Posted: September 2, 2005

Science of Sport: What To Do On A Bad Day

By Owen Anderson, Ph. D. (Copyright © 2004-2005)

It’s a question as old as training itself: What should one do on a high-quality training day when the scheduled workout starts very badly?

Is it best to knock out the planned intervals as well as possible, even though the pace maintained is significantly slower than expected? Would it be better to cancel the entire-day’s proceedings, postponing the high-intensity work until some later date? Is the answer perhaps to run for close to the desired volume, without making any attempt to elevate intensity of effort? Should one do half the number of scheduled intervals? One-third?

The answer to the basic question of course depends on what caused the workout difficulty. If you find yourself in this predicament and you believe that there is a good chance that you are overtrained, i. e., that you have exceeded your body’s capacity to adapt to the training which has been carried out in preceding weeks and entered into a state of physiological depletion associated with poor performance, then there is no question about what to do: Go home, lie down, and rest. Over subsequent days, you should train very easily (or not at all) and do things which maximize recovery, including getting adequate sleep, drinking enough fluid, consuming a healthy diet, and carrying out light, relaxing activities.

If the basic problem appears to be environmental in nature (for example, you have been training in 70-degree temperatures but nature has blessed you with 85-degree heat and similar humidity at the onset of your quality workout or else gale-force winds are sweeping across the track), then the answer to our vexing question hinges on the weather forecast. If the days ahead are going to be conducive to better training (for example, a cooling trend may be predicted), you would be wise to simply stop your session and re-schedule it for the near future (the following day, if possible). On the other hand, if torrid conditions will prevail for some time, you’ll have to simply do your best with the planned effort – or else move it inside to a treadmill in an air-conditioned room (another possibility might be to get up earlier in the morning, when it is cooler).

Those answers are easy enough. However, there is considerable variation in human performance, and thus there are many occasions when a bad workout beginning is relatively unexplainable, when it is not possible to point one’s finger of culpability at overtraining or the influences of the sun and the movements of low-pressure systems. Let’s explain this in a different way: Take a runner with a VO2max of 52 ml.kg-1.min-1 and a vVO2max of 4.44 meters per second. One day, he/she runs the 5K in 20:00. One week later, he/she hits 19:31 in a 5-K race; after another week, he/she is at 20:16. Subsequent performances over a relatively short period of time are 20:22 and 19:38. All of the race courses are very similar, and environmental conditions were the same for each competition; the runner’s VO2max and vVO2max, measured throughout the period, remained at 52 ml.kg-1.min-1 and 4.44 meters per second, respectively, indicating that there was no fundamental physiological change in our competitor. So - what caused the differences in performance?

To put it bluntly, in most cases we don’t know. The best we can do is to say simply that the “good” performances (probably the moniker the runner would put on the 19:31 and 19:38) and the “bad” races (most likely the 20:16 and 20:22) were part of the natural variation in physical capacity associated with this harrier. Sometimes, the baseball batter swings and misses; later, he hits the same pitch for a home run, without any improvement in his overall baseball skills and ability. Sometimes you run stinking races and workouts, and sometimes you sizzle. The human body can not be programmed to run with machine-like predictability and efficiency.

Getting back to our original question then, what should you do when your quality workout gets off to a bad start (i. e., you are considerably below your projected pace) and you have no good explanation for your lethargic feelings or slow running? Here’s one reasonable answer: If it’s an interval workout, simply complete two intervals to the best of your ability and then call it a day (as far as training is concerned, that is). Of course, if you feel much better after the second interval, continue on with the training until you feel fatigued or you have completed the planned number of reps. If your schedule called for a sustained, high-quality run (as opposed to intervals), run as well as you can for around six to seven minutes, and then shift into cool-down mode.

We provide these unorthodox answers to our basic, common problem thanks to research carried out by our friends in the resistance-training community. As you know, those strength-training folks have been considerably interested in the question of how many sets of a specific exercise are needed per workout to maximize strength and power. Traditionally, the answer has always been three sets, but novel, carefully controlled research actually suggests that it is the first set of an exercise which provides most of the physiological stimulus for your muscles to get stronger, with the second and third sets offering not much more than upgraded calorie-burning. In other words, this new research indicates that you might be able to get by just as well with one set as with three when it comes to burgeoning the strength of your muscles (I’m sure you can see where I am going with this line of thinking).

For example, in an investigation carried out in the Department of Exercise and Sports Sciences at the University of Florida, 42 adult weightlifters (average age 40) with a mean of six years of weight-training experience were divided into two groups (1). One group performed one set of a nine-exercise resistance-training circuit three times a week for 13 weeks, while a second group performed three sets of the same resistance-training circuit (also for 13 weeks, with three workouts per week). The exercises included such popular exertions as leg extensions, leg curls, chest presses, overhead presses, and biceps curls, and for each exercise eight to 12 repetitions were performed to muscular failure (that is, the resistance for each drill was set so that subjects could complete at least eight reps but not more than 12 reps; the intensity could thus be called eight- to 12-rep max).

After 13 weeks, both groups significantly improved muscular endurance while doing chest presses and leg extensions (muscular endurance was defined as the number of repetitions to failure using 75% of the pre-training one-repetition maximum for each exercise). Both groups also significantly improved one-repetition-maximum strength for the five key exercises, and both groups significantly upgraded lean body mass. The key finding, however, was that the one-set lifters improved just as much in all three characteristics (endurance, one-rep-max strength, and body composition) as the individuals who toiled three times as long with their trio of sets!

