FINISH STRONG, EVERY TIME
The term cardio doesn’t just mean “aerobic exercise.” After all, cardio is really short for cardiovascular conditioning. And the fact is, weight training and sprints are highly beneficial to your heart and lungs, too. So you’ll see plenty of great cardio routines throughout this entire book.
But in the pages that follow, you’ll find a dozen more fast, unique workouts that may forever change the way you think about cardio. Whether you want to bust out of your rut, train for a 10-K, or just finish in a flurry, you’ll find there’s a cutting-edge plan for you.
If you’re tired of long, boring runs, try these short speed workouts from Ed Eyestone, MS, a two-time Olympic marathoner and head coach of the Brigham Young University men’s cross-country team. These routines not only help break up the monotony, they’ll boost your speed and endurance to an all-time high. A great way to mix them up: Do one of the first three workouts early in the week, then choose a second from numbers 4 through 7 later in the week, at the track. Do the last run on the weekend.
What: A fuel-injected version of your 4-mile jog, run at a “comfortably hard” pace.
Why: Tempo runs train your body to clear the waste products that cause your muscles to “burn” and thereby force you to slow down. As a result, you can go harder, longer.
How: Estimate your fastest 3-mile time (think back to your best recent 5-K). Calculate the pace per mile and add 30 seconds to it. So if you think the fastest you can run 3 miles is 24 minutes—that’s an 8-minute pace—try for a tempo pace of 8 minutes, 30 seconds per mile for your 4-mile run.
Tip: Be precise. Wear a watch.
What: A series of 1,000-meter runs at your tempo pace, with rest in between.
Why: Short tempo runs help you maintain a strict pace, and the brief recoveries keep your effort level high.
How: Run at your 4-mile tempo pace (determined in #1, tempo run) for 1,000 meters—that’s about 21⁄2 times around
a track—then rest for 60 seconds before repeating. Start with a total of six 1,000-meter intervals and progress to 10, adding one each time you perform the workout.
Tip: If you’d prefer, measure in time instead of distance. Perform each interval for 31⁄2 minutes before resting.
What: Fartlek is Swedish for “speed play,” meaning you accelerate and slow down according to how you feel. (How European!)
Why: In a step-down fartlek, the intervals are more structured (how American!) and become harder at the end of your run. Working hard when you’re tired will make you faster when you’re fresh.
How: Start at a pace that’s about 75 percent of your full effort and go for 5 minutes. Then slow down to about 40 percent effort for 5 minutes. Continue this fast-then-slow pattern, but shorten the hard-running segment by a minute each time, while increasing your speed. By the last 1-minute burst, you should be almost sprinting.
Tip: Each week, add 1 minute to your first segment—but keep doing the same step-down sequence—until your first interval is 10 minutes.
What: Hard 1-mile runs with rest in between. The ultimate training tool for the serious runner.
Why: The length and intensity of mile repeats force you to work at the edge of your aerobic limit, giving you the endurance and mental toughness you need to run hard for long periods of time.
How: Run three or four 1-mile intervals at your 5-K race pace. After each mile, rest for 4 minutes.
Tip: Budget your effort so that you run each quarter mile at the same pace.
What: Hard runs with jogging recoveries.
Why: Running at your maximum aerobic capacity is a great way to improve it.
How: Warm up till you’re sweating. Subtract 10 seconds from your mile-repeat pace and maintain that speedfor 800 meters (twice around the track). After each 800-meter run, jog once around the track before repeating.
Tip: Start with only four intervals per session and add one each workout until you can comfortably do eight.
What: Hard runs with jogging recoveries.
Why: You’ll be training to finish strong.
How: Run at your fastest 1-mile pace. (So if your personal record, or PR, for the mile is 7 minutes, you’ll want to perform each 400-meter interval in 105 seconds, or 1:45.) After each 400-meter run, jog for 1 or 2 minutes, then repeat. Start with a six-interval workout and add one interval each time you go to the track, until you reach 10.
Tip: Do the math before you start. And warm up first!
What: Fast 200-meter runs alternating with not-so-fast 200-meter runs for 2 miles total.
Why: This workout forces you to recover on the go, allowing you to train at higher overall intensity for a longer distance than you otherwise could.
How: At your mile PR pace, run 200 meters, then slow down so it takes you 10 seconds longer to complete the next 200 meters. Continue to alternate between these speeds until you’ve run 2 miles.
Tip: If you slow by more than 2 seconds in either your fast or slow segment, run at a light pace until you finish the entire 2 miles.
