There was an article in the NYTimes that claims through studies with rats (mices?) that intense sprint training results in the same molecular/cellular changes as endurance training. We all know that interval training pretty much rocks, but this shows that INTENSE interval training (like 20 sec. of intense effort at a time) is really the way to go for fitness. NOW... My question is, does this just improve "fitness" or will this improve your performance, in say, a sprint tri? Because I signed up for one like 5 weeks from now and I am not enjoying the swimming training especially, and if I could flop around in the water for a few minutes and get the same results as if I had actually done a half or full mile of swimming - I mean, that sounds pretty great to me. I think that you would still have to do the long swims to get your pace down, maybe.
ANYWAY, this is all great for me, because I generally prefer to put in a lot of effort anyway. I bike hard, and I actually swim hard too, (which is no good for trying to maintain effort over time) so sprint training would come pretty natural for me. In addition, I used to be a sprinter back in JH and HS, sooooooo. I will admit that I actually did some sprint repeats like a month ago, and I was really sore afterwards, even though I had been running/jogging regularily, so it seems accurate to me that you get a similar sort of work out after a shorter amount of time.
ANYWAY, I'm sold. Let's hope I don't drown the first lap I try to do all-out in the pool, and the other people don't look at me funny.
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