Today, I have an article from Mike Whitfield.
He is going to get you thinking about your interval training.
Take it away, Mike.
Rick Kaselj, MS
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Think about this for a second.
You warmed up, you nailed your workout and now it’s time to do what we’ve been told for years. It’s one of these two:
- Cardio
- Intervals
No, I’m not here to bash either one.
Instead, I’m here to help you discover more time.
If you enjoy your traditional cardio or interval training, that’s great. But for most of us, we don’t have the time and we’re getting older so it’s starting to wear down our joints.
It makes sense. When you think of intervals, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? You’re probably thinking the treadmill or bike.
When you apply either steady state cardio or intervals with either of these, what muscles are being worked?
Your legs.
Your pushing muscles, pulling muscles and core are ignored. So, one rep after another, you’re pounding and pounding your joints. You may not feel it today, but a few months, or even a few years from now, you will.
As we age, the pounding catches up to us.
So how do we fix it?
We end our workout with a finisher to replace that cardio or even intervals.
But why?
For one thing, you save a lot of time. Interval training typically takes about 20-25 minutes while a finisher lasts 10 minutes or less.
You work more muscle groups in combinations with active recovery and high intensity, so you get the same, if not better results in less time.
Why not take some of that pressure off your legs and “spread” the work over the entire body?
Let me give you an example. I created this finisher for Rick Kaselj and his readers below. At the end of your workout (or as a stand-alone conditioning workout if you’re strapped for time), try this finisher.
If you want to print this off and go for it, here is the breakdown:
- Total Body Extensions (20 secs), rest 10 secs – 4 times
- Spiderman Climb (20 secs), rest 10 secs – 4 times
- Jumping Jacks (20 secs), rest 10 secs – 4 times
That’s it! 6 minutes and you’re done!
Using finishers will not only save you time, but they will also improve your overall fitness and performance… all while taking off the pounding on your legs.
We could all use that, right?
Finish strong!
Mike Whitfield, Master CTT
Click here to get 51 follow-along workout finishers
He is known in the fitness industry for his cutting-edge finishers and humor. His finishers have been seen on the blogs of Men’s Health, Turbulence Training, Yahoo and more. He is also a contributor to the Men’s Health Big Book of Getting Abs. You can read more at www.trainwithfinishers.com.
