Hayley-
Here are my details:
I'm a 41 (almost) 42 year old woman
5.5 feet tall
Weight ranges from 130-138.
I work out 4 times a week:
• Mondays - 45 min cardio/strength
• Tuesdays - 35 min run/walk (10 min. mile) - using couch to 5K - at week 6 now, 30 min core class
• Fridays - 1 hr strength class, + running couch to 5K
• Sundays - 45 strength class + running
•
I don't love running by any stretch of the imagination but do it because I wanted to prove to myself that I could at least run for 30 minutes without stopping. Now, I do it because it helps with my cardiovascular and I've never been great in that respect. My question for you is can I trade out one (or more?) of my standard run days for doing interval training on the treadmill, and if so, what would that look like? E.g. 90 seconds set on 6 mi/hr, 30 seconds dropping down to 4.0 or something. Any thoughts/plans on how I can incorporate some interval work into my running would be great to help keep my butt smaller, and still help strengthen my heart/lungs. Many thanks.
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With the long winter ahead of us it becomes tougher to get outside for a run and we are stuck slogging it out on the treadmill, which we all know can become extremely boring all too quickly. In response to this question I wanted to share with you some interval training workouts that you can do to vary up your treadmill workouts. As most fitness centers limit your time to 30 minutes on a treadmill, each of these routines do not extend past 30 minutes.
Always begin by warming up for 10 minutes doing anything else besides running: stationary bike, elliptical, the rowing machine or grab a skipping rope. After 10 minutes spend another 5 doing these warm up exercises and then head for the treadmill to complete one of the following routines. Remember, you never want to run on the treadmill with a 0% incline so always make sure you are at running with a 1-2%grade (unless you are recovering).
Speed Training Pyramid
2 minutes at 80%-90% Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
1 minute recovery at 40%-50% RPE (this may be a walk for some of you)
3 minutes with 90 seconds at 70%-80% RPE and then 90 seconds at 80%-90% RPE (you increase your speed half way through this interval)
90 second recovery at 40%-50% RPE
4 minutes with 2 minutes at 70%-80% RPE and then 2 minutes at 80%-90% RPE (you increase your speed half way through this interval)
2 minute recovery at 40%-50%RPE
Repeat in the reverse direction working your way back to the top and finish with an easy jog or walk to complete the 30 minute workout.
Short Speed Intervals
In this workout you are going to do the following:
20 seconds 80%-90% RPE then 40 seconds 30-40% RPE (either a light jog or a power walk)
Repeat 8 times, increasing your speed for the last 4 intervals
2 -3 minute recovery
20 seconds 80%-90% RPE then 40 seconds 30-40% RPE (either a light jog or a power walk)
Repeat another 8 times, increasing your speed for the last 4 intervals
2 -3 minute recovery
20 seconds 80%-90% RPE then 40 seconds 30-40% RPE (either a light jog or a power walk)
Repeat for a final 8 times, increasing your speed for the last 4 intervals
2 -3 minute recovery
As your fitness improves you can add more intervals, working up to 20 repeats and you can also modify the times of the intervals such as 15 seconds hard, 30 seconds easy or 30 seconds hard, 60 seconds easy or increase your speed.
Hills to Heaven
In this routine keep the speed the same for the entire 30 minutes (if you need to slow it down for the recovery you can but the goal here is to try and maintain the same speed both up the hills and on the recovery)
5 minute treadmill warm-up at 2-3% grade at either a power walk or slow jog
4 minutes at 5% grade 70% RPE
2 minute recovery at 0% grade
2 x 2 minutes at 6% grade 80% RPE
1 minute recovery between each at 0% grade
4 x 1 minute at 7% grade 80%-90% RPE
1 minute recovery between each at 0% grade
5 minute cool down to finish
As your fitness improves you can increase the intensity of this workout by either increasing the grade of the hill or increasing your speed (or doing both) or decreasing your recovery between each interval. If you find you need more recovery then take a longer rest between each interval.
Anyone can do these intervals as they can be done at a power walk pace, a slow jog or a run. Simply start where you can and do what you can and challenge yourself each week to accomplish a little bit more.
Note: you need to pick your own speed as our fitness levels vary amongst each other so I have prescribed your speed using the Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and you pick the pace on the treadmill that puts you at that level.
Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale
0 Nothing at all
0.5 Very, very weak
1 Very weak (10%)
2 Weak (20%)
3 Moderate (30%)
4 Somewhat strong (40%)
5 Strong (50% of your maximum heart rate)
6 (60% of your maximum heart rate)
7 Very strong (70% of your maximum heart rate)
8 (80% of your maximum heart rate)
9 (90% of your maximum heart rate)
10 Very, very strong (100% of your maximum heart rate)
Source: Borg, G.V. (1982) Psychological basis of perceived exertion. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 14, 377-381. American College of Sports Medicine
Attached - Anna Faris goes hiking with the baby and the dog.
