In case your are wondering, no, this particular blog post is not about what happened on 30th October, 2010. The 30-20-10 refers to a new workout suggested by researchers in a recently published article in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
Experienced runners who follow the workout improved their 5 km timings by 4 % in just 7 weeks while doing the 30-20-10 workout three times a week. Other than improving their performance, their blood pressure & LDL cholesterol also decreased. Their 1500 m times improved by 6%, whilst decreasing weekly mileage by a whopping 54%.
Interested now? Well, here's their workout. After a warm up of about 1.2 km, the runners studied jogged 30 sec, ran their normal training pace 20 sec and sprinted 10 seconds. They repeated this cycle another 4 times, running one continuous five minute repeat. This was followed by a 2 minute jog and then repeating the five minute workout three more times. The runners in the study did no cool down. All in all, they ran about 9 miles a week (or about 14.4 km in a week).
The control group runners continued their normal training and of course showed no improvement after 7 weeks.
What's the main difference between the 2 groups? The control group did not spend any time running close to the maximum heart rate whereas the 30-20-10 group spent about 40 % at or near their maximum heart rate.
The researchers concluded that the intense 10 second speed intervals have a major impact on performance.
No GPS, no heart rate monitor needed, just run by feel. Hope this helps you in your training.
Reference
Gunnarsson TP and Bangsbo J (2012). The 10-20-30 Training Concept Improves Performance and Health Profile in Moderately Trained Runners. J App Physiol 113(1) : 16-24.
* Picture by RS @ 2012 National Schools B Division 800m girls final
