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Don't hamper yourself
Note that it is difficult to peg the paces of the various super-set intervals to specific race paces. For one thing, the acquisition of fitness is so rapid when you carry out these workouts that pegging your running to a particular race pace during a specific interval may be too confining - you may be able to run considerably faster than race pace without overtraining or getting injured.

For another, the speeds you can sustain during the various intervals within a super set will improve at different rates. Oftentimes, the longer-slower intervals toward the end of the super set improve faster than the earlier-faster-shorter intervals. Max running velocity can be a stubborn variable - difficult to upgrade without all the right training - so sometimes your 200 and 400 times will remain fairly constant while your 1600 (or 2000) times at the tail end of the set will improve precipitously, while your race times are also getting better. Thus, it's hard to establish an exact relationship between race paces and each super-set interval pace; it's usually better to simply run as well as you possibly can during each super-set interval.

Basically, you should run the first interval of a super set at almost-max velocity and then see how well you can hold on. The first interval is really the only constant in the overall session; you'll run it about two to three seconds slower than your best 200 time, if you start with a 200, or four to six seconds slower than your finest 400, if you begin with 400 metres.

The super-set session is highly diagnostic: it can chart your progress as an endurance athlete and also rip you open and expose your weaknesses - whether they be in speed or endurance. To use super-set sessions as a diagnostic tool, you'll need to keep very accurate times; without that, you won't be able to determine how much you are improving in subsequent sessions (i. e., how much your speed and endurance are improving). A watch which keeps multiple splits is a near necessity; you should note after each workout the exact pace you were able to hold for each interval.

An array of benefits
The fitness benefits accruing from super-set workouts are rather astonishing. The initial 200 and 400 (or corresponding distances for swimmers and cyclists) generate a substantive amount of lactate, which would have to be at least partially cleared by the muscles and heart over the remainder of the super set. Thus, a super-set session is excellent for lactate-threshold improvement (it augments lactate clearance, which is one of the two cornerstones of your actual lactate-threshold running speed).

The initial 200 and 400 (and even 800) would also spike intramuscular acidity because of their fairly heavy reliance on oxygen-independent glycolysis (what old-timers call 'anaerobic metabolism'). The high concentration of hydrogen ions appearing during the 200 and 400 will spur muscle cells to enhance their hydrogen-elimination and buffering capacities, which over the long term will increase your tolerance of very high-intensity running (you will experience less fatigue when you run very fast). In addition, the improved buffering and hydrogen-clearing capabilities will allow you to recover more effectively in races in which you have started too fast - or will even allow you to occasionally utilize a Kenyan-style, fast-start strategy which can physically and mentally demoralize your opponents.

But that's not all! Super sets also enhance your efficiency at race-type paces (remember that for each 1-per cent improvement in your economy of movement, your race performances will improve by one-half to 1 per cent). And an additional, sometimes-forgotten benefit of super-set workouts is that they are 'difficult to bag'. Even on days when you are feeling less than optimally motivated mentally or somewhat lethargic physically, the initial 200 and 400 will 'kick-start' your motivation, jarring you loose from the tenacious grip of lethargy and counter-productive thinking. It's just hard to 'leave school early' with this workout even when you're not into it mentally.

It helps that the super-fast intervals at the beginning of a super set tend to make the high-quality race paces toward the end of the set feel like jogging. You will learn to 'float' (move relatively effortlessly) at faster and faster speeds. And instead of saying to yourself 'Oh no - not another 1600 at 5-K pace,' as you would during a traditional (4 x 1600) interval session, you will articulate something like 'Man, this 1600 feels easy after those top-end 200s and 400s.' Of course, going into an important race with a memory that race pace feels manageable and easy to control is definitely a good thing; it can boost your confidence immeasurably!

A checklist
Here are key points to remember about super-set workouts:

1. Start out at close-to-full speed, and then 'down-shift' during subsequent intervals within the set, just as you would down-shift a standard transmission in a car when approaching a stop sign.

2. Even though you are moving at successively slower speeds as you change from interval to interval within the super set, you are still trying to move along at your relative best-possible speed for each interval. Since each interval is longer than the one(s) before and since you have built up fatigue from the previous interval(s), it's natural that each interval will be slower than the prior segment of the workout, but you should still try to move as well as you possibly can, given your level of existing fatigue, while staying relaxed and using good form. The pacing recommendations provided above, i. e. slowing down by 10 seconds per 400 metres from the 200 to the 400 and by five seconds per 400 from the 400 to the 800 and the 800 to the 1600, are simply guidelines for runners; you may be able to abridge this typical rate of slowing, and the changes for swimmers and cyclists are unlikely to be different.

