Source
r/Fitness•
remleduff

Anyone have suggestions on training to increase stamina in sports that require lots of running?

How do I get better at "running really fast" and then recovering?

I've been playing Ultimate Frisbee recreationally for the past season. Ultimate is awesome, but it requires a ton of running, and I'm blown out for minutes anytime I sprint after the disk or have to chase after another player who makes a deep cut.

My question is how can I improve my stamina in a deliberate way? My current method is to just "play more ultimate or tennis." I am making slow progress, at the start of the season I was basically dead for the entire second half of a game, and I can now keep going fairly well as long as I can substitute out occasionally. I feel like I may never get to where I want to be though. I want to be able to sprint the field, and then be ready to sprint it again the next point. I certainly can't do that now without quite a breather.

My background:

I'm 30, and while I've lost 25 lbs over the past 6 months, I still have another 25 that I want to lose. Currently, I'm 6'4", 235 lbs, I'm eating at a caloric deficit. I'm pretty sure my size is a factor in how hard it is for me to recover from sprinting, so I'm hoping this will get easier as I continue to lose weight.

I've been improving my fitness for about a year now deliberately. I started out by jogging, did a 5k and a 10 miler and then realized I was basically getting good at running slow for long periods of time. I switched to weight lifting and have been doing Starting Strength for about 4 months. I'm not eating enough calories to keep progressing very well at the moment, but I was making good progress for the first 3 months and I continue to lift to try to preserve the little muscle I've got. I've found I enjoy the lifting, so I'm hoping to improve my lifts after I reach my weight goal.

I'd really love any general or specific suggestions about how to train sprint/recovery stamina.

Posted May 17, 2011, 9:53 PM UTC

1226
monkeynun•

Tabata interval training is your friend but it will feel like your enemy.

It only takes 4 minutes and is effective and is highly effective and building cardiovascular capacity and lactic acid tolerance. Do 20 seconds of 100% activity and then 10 seconds break, repeat 8 times to make up 4 minutes.

12
zebrake2010Powerlifting•

You can start this on an elliptical, too.

Oh, it will suck. But you will feel the improvement. Fast.

3
remleduffOP•

I just tried this and puked. :)

Question: Am I supposed to fully recover in that 10 second break or is the point that I'm supposed to start each round before fully catching my breath from the previous one?

3
rokyen•

You don't catch your breath with Tabatas.

9
AshNazgBrazilian Jiu Jitsu•

There is no safe zone.

3
Lightfoot1678•

Because we are badass sonsofbitches - we laugh at safe zones! We MOCK those who even consider safe zones. We would burn the safe zones to the ground if they ever encroached upon us.

....until the women left the room.

3
legsRugby•

From what I hear puking is a goal.

2
jiarb•

No full recovery. Each round would be 20 seconds, with 10 seconds breaks in between where you jog or walk.

1
legsRugby•

They have playlists for this sort of thing, someone provide him a link!

2
monkeynun•

If you puked before you reached the end you can change some of the times. So for the first 2 sets do 20sec work 10 sec rest and for the last 6 sets do 15sec work 15 sec rest. Then each week keep adding 2 sets of 20sec work until your doing 20work 10rest right through the 4 minutes.

My preference for doing these on my own would be on a stationary bike. It's easier to keep an eye on the time and I get to sit down during my rest.

If you're outside training with teammates try mixing it up with shuttle sprints, burpees, press-ups and tuck jumps. Having a different exercise to do on the next set helps keep focus and it feels like the 4 minutes goes by much faster.

1
InCraZPen•

Yeah do this.

Sounds easy but it will kick your ass.

I remember my first time trying I did it with power squats or whtever it is called when you do a squat and then raise some weight above your head with your arms on the up part of the squat. I was DESTROYED by the end of it, and I had to drop the might 5 pound weights i was using and do the last 1/4th of it with no weights. It is a great workout as you can do it with anything...running, swimming, cycling, lifting...anything that you can put yourself to the max to.

