Due to my injury, I’ve been doing a lot of cross-training lately (which I should be doing regularly anyway, but that’s a different subject). In an attempt to keep my fitness level up and also keep myself entertained, I’ve been doing high-intensity intervals a couple of times a week on the bike.
High intensity intervals are different from the more standard interval training I’m used to doing in that they are shorter and (predictably) more intense, consisting of a short, all-out effort followed by a brief period of rest. In theory, high intensity intervals give you the same endurance benefits as longer periods of aerobic exercise while also increasing your metabolic rate.
If any of you have experience doing this type of interval training, I’d love to hear about the workouts you’ve done and how effective you think they are. If you haven’t done high intensity intervals before but would like to try, here are three different workout ideas I got from the book Run for Life:
- Tabata Intervals: 8 x (20 seconds all out, 10 seconds recovery)
- Sprint-8: 8 x (30 seconds all out, 90-120 seconds recovery)
- Momentum intervals: 8 x (3 minute hard, 1 minute recovery)
These workouts are nice because they can be done with any form of aerobic cross-training–bike, swim, stairmaster, whatever–and they are really easy to remember. And although they are very short, they are killer workouts. I’m hoping they work as advertised and will keep me in shape during this injury layoff.
Speaking of which, two weeks post-injury, my foot is improving, although it’s not back to 100% yet. The swelling is pretty much gone, and walking hurts a lot less, but it still doesn’t feel good enough to risk a run. I’m hoping that one more weekend without running will be enough to get it healed, after which I’ll slowly work my way back into my normal running schedule.
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{ 2 comments }
Twitter: middlepackgirl
September 14, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Hey, I usually do the FIRST workouts on the bike, but honestly, I’m bored silly with that now, so I thank you for these suggestions. When you say “all out” you’re literally talking max?! as in over 10o rpms?
Twitter: kchealy
September 14, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Glad this has given you some ideas, Terri. Yep, I do mean all-out, 100 rpm +, as fast as my short legs will allow me to go.
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