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Specificity of training and its relation to the performance of distance runners

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Abstract

Validated six-month retrospective questionnaires were completed by 119 female and 234 male coached distance runners (59% compliance) for a descriptive study of relationships between specificity of training and best performance in a summer season. Runners were aged 26 +/- 10 y (mean +/- SD), specialising in distances from 800 m to the marathon, with seasonal best paces of 82 +/- 7% of sex- and age-group world records. They reported typical weekly durations of interval and strength training, and typical weekly durations and paces of moderate and hard continuous running, for build-up, precompetition, competition, and postcompetition phases of the season. The training programs showed some evidence of specificity, especially for runners preparing for longer events. A potentially beneficial effect of specificity was evident in a significant (p < 0.01) correlation between performance and seasonal mean weekly duration of moderate continuous running for runners specialising in longer distances (r = 0.29). The only other significant correlates of performance were seasonal mean relative training paces of moderate (r = -0.18) and hard (r = -0.42) continuous running, which exemplified detrimental effects of specificity for most runners. Thus, the training of better runners is not characterised strongly by greater specificity.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 199-204

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

International Journal of Sports Medicine (Volume 17, Issue 3)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 30/04/1996

Publication status

Published - 30/04/1996

ISSN

0172-4622

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/623469
  • Scopus: 9244248685

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