2
zortnarftroz•

Quick note: Lactic acid actually isn't detrimental to the extent people think it is. It's more the byproducts like Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide building up and messing with the neuromusclar communication. But interval training is fantastic

1
eric_twinge•

Continue to lose weight, that will definitely help.

Keep running slow for distance to build a cardiovascular base and general endurance.

Do some HIIT type stuff. find a hill and sprint up it, walk back down, sprint back up, walk back down, repeat for 15 minutes with no rest. Bump it up to 20 minutes later.

5
alabrie•

Hi, I play ultimate too, so I'm interested in the same thing. Breaking down a point of frisbee, you want to be able to sprint for at most 10-15 seconds at full speed, multiple times, for at least 3-5 minutes.

I think sprinting is the best thing you can do to increase your capability to sprint - essentially, grease the groove. I also think there are two components that contribute to sprinting: cardiovascular strength, and muscular strength. Doing SS should provide you with more than enough muscle strength to prevent long term fatigue, and sprinting should contribute to your stamina, in theory of course. Like someone else said, Tabatas are good at wrecking you. Personally, I just do suicides. I do 6yd-18yd-60yd suicides, the idea being the shorter distances have you work on changing direction, which is huge in ultimate, and the longer distance lets you extend your stride and get into your running groove.

There's also something to be said for your form when sprinting. I don't know too much about it, but I do know that you want your arms going forward and backwards, not left-right, swinging your hands in front of your torso. Swinging your hands across your body like that creates unnecessary torque. So, you could also look into optimizing your sprint form. I haven't really done much in this avenue, so I don't have any resources to offer, only that it is probably of relevance. :p

Something that may not be apparent is the amount of lateral movement (slides, sidesteps, etc) you perform in ultimate, and I think it's worth your time to also train yourself for that. There are plyometric exercises that would definitely help with lateral movement.

Two blogs I read that have a focus on ultimate AND fitness are:

There's also r/ultimate for more ultimate-centric discussion.

tl; dr - want to get better at sprinting? sprint more.

5
remleduffOP•

Thanks, great blogs. I definitely do need to work on the lateral movements, but I was thinking to fix one weakness at a time. ;)

1
Forrest319•

Run... lots.

Interval training (jogging and sprinting). Go run bleachers or something. :)

2
rokyen•

Interval sprints would be the best way. Sprint for thirty seconds and rest for anywhere between 1.5-2.5 minutes. Repeat 4 or more times. And keep squatting. Anaerobic exercise can help your low-intensity aerobic exercise as well as your speed and power.

Research on whether or not you should do this or Tabata intervals (which involve less rest) is still inconclusive, but either one will help.

2
[deleted]•

None of this bullshit, in high school I asked my friends dad( Ironman athlete/Former collegiate runner) and he said just run. It worked. Just run, don't try anything complicated. Go out there until you stop, don't have a distance or time or pace. Do what you want for as long as you want. Exercise isn't complicated, it's lifting heaving things and moving for a long time

2
legsRugby•

It is when you play sports. Many sports are run, rest, sprint, jog, run, sprint, rest, jog, run. Just running doesn't really prepare your muscles for all the changes.

2
[deleted]•

This guy is asking for increasing stamina, if he's a beginner and gets to love running , he'll research the other stuff by himself.

1
rusty34•

You can probably find an app for it on your phone.

2
[deleted]•

Do shuttle runs, best place to do them is on a marked football or soccer field as you can use the line markings and don't need cones.

Also you should check your fitness level by doing beep tests, you know like in grade school. It's a good way to keep track of your fitness level.

1
remleduffOP•

I've never heard of a beep test before, guess I missed that day at school. Looks kind of fun, but tricky to self-administer.

1
Grok22Skiing•

I played chase/popper all through college, I feel your pain. a long point while on defense would make me want to throw up and then I would be burned on offence. I'll second the tabata suggestion. Ultimate is all about running full bore then recovering in the stack, you need to be able to recover quickly.

1
amazonqueen•

Interval training

1
santafr0g•

This, my friends, is the prowler sled. Worship at its throne and reap great rewards.

1