The idea of a ladder is to organize a series of interval runs so that athletes start with shorter workbouts, "climb the ladder" to longer workbouts, and eventually come back down to end with shorter workbouts again. Examples of ladder patterns include...
400/600/800/600/400
400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400
100/200/300/400/300/200/100
It's pretty easy to come up with ladder workouts for virtually any occasion, and that's both an advantage and a disadvantage. As a coach, I know it's pretty easy to write down a ladder workout -- and it looks very convincing, as though I really know what I'm doing! -- but the ladder pattern itself doesn't tell you anything about what the workout is supposed to accomplish. The total volume, pace, and rest interval chosen can change everything.
As I think about ladder workouts, I consider one benefit to be that the workout encourages the athlete to constantly grapple with the issue of pacing. It's not a good idea to run the first pieces of the ladder too fast, and then struggle through the long pieces. Run correctly, there is a fairly subtle shift of pace up and down the ladder, and the final piece is usually the fastest of the workout. That makes the workout hard, but fun. It can also be great for a runner's confidence, helping that runner get used to running fast when tired.
Another benefit to ladder workouts is that they are very easy to adapt and adjust on the fly to keep a group coherent. For example, if the workout is 400/800/1200/800/400, and after the second interval one of the runners is off the back, that runner can run a 1000 instead of a 1200 (less volume and more rest), then come down with a 600 instead of an 800, and finish with a 400.
On the downside, it's easy for a ladder workout to become a complete mishmash of different paces, with the result that the workout is neither fish nor fowl -- neither a good speed workout, nor a good strength workout. I can't actually tell you what, if any, physiological benefits there are to running a bunch of different paces mixed up in the same workout, compared to running a workout that is more focused on a particular pace or energy system. Sometimes I think ladder workouts are all about tricking your mind into running harder than you otherwise would.
Well, maybe that's not a bad reason to do them every once in a while, so let's come up with one that we can use for our middle distance runners -- still early in the season when the focus is on building strength and aerobic capacity. Last week's workout was 5 x 3:00 with 3:00 rest. This week, we'll introduce a ladder that is slightly more volume and will include some faster running at the beginning and end of the workout:
400 @ 1M pace, 2' recovery
600 @ 2M pace, 2' recovery
800 @ 2M-5K pace, 2:30 recovery
1000 @ 2M-5K pace, 2:30 recovery
800 @ 2M-5K pace, 2:30 recovery
600 @ 2M pace, 2' recovery
400 @ 1M pace
(Total = 4600m)
That's a total of almost 3M, most of it at aerobic capacity pace or a little slower. The workout as written is appropriate for more experienced runners who are already in good aerobic shape but are still not focusing on speed. To make the workout a bit more friendly to less experienced or less in-shape runners, it can be modified as follows:
400 @ 1M pace, 2' recovery
400 @ 2M pace,
600 @ 2M-5K pace,
800 @ 2M-5K pace,
600 @ 2M-5K pace,
400 @ 2M pace,
400 @ 1M pace
(Total = 3600m)
I didn't list recovery times because the idea is that runners who are doing this workout can start their intervals with the runners who are doing the longer workout, above. Keeping teammates working together is one of the quiet bonuses of this kind of workout.
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From a personal standpoint, one of my favorite ladder workouts was the classic 400/800/1200/1600/1200/800/400, with 400 rest after the 1600, and 200 rest after everything else. 6400m of fast running -- definitely a strength-builder!
Then there were the inverted ladders -- 1600-1200-800-400-400-800-1200-1600 -- with progressively LESS rest going down the ladder, and slightly more going up. That particular workout -- five miles of fast running finishing up with a 1600 -- would only appear on our calendar once a year, and only when we were in really good shape and wanted to test ourselves. We nicknamed it "the death spiral" although there's nothing spiral about it. I guess it just captured the mood of the workout as you found your body spiraling down into greater and greater oxygen debt.
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2 comments:
Baylor runs an inverted ladder once a week during the second phase of their training (Nov-Dec). 6-4-2-4-6 with 4 min rest at slightly slower than 800 race pace (for me, 1:35, 64, 30, 64, 1:35) . . . plus 3x200 29-28-27. The last 600 is pretty horrible when you're a 400 runner working on aerobic fitness. However, the crux of it is that Clyde Hart requires even pacing per 100m, otherwise you have to do it again !
Also, as a note, the ladder is common for sprinters, as I'm sure you know. Except that sprinters, at least from my experience at being one, tend to do the inverted ladders more often - a 500 ladder, say, with 500-300-150-300-500 or a 600 ladder (600-400-200-400-600) as significantly faster paces than would be considered comfortable for this workout. This is great for high school 400 groups during outdoor.
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