Tabatta Sprints

[Jay Guindon]

If I'm doing tabatta intervals for my sprints, how many times a week can I do this before I start to see too much cortisol release/accumulation? I only want to sprint enough for health/longevity and a little bit for performance, but not where I'm getting cortisol to the point of it being problematic because of so much sprinting. Thanks.

[Brian Baggetta]

What exactly is the goal? IMO, sprints are not well-suited for Tabata-style training. You will get almost zero improvement in sprint performance from this method of training, if that. Not sure what the health and longevity effect you're looking for is. . .

[Gant Grimes]

You're better off doing traditional sprint intervals. Sprints don't lend themselves to Tabata because deceleration takes up at least half of your rest period.

[Allen Yeh]

Originally Posted by Gant Grimes

You're better off doing traditional sprint intervals. Sprints don't lend themselves to Tabata because deceleration takes up at least half of your rest period.

Yep.

[Jay Guindon]

So even if I do normal sprint intervals how many times per week can I get away with it without having to worry about dosing myself with cortisol?

[Jay Guindon]

What would you recommend for a work/rest ratio? I've heard 15s work and 30s rest, or 30s work and 60-90s rest. And of course Tabatta as well but it seems that might not be the way to go.

[Andrew Wilson]

Originally Posted by Jay Guindon

If I'm doing tabatta intervals for my sprints, how many times a week can I do this before I start to see too much cortisol release/accumulation? I only want to sprint enough for health/longevity and a little bit for performance, but not where I'm getting cortisol to the point of it being problematic because of so much sprinting. Thanks.

I use to do 3-4 times a week, then on the 3rd week maintain the same days but cut the total distance down to 40%-45% of the furthest total distance I ran the previous week. Worked really good, the first week I was running around 600meters total distance per 3:50 tabata, by the end of the phase I was almost at 1200meters per 3:50 (in this case the rest week would be 100mx5, or 500m 3-4times a week). It gets to the point where you build so much speed on the runs the rests turn into jogs, and is more intense than crossfit fran.

[Gant Grimes]

This is the stated goal.

Originally Posted by Jay Guindon

I only want to sprint enough for health/longevity and a little bit for performance.

If that's all you want, go to a junior high or high school track.

One day you can sprint the curves and walk the straights for about 20 minutes.

On another day you can run a 400, rest 8 min., run another 400, rest another 8 minutes, and run another 400. Or just do a couple of them.

On a third day, you could sprint 20x50 or 10x100 or 5x200. Go all out or run build ups. Recover awhile between sprints.

It's not big deal. And, for the love of God, quit worrying about cortisol. It's like you've been reading some CFer's blog. Get a reasonable amount of good food, exercise, and rest, and everything will take care of itself.

[Jay Guindon]

Cool, thanks!

[Garrett Smith]

Do what Gant said, and take planned deload weeks.