What: A long run with a speed surge in the second half.
Why: You’ll train your body to go long and finish hard.
How: Double your regular easy run. Do the first half at your normal pace, and at the midway point, pick up the pace by 5 to 10 seconds per mile.
Tip: Stash or carry water to help you in that second half.
Kick tail in your next 10-K with this 8-week speed plan from Len Kravitz, PhD, associate professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico. It uses the Pledge of Allegiance—that’s right, the Pledge you recited in grade school—to help you run faster than ever before. In a University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse study, researchers found that a person’s ability to recite the Pledge of Allegiance—all 31 words—while running is a highly accurate gauge of intensity. Learn how to use it strategically, and you’ll ensure that you run at the ideal pace every single workout, whether it’s a long, easy run or high-intensity intervals. The end result: You’ll turn in your best 10-K time ever.
Before we get to the Pledge, a lesson in lactate threshold. Lactate is your body’s buffering agent for the acid that builds up in your legs and causes them to burn during a run. (This “acid” is commonly thought of as lactic acid, but scientists no longer think that’s true.) The faster you run, the faster your acid levels rise. At a certain point, there’s too much acid to neutralize, and you have to slow down. This is when you’ve crossed your lactate threshold.
You can also think of your lactate threshold as the fastest pace you can run that allows you to start and finish at the same speed without feeling any burn. So by pushing your lactate threshold higher, you’ll be able to run faster, longer. That’s where the Pledge of Allegiance comes in: It’s the tool that will help you raise your threshold.
In this program, you’ll run 3 or 4 days a week and vary the distance and intensity of the workouts. Follow the guidelines below for performing each workout at the ideal intensity.
Volume training. On volume days, you have just one goal: Log the miles. Volume training is designed to develop your ability to perform prolonged exercise, as well as to prepare your muscles and joints for the repeated impact of running. Run at a pace that allows you to recite the Pledge of Allegiance easily.
Maximal steady-state training. Do these runs as close to your lactate threshold as possible. Maximal steady-state training simulates race pace and improves your body’s ability to clear speed-limiting acid from your blood and muscles. Run at a pace that allows you to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with difficulty, in spurts of only three or four words at a time.
Interval training: You’ll intersperse short bouts of running that are above your lactate threshold with longer periods of running that fall below it. Intervals train your body to tolerate high amounts of acid. Start by running at your volume-training intensity for 5 minutes. Then increase your speed until you can’t recite a single word of the Pledge. Maintain this pace for 30 seconds, then slow down to your starting pace for the next 3 minutes, before beginning another 30-second high-intensity stint. Start with five intervals and try to do more each workout, while shortening the recovery periods.
Determine which program is appropriate for your level of fitness, then use the chart below as a guide for your day-by-day workout calendar. Next to each mileage amount is a corresponding letter that indicates whether you perform volume training (V), maximal steady-state training (M), or interval training (I) that day. Complete the entire plan, then repeat it to continue to push your fitness level higher.
Beginner: Follow the Beginner program if you perform aerobic exercise or sports up to 2 or 3 days a week.
Advanced: Do the Advanced plan if, on 3 or more days each week, you run for at least 20 minutes or 2 miles.
| WEEK 1 | ||
| Beginner | Advanced | |
| MONDAY | 2 miles (V) | 3 miles (V) |
| TUESDAY | Rest | Rest |
| WEDNESDAY | 2.5 miles (V) | 3.5 miles (V) |
| THURSDAY | Rest | Rest |
| FRIDAY | 3 miles (V) | 4 miles (V) |
| SATURDAY | Rest | Rest |
| SUNDAY | 3.5 miles (V) | 4.5 miles (V) |
| WEEK 2 | ||
| Beginner | Advanced | |
| MONDAY | Rest | Rest |
| TUESDAY | 4 miles (V) | 5 miles (V) |
