Training for the adaptations you're looking for. Part Two: High Speed Movement Endurance (Anaerobic conditioning)

Part Two: High Speed Movement Endurance (Anaerobic conditioning). Training for the adaptations you want. The body only adapts to the stimulus or training that you provide it. In Part One here we went over plyometrics training for producing maximum force in a short period of time, which is essential for getting the edge on your opponent. Part Two will focus on being the competitor who will end up on top in scrambles by being able to sustain high speed movement for longer, also known as anaerobic conditioning.

Many combat athletes know the value of “road work” or endurance training through long distance running. This is useful way to train your type I (slow twitch) fibers we spoke about in Part One to produce movement for long periods of time. You may have also heard that doing many consecutive rounds of sparring without a break is the best way to increase your endurance. While I agree this will definitely benefit you and increase the amount of rounds you are able to do, which allows more training time for skill acquisition, this is only one component of the conditioning spectrum.

As stated many times in this series, your body only adapts to the training you provide it. If you are looking to be able last a whole open mat session without stopping, the best way to do it is to do many rounds consecutively without stopping. If you are looking to be able to outlast that scrappy wrestler in a scramble to land on top, you need to train at a high speed of movement to obtain that adaptation. You won’t find that adaptation doing long slow running, or many consecutive rounds at a controlled pace. This will only be found in HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training.

In a study by (1)Gillen, et al Anaerobic (HIIT) training actually improves the aerobic (long, slow) performance in runners. This performance increase was in athletes who specialize in long distance events.

Okay, so one study might not be enough. (2)Ghosh, et al. went a little deeper to try and observe what the actual benefit does HIIT training provide to Aerobic endurance. They discovered that the Anaerobic threshold, or the level you can sustain a rate of work without burning out, is highly correlated with having high output during aerobic demands. Basically, you can go harder for longer.

This is the type of adaptation that allows the scrappy wrestler to push a high pace for longer, which allows them to win the scramble and land in an advantageous position.

If that’s not enough for you, (3) Yue, et al. did a meta-analysis on the subject. A meta-analysis is where the look at many studies on the same subject to see if the body of work corresponds to the same outcome. This meta-analysis was on OLYMPIC COMBAT ATHLETES, so perfect for us, that showed that HIIT training provides a significant boost to peak power and maximal oxygen uptake resulting in improved performance. For me, that is enough to highly stress the importance of training to all combat athletes.

So, onto what type of HIIT training you should be looking at. I am personally a huge fan of Tabata style training. It’s simple, effective and easy to track. Remember, whatever you track is what will get focused on. I like to start my athletes on 20 second work/40 second rest ratio. Then, depending on their conditioning status, go from 4 rounds up to 10. Once the 10 round marker can be maintained at a certain work rate, we stat lowering the rest time in increments until we reach a 1/1 ratio.

After reaching the 1/1 ratio, we would change the activity type. From air bike, to rower, to sprints, to ski erg, etc. Be careful that you selected a work rate like watts that is challenging, like a 9 on the RPE scale, to work off of.

 Sources:

(1)Gillen ZM, Wyatt FB, Winchester JB, Smith DA, Ghetia V. The Relationship Between Aerobic and Anaerobic Performance in Recreational Runners. Int J Exerc Sci. 2016 Nov 1;9(5):625-634. doi: 10.70252/KFOP9214. PMID: 27990224; PMCID: PMC5154721.

(2)Ghosh AK. Anaerobic threshold: its concept and role in endurance sport. Malays J Med Sci. 2004 Jan;11(1):24-36. PMID: 22977357; PMCID: PMC3438148.

(3)Yue F, Wang Y, Yang H, Zhang X. Effects of high-intensity interval training on aerobic and anaerobic capacity in olympic combat sports: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Physiol. 2025 May 9;16:1576676. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1576676. PMID: 40415789; PMCID: PMC12098572.