True, not all of the research in this area supports the notion that one-set training is just as good as two- or three-set workouts. However, a general consensus has emerged that the most important set of a strength-training workout is the first one, with subsequent sets adding significantly smaller amounts of strength and fitness to the athlete engaged in the work – and sometimes chipping in no additional fortitude or fatigue-resistance at all.

Making the leap of faith over to the sport of running, it is likely that the first high-quality interval of an interval workout is the most-crucial one in the entire session. That is, the mere fact that one has “shouted” at one’s muscles – “Hey, wake up down there! I expect you to be able to handle this kind of intensity” – produces much more rumbling within the muscle than the next repeat (or repeats) of the “message.” This is not to say that there is no benefit associated with doing multiple intervals within a workout – the additional intervals do provide extra stimuli for the muscles to adapt. It is just that the powerfulness of those stimuli tends to ebb as the workout continues (please see Figure 1). In fact, the first interval or two of a session are probably responsible for most of the fitness which accrues from an interval workout (of course, this will not be true if the intervals are really short – say, 15 to 30 seconds, and many are planned for the workout). Similarly, the first seven minutes of a tempo run produce more of an upgrade in fitness than the next seven minutes, and so on.

Keeping this in mind, let’s get back to our seemingly perplexing situation: You start your interval workout, and the first interval is well off the mark, even though you gauge your risk of overtraining to be close to zero and the weather is fine. When this happens, recover for a bit, and then rush (as well as you can) through your second interval. There is a chance that you will feel better after the interval is over, and if so – great: simply proceed into the rest of your workout. If you don’t feel better, say good-bye to your track or workout area and be satisfied with the fact that at least you have completed the most-important intervals of the session (or the most-important seven minutes of a sustained run).

Why not continue on? It’s risky, since there really might be something wrong with you. You might actually be on the verge of overtraining, even though you are feeling pretty good, or you might be coming down with an infection, in which case prolonged exercise could increase your chances of getting very sick. And, you have already snared the biggest part of the fitness you can gain from the workout, anyway, so why take chances?

There are exceptions to our rules, of course. If you show up at the track and your muscles feel really stiff and sore and running simply does not feel right, it’s time to put your training shoes back in the bag, without completing any intervals at all. Something is wrong in such a case: Your body is telling you that you need more recovery before you are ready for the quality workout you have planned. Our rules (two intervals or seven minutes of sustained running) apply to situations in which you don’t feel terribly bad but your running speed is just off – as part of the unexplained variation in performance we talked about earlier. Naturally, if you feel fine and your interval split is off by just a little bit (say about 4 percent or less), it is OK to proceed with the workout as planned. If your first two intervals are off by more than 4 percent, though, just close up shop and anticipate better running the next time out.

Naturally, if you feel great on the following day you can take another stab at the quality session which you ended up shortening; if you feel really good, you can complete the full affair (the remainder of the intervals which were cast aside on the prior day). However, if your life schedule does not permit that, don’t be concerned. Again, reassure yourself that you have completed the most-key intervals (or most-important minutes), and relax.

Above all, don’t beat up on yourself for “performing poorly” during your workout. Remember that variation in performance is completely natural – and that there are days when even the greatest Kenyan can not perform up to capacity, for unexplainable reasons. If that were not the case for you, too, then something would be terribly wrong. Also, please don’t forget that – randomness being what it is – it is possible for you to rack up three or four consecutive bad workouts without there being anything really wrong with you. All of us go through mysterious slumps which over the course of the year really do not mean that much; once again, they are simply part of the rich variation in physical capacity which is a hallmark of the human condition.

Although our suggested strategy of completing just two intervals or seven minutes of sustained running can work very well, there are other alternatives. For example, veteran (and successful) coach Bob Dannegger of North Carolina suggests changing the overall format of the workout. If one has planned to do challenging mile repeats but the first mile is atrocious, one might simply run hard on the straights and jog the curves for a little while or else alternate 15- to 30-second work intervals with similar-duration recoveries in hopes of reviving the legs, gradually using up the time originally allotted for intense running within the workout. As Bob points out, these alternatives should not be attempted if one is feeling stiff, sore, or generally awful, however.

One final note: If the original, planned workout called for really short intervals (say 15 to 60 seconds in length), should one adhere to the two-intervals-and-quit plan on days when the speed is lacking? Probably not, although there are of course no scientific data to plumb here. If the intervals are this brief, it would make sense to hasten (as well as possible) through at least four or five of them before throwing in the white towel. ©

Reference

(1) Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Vol. 32(1), pp. 235-242, 2000

Copyright © 1998-2005 by Running Research News

To purchase Owen's new e-book, which contains great workouts for competitive distances ranging from 800 meters to 100K, please go to www.runningresearchnews.com.

To obtain Lactate Lift-Off, Owen's hard-copy book about lactate-threshold-velocity-enhancing training, please go to www.rrnews.com/products.htm.

To download free samples of Running Research News, Cycling Research News, Swimming Research News, and Weight-Loss Research, please visit www.rrnews.com/sample-issues.htm.

To find out how to lose the pounds which are slowing you down, please consider a subscription to Weight-Loss Research (www.runningresearchnews.com).

To obtain back issues of Running Research News on topics ranging from 5-K and marathon training to carbohydrate intake to plantar fasciitis, hamstring troubles, shin splints, ITB syndrome, and running-injury prevention, please go to www.rrnews.com/archive.htm. Please use the search engine provided to look for articles on specific subjects.

To learn about the contents of the latest issue of Running Research News and about upcoming events at RRN, please go to www.rrnews.com/next.htm.