Ready for some details?

On HIIT, here are two of my favorite workouts.  I do them both each week.

On the treadmill – three ten minute cycles where the first five minutes are a ladder and the next five minutes are sprint intervals.

Minutes 1-5  - start at 5mph, and increase 0.5 mph every minutes

Minutes 6 – 10 – start at 9mph, sprint 30 seconds, drop to 5 mph for one minute to recover, and repeat for 3 sprints.

Repeat the pattern for 11-20 minutes and 21-30 minutes.

One 10-minute cycle:

00:00-00:59 – 5.0mph

01:00-01:59 – 5.5mph

02:00-02:59 – 6.0mph

03:00-03:59 – 6.5mph

04:00-04:59 – 7.0mph

05:00-05:30 – 9.0 mph

05:31-06:30 – 5.0mph

06:31-07:00 – 9.0mph

07:01-08:00 – 5.0mph

08:00-08:30 – 9.0mph

08:31-09:59 – 5.0mph

Repeat for 2 more cycles.

Ready to increase the intensity?  Pick up the pace on your sprints, and extend them up to one minute in length.

On the stationary bike – 30 minutes where you’ll do 15 sprints of 30 seconds each with declining rest periods.

Start with a light load for 2 minutes 30 seconds.  Then turn up the resistance and pound out 30 seconds.  Rest 2 minutes and thirty seconds, sprint for 30 seconds.  You do each set for three reps, then, you take the rest period down thirty seconds until, at the very end, you’re one-for-one—30 seconds rest to thirty seconds sprinting.

00:00-02:30 – Warm-up

02:31-03:00 – Sprint

03:01-05:30 – Recovery

05:31-06:00 – Sprint

06:01-08:30 – Recovery

08:31-09:00 – Sprint          

Now, decrease the rest interval by 30 seconds:

09:01-11:00 – Warm-up

11:01-11:30 – Sprint

11:31-13:30 – Recovery

13:31-14:00 – Sprint

14:01-16:00 – Recovery

16:01-16:30 – Sprint          

Keep decreasing the rest intervals by 30 seconds.  You’ll finish 15 sprints at a final round of 1:1 effort to recovery right at 30 minutes.

On weights, learn proper form, use proper form, eschew machines for free weights, mix it up like crazy, and alternate heavy lifting major muscle groups with lighter lifting on secondary and support muscles.

Try for four sessions each week – two for upper body, two for lower body.  Try do add in ab work at least three times a week, which you can combine with any of your sessions, and save one day all by itself for explosive, full body work such as kettle bells or plyometrics.  Give yourself one, preferably two days of rest before lifting with the same muscle groups.  Done properly, your workout is making tiny microtears in the muscles, and those muscles need a day at minimum to recover and get stronger before you tear them again.

I’m not super into classes, but I recommend that anyone without a strong background in strength training use a trainer to learn proper form.  Same goes for yoga.

I probably won’t run another marathon because of the massive time commitment, but I’d certainly recommend it to others looking to build some fitness momentum.  There is a lot of power in signing up for something, paying a registration fee, telling others about your race and goal, and having a structured training plan for a couple of months.  It can be exactly the right way to break out of a fitness rut or to get yourself moving after a long absence from the gym.

Now get off you butt and go get after it.

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