Or work out, that is. Alex had some great questions about my 12/8 sprints and, specifically, my workouts. So I thought I’d answer them.
Right after I do a crazy happy dance that I actually have a READER!! Someone read my blog, people! I think I might faint. I haven’t even had the guts to e-mail my blog to my friends or family yet but now I have a readership. Of one. Assuming Alex comes back:)
Okay – now that’s off my chest – back to my workouts. First thing you should know about me is that I looooove experimenting on myself and so my workouts are always changing but this is my schedule for now:
Monday: 45-min HIIT. 15 minutes of intervals on the cycle, followed by 15 of intervals on the elliptical, ending with 15 minutes of hill intervals on the treadmill. This workout leaves me dripping nasty germy puddles all over my gym that I am then forced to retrace my sodden steps and mop them up with a lot of paper towels and anti-bacterial mist. For the past month I have added the 12/8 sprints to this. At night I return for a crazyintensesuperfreaky hour of Turbokick.
Tuesday: After reading Mark’s Case Against Cardio I decided that I do too much cardio. (Um, duh). Being the cyberstalker that I am, I e-mailed Mark and he told me to follow his workout. Which I did by taking two days off of cardio to just lift weights. I’ve been doing this new lesser-cardio routine for 3 weeks now and I think I really like it. So anyhow, Tuesday I do 45 minutes of circuit training on the weights (total body workout, 8 sets per body part) followed by an hour of Yoga. I love Yoga. In fact, I can’t even write the word without capitalizing it. The high-school teacher in me is cringing.
Wednesday: 12/8 sprints. Hour of Turbokick.
Thursday: 45-minute circuit weights. 30 minutes of Pilates.
Friday: 12/8 sprints. Hour long mixed cardio class.
Saturday: 45-minute circuit weights. ULTRA Turbokick for 75 minutes. Hiking with my family.
Sunday: Rest, rest, rest.
Alex also asked how long before I saw results from adding in the 12/8 sprints. TWO WEEKS Alex! I started from a point of being very physically fit so I was surprised to see my VO2 Max increase significantly as well as a loss of 1.5% body fat (no weight loss though). Also, my resting heart rate dropped from mid-50’s to low 40’s. It was 42 today, in Corpse pose, oh yes it was!
So, Alex, or anyone else out there (dare I hope that I have more than one reader??) give this a try. In the original study, the people did these sprints as their ONLY cardio and it worked for them. I, being a total cardio addict, couldn’t cut it down that much but it still worked for me. They are a killer workout (what other workout do you know burns 460 calories in 20 minutes?) but try them for two weeks. And then, fellow LAB RATS, report back to me and tell me what happened!
Well, I think I might just love you back. Another person who pursues cardio as fiendishly as myself! Be still, my heart.
Your answers were very helpful. I was reluctant to believe in this sprinting miracle of which you spoke (because of course one would expect the subjects of the study to see results – they were overweight and unfit), but I may now come over to your side… The, um, dark sprint-y side.
I alternate between doing 60 to 90 minutes of cardio at the gym or running 7 to infinity miles outside every day. Plus, most days I ride my bike to school, 6 miles each way with rolling hills. Like you, I’ve also recently added two days a week of weights… because I hemmed and hawed, and then finally (and grudgingly) admitted that maybe all the ado about strength training is not without merit (I am not satisfied by things that don’t make me breathe hard or sweat). So, I generally don’t buy into these things because I know that I won’t see any results, and I don’t have time to mess around with my otherwise Zen routine. But since I now know that it worked for someone like you, I may just move things around a bit and give it a shot. Thanks for putting it to the test!
We are a rare breed, my new friend. Most people have to get motivated to do any cardio. For me (and I think for you) I actually have to hold myself back. I’ll do too much if I really let myself go! Ah – my soul mate!! Anyhow, definitely give the sprints a try and let me know what you think of them. Do you have a heartrate monitor? It helped me to make sure I was in the right “zone”. Your sprints should be 90-100% of you max heartrate. Hope to hear from you soon!
Just curious…what resistance you put the bike on (I know it varies machine to machine but just a rough estimate would do)?
KLK – I use a resistance of “10”. Gym Buddy Allison uses “15”. Just play around with it until you find a level that gets your heart rate where you want it! Let me know how it goes:)