You've just done a High Intensity Training (HIT) session and you're lying on the floor, looking like a right mess, thinking: "should it be this hard or am I just really unfit?"
When it comes to including conditioning work as part of a training regime I find most people either don't do it or try going way too hard, too soon. They've read somehere that training at a high intensity is the best way to get fit so they flip the switch to beastmode and try to kill themselves. The main problem with that is the fact it doesn't actually work, more often than not you just end up tired with an increased risk of injury. High Intensity Training (HIT) or High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) can be a great way of getting in shape but you have to work your way up to it in order to actually reap the rewards. It's like saying that running really fast will help you to strip bodyfat, ok that's not wrong, but you must first learn how to walk, jog, run slowly and then run really fast. There has to be some sort of method to the madness. Q. So, what's the answer DB? A. Well, I'm glad you asked my imaginary friend. What I've done for years, in my classes, with myself and with my clients, is use the following training routines to improve fitness, speed, strength and conditioning. They're simple enough to follow but don't confuse simple with easy, done using the rigfht loads at the right intensity these workouts can be incredibly challenging! However, if you're not that fit to start off with you can simply choose to perform easier exercises and move a bit slower then if you're super fit you can choose harder exercises and move a bit faster. It really doesn't have to have to be more complicated than that! Obviously choose exercises you're familiar with that match the intensity and duration of the workout you're about to perform then just get down to business. Minutes
Minutes are the easiest place to start when it comes to increasing your fitness. You can chuck these in before a workout as part of a warm-up, throughout your workout to get your heart rate up/develop certain skills, or even after your workout as part of a finisher.
All you've got to do is pick an exercise and do it for a minute. If doing multiple minutes you could stick with the same exercise or do a number of exercises one after the other, resting anything up to a minute between rounds. Exercises that work well include, but aren't limited to:
Mad Minutes
Once you're comfortable doing minutes, mad minutes are the level two boss. The idea here is that you pick three exercises and complete each one for twenty seconds (3x 20 = 60 seconds).
Sample Workout:
Rest as little as possible between exercises and up to 60 seconds between rounds.
Once you've chosen your 3 exercises you could just keep doing those for 5, 10 or 15 minutes or another thing I like to do with these is to pick 3 groups of 3 exercises and aim to complete 3 rounds on each. This is something that works really well as it allows you to better manage fatigue whilst targetting more muscles/movements as you'd be performing 9 different exercises rather than the same 3 throughout.
Ok, I think that's enough for now. I've just read that back and although it's a quick read it feels like I've been typing for ages, and I need another coffee.
I've got more stuff to share with you but I'll save that for another post in the not so distant future. What I'm hoping is that these drills will give you some ideas on how to better structure your workouts for now then when I drop the next post you'll have tried these out and be ready for a step up in difficulty. If you've got any questions, about any of the above, just stick them in the comments section below. Want to get my posts sent to your inbox? Enter your details below. Like what you've read? Share it with your friends.
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Desmond Blakely Archives
March 2017
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