I recently asked a client of mine if they had any questions on their training and the discussion came round to cv workouts and how to make them less boring! And that is what my next blog should be on I thought, how to make cv workouts less boring. I'll need a better title though, just to spice it up a little!
Get more done in less time!
Cardiovascular work, endurance work, whatever you want to call it is traditionally thought of as steady state work, one pace. On the treadmill or cross trainer for half an hour or so at the same speed. Lots of cv equipment has interval or hill programmes included which are great and certainly help to make the training more varied and it's this type of variation that I want to talk more about.
Do your cv workouts feel like this?
There is more and more evidence showing that HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) or Tabata type training is not only good for international athletes but for the regular gym user as well. The health and fitness benefits are many and varied and we will be covering them later in this article.
L. Véronique Billat used interval training of varying interval lengths to train high level middle distance track athletes and has shown significant improvements in endurance and speed as well as specific physiological adaptations beyond just cardiovascular improvements. The links below are citations for two of her published works on this.
Her studies also showed that this training also worked with untrained individuals as well.
Dr Izumi Tabata of Tabata training also looked at the training effects of short recovery interval training bouts, see the link below.
This study looked at the benefits of short maximum effort intervals with very short rest intervals. This became known as Tabata rounds, 20 seconds of work with 10 seconds rest for 8 efforts equalling a 4 minute round.
Tabata and Billat’s work were originally geared towards running but have both been used with body weight and weighted exercises to great effect.
This type of training has been shown to reduce body fat, increase muscle mass, increase strength and endurance, help to reduce the risks of heart disease and diabetes, high blood pressure and can increase elasticity in major arteries which can stiffen with age.
So how do I use this to make my cv workouts less boring I hear you ask?
Below is listed several workouts that should ease your boredom a little.
The first three are based on Billat’s timings and should be completed at 85% to 95% effort with active recovery at approximately 40% to 50% effort.
The last three session times are based on Tabata’s work where each bout is near maximal effort whilst recovery is minimal effort.
Work Time
|
Active Recovery
|
Effort Repetitions
|
No. of rounds
|
2 minutes
|
1 minute
|
5 to 10 rounds
| |
4 minutes
|
2 minutes
|
3 to 5 rounds
| |
5 minutes
|
3 minutes
|
2 to 5 rounds
| |
20 seconds
|
10 seconds
|
8 efforts
|
3 to 5 rounds
|
40 seconds
|
20 seconds
|
4 efforts
|
3 to 5 rounds
|
30 seconds
|
30 seconds
|
4 efforts
|
3 to 5 rounds
|
These are only some of the many variations available and should be enough for most of you to be getting on with for a while.
Best advice is to continue to include some steady state recovery training in your programme approximately once every 10 to 14 days.
To find out more about HIIT Training and how it can help you please get in touch here on by email at
tsilvester@getcoached.net
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the workouts.
