Forums >General Running>Which puts more stress on the body?
Which puts more stress on the body?
1 mile run at 100% (race effort) or a workout of 8 x .125 miles run at 100% to 95% with a full recovery between each?
I modified it to say .125 instead of .25 miles.
Orion Goals: 5k 18:30 10K 38:00 Marathon 3:10
Just an opinion, not factually based:
I'd think the 1-mile all out effort would put much significantly more stress on the body than the intervals. Although all out sprinting definitely can't be sustained for a mile's length, your heart rate will have plenty of time to rise and stay up, and Lactic Acid will continue accumulating until the end of the run.
Full recovery between your 8 x .25 mile intervals will allow your body to clear the excess lactic acid, allowing your body to operate under less stress. Intervalsare usually beneficial because they allow you to accumulate much more time of your training at higher speeds than just doing a consistent effort. (Example: 10 x 1:00 all out sprints w/ 90 sec rest VS. 10:00 all out sprint).
Your body wouldn't be able to maintain proper speed/form at an all out pace for 10:00, but if you separated the time into the 1:00 intervals, you could almost keep consistent form and energy output.
So, yeah. The 1-mile sprint would definitely tax you out.
Assuming, like Happyfeet did, that the quarters are at 100 to 95% of quarter-mile race pace (in other words 8 x 400m at 400m pace) then that seems like the more stressful endeavor. Even with full recoveries, the muscle and connective tissue damage would be significant and you'd be sore for a few days, if not injured. Racing the mile is no cub scout meeting either but most of us have done it and lived to run another day. My .02
Along those lines, who would win in a fight: a polar bear or a gorilla?
Runners run
Depends on whether we're fighting at the north pole or in tarzana.
But are weapons allowed?
"When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem." Emil Zatopek
Feeling the growl again
When we did stupid workouts in HS, 6X400 at 95-100% 400m race pace was one of them. We took excessive (up to 5min) recovery, and it was way harder than racing a single mile.
I'm not sure any one of us could have managed 8 at that pace, perhaps on more base mileage than we ran. But it was a workout that served little purpose, in retrospect.
Now 8X400 at mile race pace is another matter. I'm not sure I'd say that or the mile is MORE stressful, but the type of stress is different. The interval workout would probably require more recovery as you have double the volume at a higher pace.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
If by 100% effort you mean race 400's, then I'd think racing 8 of them, all out would be pretty much impossible isn't it?
You are correct. I ment to say .125 miles or 200m. By 100% effort I mean going as hard as you can but still being able to complete all 8 at roughly the same speed.
Are polar bears and gorillas even capable of using weapons? Maybe gorillas are capable...they have been observed using tools.
Still, no weapons. Fair fight.
8 x 200m at 100% is a closer call for me, but I still think that might be harder than racing a mile if you truly do them at all out race pace. Especially if you start in blocks and wear spikes.
Now, gorilla or polar bear--who ya' got?
Definitely polar bear. Double down.
8X200m with full recovery is not all that hard. Way less than half of 8X400.
8 x 200m at 100% is a closer call for me, but I still think that might be harder than racing a mile if you truly do them at all out race pace. Especially if you start in blocks and wear spikes. Now, gorilla or polar bear--who ya' got?
Thanks for the input.
My bet is on the polar bear.
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Mini-Ditka vs. polar bear in a game of chess. Gorilla's got next. Who comes out alive?
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rectumdamnnearkilledem
Thanks for the input. My bet is on the polar bear. A male polar bear can be up to 1300lbs while a gorilla max weight is usually around 600lbs. Polar bears have claws; gorillas do not. Polar bears teeth are made to cut through flesh; gorillas eat veggies .
What about tag-team gorillas vs. a single polar bear...?
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
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