Today's workout was all about intervals. My friends at CrossFit suggested the following workout. It turned out to be the fastest, hardest one mile I've ever run.
After a full warmup (see below)
Sprint for 20 seconds
Then rest for 40 seconds
Repeat for a total of 15 sprints. Total workout takes 15 minutes.
Do this workout at a track and start each new sprint precisely where the last one left off. I carried a stopwatch in one hand and a playing card in the other. When the stop watch hit 20 seconds I dropped the playing card and then walked back to it during my recovery period so I knew where to start the next one.
That is a total of 5 minutes of running and 10 minutes of resting.
The challenge is to go all out during the sprints and then recover hard during the rest time.
Based on the results I saw posted online I set my goal for 1 mile total over the 15 sprints. I reached 1 mile and 20 yards.
Benefits of this workout
1) Intervals are a great way to optimize your cardio workouts. It improves your bodies ability to work at a high or even anaerobic heart rate and improves your ability to recover faster from intense efforts.
2) For distance runners, running at a faster pace rather than a steady slower pace will teach your body the mechanics needed to run faster and help you improve your distance times.
3) This workout can easily be used as a benchmark workout to see how your fitness has improved over time.
Remember, all fitness levels can do this workout. If you can't sprint then run, can't run then jog, can't jog then power walk, can't power walk then walk. Just go as intensely as you can within your fitness level.
Suggested Warmup
2 sets of:
15 body weight squats
25 jumping jacks
15 supermen
15 pushups
15 walking lunges
30 second plank
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