There is substantial new research that says that the aerobic energy system is used a great deal even for short courses. Here is a summary of some of the recent research on this topic:
http://www.zone5endurance.com/
There is a study of flatwater kayak racers that shows that at around 40 seconds into the race, it is half aerobic. By one minute into a race, it is about 90% aerobic and then it plateaus at around 90%. And this study just looked at a race. In training, the first run may be half aerobic at 40 seconds but by the time you are halfway through your workout, it is mainly aerobic if you are doing 40 second courses.
So, this is much shorter than sports physiologists had previously thought. The take-home for us paddlers is that you don't have to do those long paddles for the training to be considered aerobic. You can paddle at or near race pace and as long as the distance is 30 seconds or more, it is mainly an aerobic workout. If you are doing 1 minute intervals, it is about 90% aerobic, yet the pace is specific to your event.
You don't have to paddle long and slow for a workout to be considered aerobic. Paddling long distances is not specific enough to be effective training. But, anything from 30 seconds on up is going to be a mainly aerobic workout. See this article that provides summaries of recent research:
Comments