Runners are pretty simple creatures. We typically only want one thing: to run faster. If you’ve spent any time with a runner you’ll typically find that they’re stubborn- I mean determined- people. That trait serves them well in the sport.
However, being one of the most determined people on the planet, I can safely say that all the will in the world won’t make me faster. If any runner wants to be faster, they have to train to be faster. One of the best ways to do that is by doing fartleks. Yes, fartleks. Funny name, but powerful speed training.
Fartlek is the Swedish word for “speed play.” Fartleks are a type of interval training for runners. It was developed in 1937 by Swedish coach, Gosta Holmer. Holmer developed this training for his cross country teams who had a terrible record. The effective speed plays focus on running faster than race pace to train. Fartleks were so successful that they have been widely adopted and used since.
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Research has shown that listening to music while you exercise improves performance. As for me, I didn’t need research, I know from firsthand experience. I don’t know what I’d do without music while on the treadmill.
Music acts as a motivator, but it also distracts you from negative thoughts associated with fatigue or any insecurities or inadequacies that may creep up into your mind.
While I can be motivated by nearly any tempo if the music is right, research shows that fast paced music, ideally music with a BPM (Beats Per Minute) of between 120 and 140, is ideal for a cardio workout.
That pace also just so happens to be about what the average person’s heart rate is during a normal workout.
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Are you searching for a new exercise routine to get motivated again? There are hundreds upon hundreds of different workout routines and the goal is to find one that works for you. Again, I can never emphasize this enough: the exercise routine that works for your friend or spouse may not work for you. Every “body” is different. So, I recommend searching different styles of workouts until you find one that you enjoy and get the best results from.
The 10 to 1 workout (or 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 workout) was designed to target the entire body as a whole while increasing your heart rate, stamina, and improving your cardiovascular endurance level. The exercises below are coupled together and to be completed as a super-set: do one exercise immediately followed by the other starting at ten repetitions and working your way down to one repetition. For example, the first two exercises are reverse pull-ups and squat jumps. Start by performing ten reverse pull-ups followed by ten squats jumps then move immediately to nine, eight, seven and so on of each exercise without stopping. This will blow your heart rate out of the water and get that sweat dripping right off the end of your nose.
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The reason anyone starts a fitness program is to see results, and the only way to know how far you’ve come is by knowing where you started.
P90X, the popular extreme home fitness program, understands the importance of tracking all indicators of fitness.
Instead of just tracking weight or measurements, P90X has an intensive Fitness Assessment that tracks your weight, measurements, strength, flexibility and cardiovascular capacity every step of the way.
The P90X program is split into three phases, 30 days each, and at the end of each phase, you will retest to see how much your health has improved. The first test is done before the first P90X workout so you know your baseline of fitness.
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There is a great deal of hard work that goes into having the body of your dreams. Every “body” is different which requires you to find something that works specifically for you. Your best friend may have just found the answer to his or her fitness dreams, but that answer may not work for you. My advice is to try as many things as you possibly can and figure out which of those allows you to find the results you’ve always wanted.
Obviously, a low fat diet and consistent exercise are the two main ingredients that go into the fitness equation, but there is so much more detail that falls into that equation as well. Staying active throughout the day is vital. Staying on your feet and being active throughout the day will help keep the body an efficient calorie burning machine.
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