Int J Sport Med; 28:602611
38. Saunders PU, Telford RD, Pyne DB et al (2006) Short-term plyometric training improve running economy in highly trained middle and long distance runners. J Strength Cond Res 20:947954
39. Turner AM, Owings M, Schwane JA (2003) Improvement in running economy after 6 weeks of plyometric training. J Strength Cond
Res 17:6067
40. Bishop D, Jenkins DG (1999) The effects of strength training on
endurance performance and muscle characteristics. Med Sci Sports
Exerc 31:886891
41. Jung AP (2003) The impact of resistance training on distance running performance. Sports Med 33:539552
42. Marcinik EJ, Potts J, Schlabach G et al (1991) Effects of strength
training on lactate threshold and endurance performance. Med Sci
Sports Exerc 23:739743
43. Ballor DL, Becque MD, Katch VL (1987) Metabolic response during hydraulic resistance exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc
19:363367
44. Katch FI, Freedson PS, Jones CA (1985) Evaluation of acute cardiorespiratory responses to hydraulic resistance exercise. Med Sci
Sports Exerc 17:168173
45. Chtara M, Chaouachi A, Levin GT et al (2008) Effect of concurrent endurance and circuit resistance training sequence on mus-
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.