Hi, this is Debbie Boyle's coach at Mojo for Running with episode 162 hit training for speed work.

When high intensity interval training became popular a dozen years ago, I recorded an episode about this new training modality.

It mostly focused on Tabadas, the original form of hit training.

Fast forward to today, and everyone has heard about hit training.

Over the years, its efficacy has been proven,

and that means hit training should have a revered slot in every competitive runner's arsenal.

Hit training is a series of high-intensity bursts of physical activity alternated with

brief periods of recovery. The fast segments can be as brief as 10 seconds, but up to as long

as four minutes. The original hit training method was introduced by a Japanese speed skating

coach named Tabata. His protocol is an

intense 20-second interval followed by a 10-second rest, and the sequence is repeated eight times.

The whole workout lasts four minutes, but as you can imagine, it is incredibly intense, and of course,

you must add a warm-up and cool-down. Tabadas are at the most intense and of course you must add a warm up and cool down.

Tobottas are at the most intense end of the spectrum because you can perform at a much higher

level for 10 seconds than you might at say several minutes. The whole range, whether 10 seconds

for the intense segments or 4 minutes is considered hit training, and it all

works well. The shorter the duration, the more intense the interval. Well, you may not know,

and what excites me, is that hit training is proving to have extensive health benefits beyond

just making runners faster. Research has shown that it improves heart health as well. I won't go too much into this aspect of

hit training, as that's not my field of expertise, but I'll link to several scholarly sources.

One is the Mayo Clinic's podcast, Nutrition and Fitness, specifically an episode titled

The Role of High Intensity Interval Training and Strength Training in

...