Bill, non taken, not a problem.....I agree with you absolutely......in other words Bill I am not disagreeing with you!!...so you know we are, more or less singing from the same page.....BUT, a big but there capped up to make this very important distinction between HIIT and S&S, or alactic/aerobic
"and since aerobic-only training DOES NOT improve anaerobic (glycolytic) capacity;"
yes.....but it can make you more efficient.....rather than just blow out your anaerobic system...
"and since high intensity interval training burns fat and glycogen stores at the same time, the excess post-exercise caloric demand is quite large and quite prolonged making it a nice tool for fat loss; "
.....ah, here we are....the sticking point I think Bill.....the problem with cardio/aerobic is that it is crap for fat loss....yes, it is.....so therefore do more intense work in less time and burn more fat is the answer for fat loss, is it? No, no and no.....that implies no value to aerobic work and more value to anaerobic training if fat loss is a goal, which may well be true in one sense but is a health club perspective and wrong to focus on. Diet is the primary driver of fat loss and health is the big picture. Lean muscle mass is a part of it, as is sleep, as is stress, as is exercise. We get too attached to fat loss in training, overlook others. Train for strength and health, right? Aerobic function is by definition the biggest factor behind your health and longevity. Energy is the stuff of life, without energy you are dead. Energy is mitochondria. Without mitochondria death awaits. The better function of your mitochondria the healthier you could potentially be, the stronger you could potentially be and for performance...the better you could perform. You do not need to run a marathon to have healthy mitochondria, absolutely....you most definately do not have to run to improve aerobic function.
I don't want to come across too evangelical, that I've seen the light, like a reformed smoker, all smug and condescending. By the way, I am an ex smoker, I'm really not all tofu and Gwyneth Paltrow you know.......but your thinking Bill, is how I used to think, so please don't read into that....and by the way it isn't wrong.....just that there is a better way. It is the same thinking behind dieting - I'm fat, to lose fat, I'll eat less fat.....the low fat option. Works for some, really not so for many others. To burn fat I must work harder and harder......be that push push in high intensity intervals, or clock a s*** load of miles running.....the same thing. whilst true, a huge chunk is missing from the bigger picture.
And so to HIIT - what do we mean there? And to what aim? Short high intensity intervals are periods of work, periods of rest, ok.....S&S is a high intensity interval protocol, it is a 1:1 work rest ratio, well the goal is anyway, so if that isn't high intensity then I really don't know what is? So are you saying then, S&S is great as it is high intensity and therefore not aerobic.....as it isn't aerobic why treat it as if it is aerobic because it is about power development? If so, then, power training is something else...ie it isn't S&S, besides I want to blast my muscle glycogen to bits not develop my aerobic base.......Bill, can you see the dilemma here? S&S is a high intensity interval protocol but you don't have to use muscle glycogen to fuel it.....it is ultimately anti-glycolytic....for performance AND health...so that's qualify it a bit more....
Tabatas, ball busting fat loss intervals....2:1 work rest ratio. I like tabatas Bill. I like barefoot sprints on the beach feeling the wind in my air and going flat out. Now, I think I'm going fast, I am going as fast as I can....I feel young and vibrant, but really I'm not. I'm 51 and bald. To the casual observer it's 'look at that old guy running like a twat'.......At the end of the 4 minutes I am exhausted, my muscle glycogen is nowhere to be seen. I am deluded enough still to want to improve at sprinting.....the reality is I am very fast, for my age and want to be faster. I like speed and do not like getting old. So I do more tabata sprints...to get better at them....to get faster....develop more power, more strength. Is that possible? No....sadly...for me...it isn't. Nor is it for any human. All I will do is get better at improving my anaerobic system so that I could go for 3 sessions at a fast pace, rather than 1....with the remainder at a slow, exhaustive pace.....Why will I not get faster? Because I have adapted my anaerobic system to run tabatas best I can....to be more efficient at doing them.....to do them well and finish....I will have to slow down. The reverse of what I ultimately would like to do. It doesn't matter who I am or who anyone is....it is impossible for any human to run at max power for 8 sessions of 20 seconds with 10 second rest.......the outcome is better anaerobic function but a loss of absolute speed and power. You can't run that fast at maximimum. So I've ditched them....actually right now I'm not sprinting at all.....I train max sprinting in shorter bursts, 4/5 seconds and rest for 5 minutes or so. I'm doing all out strength training and power development. I'm beefing up my Pcr system.....I don't want to use muscle glycogen.....max power is for creatine. go and listen to Pavel on the podcast recently......creatine is for power.
So strength and power development, whether it is powerlifting, sprinting or hardstyle kettlebell swinging is about creatine. Endurance is mitochondrial health and efficiency. And that is S&S.....it is also HIIT....
Another way to think about this is to consider S&S from a different point of view...the tabata point of view.......just bust it out, until exhaustion. Pick up your goal bell and swing it in each hand 10 times every 30 or 35 seconds. And just keep doing it until it gets easy.......sustainable? No. Effective? No....if it works that way would Pavel not have suggested it? .....the key to this is to blast through your muscle glycogen, pick up your heaviest kettlebell and swing until you die. That is very simple and really quite sinister!
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
.....a quote from Gandhi which would have saved all my bad analogies.....
Bill alactic/aerobic is The Way...it isn't the only way but it is The Way. Heart rate monitor or not, maffetone formula or not, S&S or not. If it is for health and performance that is...if you want a beach ready body in 4 weeks....it isn't. By all means do other stuff...Dan John's park bench/bus bench analogy fits here perfectly...S&S, or alactic/aerobic is a park bench, sports conditioning ball busting stuff is bus bench...absolutely do them....just do them infrequently.