What is polarized training and what are its benefits?

Surely on some occasion you have heard or read something related to polarized training, even if you don't really know what exactly it consists of. If this is your case, or even if you have never heard this term, don't worry. From RUNNEA we are going to explain it to you in a very easy and simple way.

What is polarized training?

Polarized training is one of the most widely used forms of intensity distribution in the world of endurance sports, along with the pyramidal model or the model between thresholds. To understand it quickly, polarized training consists of training, running in our case, by touching only the poles of our intensity, i.e. low intensity and high intensity. To do this, it will be essential to have established beforehand a method of recording and evaluating our intensity in one of the following ways:

• By heart rate (HR): with the help of a chest strap or the optical wrist sensor of our watch, we can regulate the intensity based on our pulse by taking the maximum and resting HR as a reference.
• By rhythm: it is possible to regulate the intensity based on our training and running rhythms expressed in min/km (minutes per kilometer), adjusting the speed to the desired intensity at a given time.
• Through the subjective perception of effort (RPE): it is as simple as training by sensations, but which are set in advance and governed by a scale from 1 to 10, where the first intensity (1) would be equivalent to a negligible effort and the last (10) to a strenuous and maximum effort.

Once we have determined how to assess the intensity of our training sessions, we must establish the proportion of the type of sessions, i.e., determine what percentage of our microcycle (usually one week) of training will be performed at low intensity and what percentage will be performed at high intensity.

Specifically, polarized training is considered to be applied when 80% of the sessions are performed at low (or very low) intensity and 20% of the sessions are performed at high (or very high) intensity.

This means that the vast majority of sessions should be below the aerobic threshold and the remainder above the anaerobic threshold.

The first threshold refers to that point where lactate accumulation begins to be more noticeable, while from the anaerobic threshold the production capacity of the same by the body is higher than the elimination capacity.

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To know what type of sessions I can include in this training model, we must resort, as mentioned above, to the mode of recording the intensity. For example, if we train using the heart rate and its 5 zones (Z1-Z5), the low intensity includes all types of sessions that do not exceed the Z2 (aerobic threshold), and the high intensity includes all stimuli that are above the Z4 (anaerobic threshold). And you may ask yourself, so I can't run at medium intensity, that is, at Z3 or Z4? The purist answer is no, since this model aims to train gently in order to be able to give the maximum in the most demanding sessions, which would be more complicated if we included sessions at medium intensity.

For both low and high intensity sessions, there is no better technique than to be guided by the training zones to know if we are complying with the intensity correctly, as they are the indicator of how far we can exceed or how far we should go in terms of intensity.

One of the problems we often encounter is that we find it difficult to run with the handbrake on, either because we always want to give the maximum in our workouts, because we run accompanied or because we want to demonstrate that your pace is better than someone else's. We should also have a good idea of the intensity of our training. At the same time, we must also have experience in carrying out high intensity sessions, so if you are a runner just starting out or with little experience, we recommend that you gradually increase the intensity of your most demanding sessions before making the leap to polarized training.

What parts of the body are exercised when running?

What are the benefits of polarized training?

Several studies have concluded that polarized training applied to endurance sports such as running leads to improvements in performance, although, as mentioned above, applying this model requires previous experience as a runner.

On the one hand, running at low intensity allows the body to learn to be more efficient and, consequently, more economical when using its substrates (mainly fats and carbohydrates), as well as being the best way to assimilate and regenerate for the most demanding training sessions.

On the other hand, high intensity training allows us to improve aspects as decisive as VO2max (Maximum Oxygen Volume) or tolerance to lactate accumulation, as well as allowing us to have a greater physical and mental tolerance to the efforts that take us to the limit, which is a great ally in order to face and be competitive in the races that we can participate.

As a whole, combining low and high intensity training allows us, on the one hand, to face the days of higher intensity with the necessary freshness to give the maximum and, on the other hand, to better recover the efforts and generate the necessary adaptations to improve performance, a process in which rest is the main protagonist (supercompensation effect).

Now that you know a little more about polarized training, we encourage you to try it (as long as you have enough experience to be able to apply it correctly) with the help and advice of a qualified coach like the ones you will find in the RUNNEA app.

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