Posted: June 12, 2006

Science of Sport: Oxygen In Water - And In Your Muscles

From: www.ByJamesRaia.com

A very interesting product marketed to runners and other athletes is something called "oxygenated water," which is allegedly aqua with an unusually high concentration of the life-giving gas. The benefits of this gassy liquid are avowed to be an enhanced capacity to fight off infections, an amazing ability to clear toxins from the blood, and - of course - an improved ability to deliver oxygen to the muscles. There are even "oxygen coolers" on the market, selling for well over $1500, which can jet oxygen into each cupful of eau that you guzzle over the course of a day. And yes, there are "oxygen pills", too, available on-line and in some supplement stores, which are purported to contain "stabilized" oxygen.

Whew! All of this is enough to make one gasp for air. After all, if one really wants to move a little more oxygen into his/her blood, would it not be better to simply inhale deeply, instead of quaffing a glass of oxygenated H2O? The last time I checked, the human stomach was poorly equipped with gills, making it extremely unlikely that any excess oxygen in a drink would hurry into the blood. In addition, a glass of oxygenated water would quickly lose its supplemental oxygen, often before the rim of the glass touched a consumer's lips. That pesky oxygen is a gas, after all, and it has a quirky way of diffusing very, very quickly from regions where it is highly concentrated, say in a cup of oxygen-rich water, to areas in which it is less concentrated, e. g., the air around us.

For runners, there is another kind of oxygen hype: We are reminded constantly, in articles in popular running magazines and in books about training, that we should first build a broad "aerobic base" before we begin carrying out any speed work. The aerobic base, defined as a rather-ample amount of mileage conducted at slow to moderate tempos, is supposed to increase the ability of muscles to utilize oxygen during running. Proponents of aerobic-basing insist that it increases the number of capillaries around muscles, ramps up the concentrations of aerobic enzymes inside muscles, and maximizes mitochondrial densities (mitochondria are the little structures inside muscles which serve as the focal points of aerobic metabolism).

The trouble with this is that just as oxygenated water does a poor job of hiking the aerobic metabolism of our muscles, moderate- to low-intensity (aerobic-base) training does a modest job of spiking our muscles' aerobic characteristics. Over and over again, solid scientific research has revealed that higher-quality training (yes, dare I say it - speed training) does a superior job of upgrading the aerobic propensities of the muscles in our legs, compared with traditional, building-a-base-type training.

Some advocates of traditional-basing may say that although it is not so good for improving aerobic capacity, it nonetheless builds a nice foundation of strength. We can admit that "aerobic-base" training builds some strength, but unfortunately it is the kind of strength which is needed for ..... carrying out aerobic-base training. Strength, after all, is specific to speed of movement, and strength at slow velocities translates poorly to strength at faster paces. In short, the strength built through base training does not necessarily provide strength for the high-quality training which inevitably follows.

But if we put quality training ahead of volume work, won't that increase the risk of injury? If we begin our programs by attempting to run 20 miles per week at vVO2max, this may well be the case, but if we very gradually expand our quality work, just as we would fatten slow miles with traditional base-building, the risk of injury is very low. Bear in mind that the single best predictor of injury among runners is a prior injury. The second-best predictor is not the number of miles run quickly; rather it is the total mileage run per week.

Note, too, that starting with high-quality work (instead of building a traditional base) would mean that longer runs would inevitably be conducted at faster paces (because underlying fitness would be greater). Thus, the benefits of increasing mileage would be magnified (since average training intensity would rise).

Unfortunately, just as high-quality running is left out of traditional base periods, so is running-specific strength training (rsst). Resistance training which mimics the mechanics of running improves fatigue-resistance and running economy - and is very likely to reduce the risk of injury. Wouldn't this be a great thing to include in any base period? Yet, rsst is almost-never mentioned in articles about building a base.

The bottom line? It's true that getting more oxygen to your leg muscles and enhancing the capacity of your leg muscles to utilize delivered oxygen will make you a better runner. But, oxygenated water and traditional aerobic base periods are both examples of oxygen hype. You'll increase the oxidative capacities of your leg muscles more effectively by inserting reasonable amounts of high-quality running into your training program, right from the beginning. Adding running-specific strength training (moves which mimic various aspects of the gait cycle) to the early mix will also be very beneficial, because it will keep you away from injury and will enable you to run at higher percentages of your max aerobic capacity. The latter effect is a proven way to give your leg muscles a sizable "oxygen boost."

There are still a few slots open for the July 18-23 session of our Malibu Running Camp. If you like running in the mountains, with views of the Pacific Ocean on one side and vistas of lush valleys on the other, you will love our Malibu Camp. If you want to learn about running-specific strength training and about how to put together a training program which will bring out your true potential as a runner, you will also love the camp. If you like to relax and simply enjoy the splendors of Southern California for a week ... yes, the camp is for you, too. For information, please send an e-mail to owen@runningresearchnews.com and/or visit: www.maliburunningcamp.com.

© Copyright 2005, James Raia

Posted with the permission of James Raia.

James Raia is a journalist, author and publisher in Sacramento, California. Visit his web site at www.runningresearchnews.com to get the latest information about training, sports nutrition, and injury prevention.

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