3. Within each specific interval, do not vary your pace; try to maintain as constant a speed as possible. You will often find, however, that you will be able to pick up your speed again over the last 400 metres or so of the final interval within the super set. This is a great sign, by the way; it means that you have probably cleared a fair amount of blood lactate and also eliminated a mess of hydrogen ions from your muscle cells.

4. Super sets can be precursors to faster overall interval training. For example, as your fitness improves, you can increase the lengths of the first interval - or first two intervals - within your super set without changing the pace at which you run them. As this lengthening continues, you will eventually be able to run a large chunk of the super set at the pace you originally were forced to confine to the first interval or two.

5. If done correctly, a super-set workout should drain almost every last bit of 'juice' out of you, which should provide the maximum stimulus to improve. With traditional intervals, you are always holding back and pacing yourself, but with super sets it is more of the 'Just hold on baby' mentality, especially about midway through a set. Even if you can't hold a really high-quality pace after the first interval but you can just keep going, then you are at a distinct advantage, and your confidence will improve. If you hang in there, you will usually find that you can keep moving to new levels over time. The physical and psychological challenges are enormous, but the potential gains in running capacity and mental toughness and confidence are equally great.

Progression principles...
General progression principles for super-set training are as follows (remember to be flexible):

A. Early in your season or year, start with a modest volume of super-set training (i. e., use a small number of short super-set intervals), and focus on running in a very high-quality way. Beginning with 5 x (200-400) will be about right for many runners.

B. Once you can complete the above with good speed and form, add more total volume. You may move up to (10 to 12) x (200-400) or even more if you are a very strong elite runner (the swimmer would upgrade to 10 x 50-100, the cyclist to 10 x 800-1600).

C. You can then begin to increase the density of the intervals, at first with a decrease in overall volume. For example, you might move to 200-400-800 without break and then eventually to 200-400-800-1600, without recovery (increased density), if you're a runner. In the latter case, you might just perform two of these super sets per workout (decreased total volume).

D. Even when you are still in the progression from steps A to B, feel free to sprinkle in some longer super sets every few weeks for variety. Be creative; don't be a progression prisoner.

...and suggested formats
Here are some possible formats for super sets for runners (make the suggested changes in distance if you are a swimmer or cyclist):

1. 200 and then 400 metres
2. 100, 200, and then 400 metres
3. 200, 400, and then 800 to 1000 metres
4. 200, 400, 800, and then 1600, 2000, or 2600 metres
5. 400, 1200, and then 3200 metres

As you move toward the end of an overall training cycle, i. e., as an important race or series of races draws near, carry out the super sets either every week or once every two weeks. Super sets push your body to the limit of nearly complete exhaustion and thus often require two days of recovery once they are completed. They can be nicely alternated with Veronique Billat's vVO2max sessions described in previous issues of Peak Performance (November and December, 1994), i. e., by performing super sets one week and vVO2max efforts the next. In some cases, a super-set and a Billat workout can each be completed in the same seven-day cycle, but bear in mind that the training load for the rest of the week would need to be fairly light. For example, a long super set is 200-400-800-2600. If you run this super set twice in a workout, it adds up to five miles of very high-quality running with an extreme density. Add in Veronique's routine and you have two to three more miles of supreme effort - or almost eight miles of race-type running within the week.

There is a modified version of a super-set workout which can also be utilized in a very productive way. For example, you might carry out repeat 1600s, each of which actually contains two super-set intervals. The combined volume of these two intervals remains the same (in this case, 1600 metres), but the lengths of the two segments change. If the first interval is at a pace of five seconds per 400 faster than 5-K race pace (Pace A) and the second interval within the 1600-metre modified super set is at 5-K pace (Pace B), the relative lengths of the intervals could begin at 20-per cent A, 80-per cent B (i. e., 320 metres of A and then - without a break - 1280 metres of B), and then progress over time to 30-70 per cent, 50-50, 75-25, until finally the entire interval is completed at the faster pace.

Remember that your mission is to run, cycle, or swim as fast as possible for as long as possible. Super sets help you do that like no other training session. While critics might regard super sets as too challenging - too much like racing and too risky in terms of overtraining, it is only by creating stiff challenges for yourself that you will reach your highest-possible level of performance. When one of the authors of this article (SS) was a youngster in seventh grade, he consistently challenged himself. He would try to run with the state champion, who happened to be on the school team, even though their ability levels were almost worlds apart. In seventh grade, he PBed for three miles with a time of only 24:00, but in eighth grade he moved up to 19:30 for the same distance and as a freshman in high school he was running 17:20. If he had followed a traditional system and run prescribed current race paces for all his workouts, he would certainly have not improved as much. He had the beginner's mind and spirit - a courage and willingness to take on challenges that must be cultivated and protected. If we want to soar to new heights, we need to utilize a training programme which requires soaring. Super sets are a key part of that kind of training.

Shane Smoleny and Owen Anderson

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