| WEDNESDAY | Rest | Rest |
| THURSDAY | 4 miles (V) | 5 miles (V) |
| FRIDAY | Rest | Rest |
| SATURDAY | 4 miles (V) | 5 miles (V) |
| SUNDAY | Rest | Rest |
| WEEK 3 | ||
| Beginner | Advanced | |
| MONDAY | 4.5 miles (V) | 5.5 miles (V) |
| TUESDAY | Rest | Rest |
| WEDNESDAY | 4.5 miles (V) | 5.5 miles (M) |
| THURSDAY | Rest | Rest |
| FRIDAY | 4.5 miles (V) | 5.5 miles (V) |
| SATURDAY | Rest | Rest |
| SUNDAY | 5 miles (V) | 6 miles (V) |
| WEEK 4 | ||
| Beginner | Advanced | |
| MONDAY | Rest | Rest |
| TUESDAY | 5 miles (M) | 6 miles (V) |
| WEDNESDAY | Rest | Rest |
| THURSDAY | 5 miles (V) | 5 miles (M) |
| FRIDAY | Rest | Rest |
| SATURDAY | 5.5 miles (V) | 6 miles (V) |
| SUNDAY | Rest | 5 miles (I) |
| WEEK 5 | ||
| Beginner | Advanced | |
| MONDAY | 4 miles (V) | Rest |
| TUESDAY | Rest | 6.5 miles (V) |
| WEDNESDAY | 4.5 miles (M) | Rest |
| THURSDAY | Rest | 5 miles (M) |
| FRIDAY | 4.5 miles (V) | Rest |
| SATURDAY | Rest | 6 miles (V) |
| SUNDAY | 4.5 miles (V) | 5 miles (I) |
| WEEK 6 | ||
| Beginner | Advanced | |
| MONDAY | Rest | Rest |
| TUESDAY | 5 miles (I) | 7 miles (V) |
| WEDNESDAY | Rest | Rest |
| THURSDAY | 6 miles (V) | 5 miles (M) |
| FRIDAY | Rest | Rest |
| SATURDAY | 5 miles (M) | 6 miles (V) |
| SUNDAY | 6 miles (V) | 5 miles (I) |
| WEEK 7 | ||
| Beginner | Advanced | |
| MONDAY | Rest | Rest |
| TUESDAY | 5 miles (I) | 7 miles (M) |
| WEDNESDAY | Rest | Rest |
| THURSDAY | 6 miles (V) | 6 miles (V) |
| FRIDAY | Rest | Rest |
| SATURDAY | 5 miles (M) | 5 miles (I) |
| SUNDAY | 6 miles (V) | 6 miles (V) |
| WEEK 8 | ||
| Beginner | Advanced | |
| MONDAY | Rest | Rest |
| TUESDAY | 5 miles (V) | 6 miles (V) |
| WEDNESDAY | Rest | Rest |
| THURSDAY | 4 miles (V) | 5 miles (V) |
| FRIDAY | Rest | Rest |
| SATURDAY | Rest | Rest |
| SUNDAY | Race | Race |
Strapped for time? Try these novel cardio workouts used by top strength coach Alwyn Cosgrove, CSCS, and his team at Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, California. They’re actually called metabolic circuits, and they’re designed to challenge your cardiovascular system and speed fat loss just like hard sprints do. The big difference: You can do these routines in your basement. What’s more, they also improve your aerobic capacity, just like jogging a few miles at a moderate pace. These workouts, however, take a fraction of the time, since you exercise far more intensely.
Do one set of each exercise below in the order shown. Perform each exercise for 15 seconds, then rest for 15 sec-onds. Perform as many circuits as you can in 5 minutes. One note: For the dumbbell jump squat, lower your body until your thighs are at least parallel to the floor each repetition, then jump as high as you can.
• Sprints or stairclimbing: Rest
• Dumbbell jump squat: Rest
• Dumbbell chop: Rest
• Single-arm dumbbell or kettlebell swing: Rest
These are quickie cardio routines that you can do at the end of each workout. They’re called finishers not just be-cause they’re a great way to finish off an exercise session but also because they’ll help you finish off your fat.
Do one set of each exercise without resting, and keep track of how long it takes to complete the circuit. Then rest for twice that duration, and repeat once. When you can finish the circuit in 90 seconds, skip the rest.
• Body-weight squat: 24 reps
• Body-weight alternating lunge: 12 reps with each leg
• Body-weight split jump: 12 reps with each leg
• Body-weight jump squat (for fat loss): 24 reps
Do one set of each exercise without resting. That’s one round. Complete a total of three rounds.
• Body-weight jump squat (for fat loss): Do as many reps as you can in 20 seconds.
• Body-weight squat: Do as many reps as you can in 20 seconds.
• Isometric squat: Lower your body until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Hold that position for 30 seconds.
Alternate back and forth between two exercises (choose either option 1 or option 2), without resting. In your first round, do 10 repetitions of each exercise. In your second round, do 9 reps. Then do 8 reps in your third round. Work your way down as far as you can go. (If you get to zero, you’re done.) Each week, raise the number of reps you start with by one—so in your second week, you’ll begin your “countdown” with 11 reps.
OPTION 1
OPTION 2