Re: RC: conditioning effects

[Wayne/Elaine Delbeke <delbekew@sprynet.com>]

I was listening to a fascinating lecture given by a equine vet who is
coaching elite cross country skiers.  He has done all kinds of work on
the marathon type of conditioning.  One of the statements he made was
they are finding athletes ( human or equine) tend to build a heavier
heart wall when fast, heavy, sprint type of conditioning is used before
the LSD type.  Most interesting was his comment that apparently this
heavy heart wall is not built up when you start with the long slow
stuff.  The heart becomes bigger and more efficient and then you start
adding the speed and interval training.  He feels that flat race horses
off  the track are actually starting endurance at a disadvantage in some
ways since they would have to work harder to stretch that thick heart
muscle.  Starting young horses slow and long on the other hand, makes
for a more effective muscle for distance and one that drops to a lower
heart rate more quickly after the next phase of training (speed and
intervals).

Does this make sense when I say it?   I hope I'm describing it properly.

elaine