A pretty common practice for most endurance athletes is to do long, unbroken efforts for big workouts. This is an invaluable way to train for those that have unlimited time. However, for most of the endurance sports population, this is not the case. Workouts must be fit into a 1-2 hour block a day, max. So why do we still follow this method of training? Simple, it works. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t better and more efficient ways to train though.
I don’t want to belittle the fact that this training does work and you will get faster from it but I want to introduce a training method that would be much more effective for those athletes that are time crunched. The form of training is called USPRT, which stands for Ultra-Short Race Paced Training. This is used for many athletes in short-distance swimming and even some distance swimmers. Most of which are extremely successful on the international stage.
This training consists of ultra-short repetitions of an exercise followed by an extremely short rest back into the ultra-short effort. This is continued for many reps. Here is an example of USRPT next to the traditional form of training.
Traditional – 20 minutes at threshold (let’s say on a bike 220 watts)
USRPT – 20 x 40 seconds at 220 watts + 20 seconds off at 120 watts
Both of these are the same volume of training cardiovascularly but which seems easier? Most people would say the USRPT modeled workout. Even though both of these workouts will produce the same physical adaptations.
The workout seeming easier isn’t the only reason USRPT stands out. It can also benefit the individuals muscularly and metabolically. This is because the athlete would be able to put out more power during one of these sets allowing for a greater load of training but not as much cardiovascular fatigue. Alongside this, the body is able to get rid of any accumulated hydrogen ions from lactic acid during the quick rest periods, which has two major benefits.
1) It allows for the entire repetition to feel much easier.
2) It can increase the athlete’s ability to cycle out the H+ produced by lactic acid.
I’ve utilized this with multiple time-crunched athletes and they’ve responded well. However, there are downsides to training this way exclusively. Without prolonged efforts at threshold, the perceived effort is much higher. The way I recommend using this is by incorporating USRPT into the beginning of the year for early-year threshold work and then slowly transitioning to longer efforts as fitness increases.
Conno Kinkema is a pro triathlete and endurance sports coach for TEC based in Roanoke, VA. He works to apply what he’s learned as an All-American athlete and triathlete to his work with athletes around the world. His primary focus is to ensure all athletes discover a passion for endurance sports. To book a free introductory call with Coach Connor click below.
