Hi Friend!
Today is the last day of Vivi's 1st year of pre-school, the day her summer birthday will be celebrated and school picture day. I got to sit in and watch the celebration as she carried the earth around the sun for each year she's been here, and then watched as the teacher asked if the kids had any questions, and the kids asked if they could give her a hug, and then the teacher asked if anyone had a song to share and the sang happy birthday in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian and another language I didn't recognize. The teachers ask the families to bring in a poster with a photo for each year birthday they've celebrated including one from her birth year, and Vivi got to explain her timeline while the kids were completely engaged and asked lots of questions. "Is she falling off the duck or climbing on the duck" in reference to her duckling picture at the Boston Common. "Did you take that picture yesterday", in reference to a picture in which Vivi was wearing a shirt, she wore to school yesterday. Very sweet and very blessed to be there. I also got to see the first thing Vivi did for "work" when she got to school, which was core an apple and split it up into 3's to share with two of her classmates. And most of the children exchanged hugs with the teachers upon arrival. Super cool. #feelinggrateful.
Moving forward, I've been writing about cardio minutes guidelines and most recently sprint interval training vs. endurance training as I prepare for the Personalized Treadmill Workshop. Today I want to point out 3 examples of sprint interval training being practiced in the real world today.
3 Examples of Sprint Interval Training for Cardiovascular Exercise 1. Spin Classes 2. Track Workouts 3. Cardio Finishers
1. Spin Classes Whether its your favorite spin class at the local gym or a boutique class at a Soul Cycle or Flywheel, those workouts are built around all of the research: bursts followed by insufficient recovery. They've added to the results oriented nature of the programming by making it an experience with light shows, surround sound, stadium tiers and awesome playlists that make you want to be the best version of yourself and if they play your wedding song, make you go out and buy flowers to surprise your wife.
2. Track Workouts Track workouts are workouts in which a group of people gather at a local track with a coach and work on sprints of various distance around the track. It's kind of like masters swim classes for those who've done that in which a coach has different sprint intervals that the athletes do to get better. I once participated with a Newton based track coach, Karen Ghiron, on a Tuesday at 6am and Newton North with a few clients at the time, Krista and Keri. Its very fun and very much like a spin workout, except these workouts provided more rest / full rest because the goal was speed, not only anaerobic endurance, VO2 max or body composition changes like a spin class.
3. Cardio Finishers Most every cardio finisher, whether it be jump rope, ergs, battling ropes, or the sprints like we do in boot camp (band relays, triathlon relays, base running, line drills), are traditionally bursts followed by insufficient recovery. Some have fixed time rest periods (30:90, 30:60, 30:30 or 1:3, 1:2, 1:1 or 20:10, 30:15, 40:20 or 15:45, 15:30, 15:15, ... as examples), some have partner rest periods (you go, I go), and the most cutting edge way that's happening now are heart rate based recoveries in which you sprint for a period of time (20sec) or distance (100yds) and then recover to a certain heart rate that's unique to you. I haven't introduced this to boot camp yet, but my private clients are doing it and one of our current boot camp members, Ricardo, is testing out a program to see how it might work for next year.
In wrapping up these first 2 sections of the Personalized Treadmill Workout, how much cardio per week should you do and what's the most effective method for doing cardio, I think the most important thing is to move. Start with walking, or biking or rowing, or swimming. Set a schedule to do it on 3-5 days per week for 30min to 1 hour. Then do it. Naturally as you get better, you'll be able to do more and you'll either want to do more days, go longer or go harder. When you reach that point, the next progression is to introduce sprint interval training. You can still choose the mode (run, bike, row, elliptical, stairmaster, swimming, sport, jump rope, step mill, etc...), and now you burst for a short period of time (15-60sec) or a short distance (25-100yds) and either rest for a fixed time (use a 1:3 work to rest ratio) or and insufficient amount of time (2:1 work to rest ratio) or until your heart rate recovers to pre-sprint levels.
If you've ever traveled and not felt like yourself, If you've ever had not enough sleep and needed to still be your best, If you've ever been hungover and wanted to snap out of it, If you've ever recovered from a cold and needed return to training, If you've ever been stuck at a desk, in a car, on a plane or unable to move, If you've wanted something super simple to make yourself feel awesome, If you've ever felt awesome and wanted to express it physically, If you've ever felt like you were in great shape and you wanted to test it,
...come learn the Personalized Treadmill Workout.
It'll take you from cold, to high performing. Sleepy to energized. Not awake to kick a**. It has a gradual warm up, with rolling, stretching, correctives & large dynamic flexibility movements. We'll walk, jog, run and sprint at speeds that are safe for you and at your own pace. You'll leave feeling like the best version of yourself and you'll be glad you did.
The next event is 10am, this Saturday, June 9 @ Gym Source, Needham Street.
You can learn more and sign up now.
Thinking about an obstacle course using cones, ladders and hurdles for Vivi's class,
Coach Mike
p.s. here's the Personalized Treadmill Workout link.
p.p.s. Our next phase of boot camp begins Monday.
p.p.p.s. If I can help you with your health, body transformation and performance, reply and let me know.
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