Two quick training ideas

Hey everyone--I'm running out the door to the Wesleyan-Williams-Amherst happy hour (I mean... going straight home to answer more customer service emails?) but I just wanted to share two great training ideas I've used this week.

A. Hill workout on a treadmill--I compiled this together from a few different running websites for those days when you can't make it to a real hill. For me that day was today, and this was challenging but also a lot of fun. I like interval training, especially on a treadmill, because it keeps me from getting bored. And we all know plain running can be really boring. FACT.

2 minutes: run at incline 1

2 minutes: run at incline 2

2 minutes: run at incline 1

2 minutes: run at incline 3

And so on, going up as high as you can.

Another thing you can do is intervals based on distance, not time. For example, intervals at increasing incline for 200 meters (about .12 miles), taking a break in between.

1. Incline 5 (for example) for 200 meters

2. Incline 1 for 200 meters

3. Incline 6 for 200 meters

4. Incline 1 for 200 meters

And so on, going up as high as you can.

Lastly, try running at an incline for 30 seconds, then back to the flat for 2 minutes. Next, do an incline push for 60 seconds, and then take a 2 minute flat run. Then a 90 second push with a 2 minute flat run. When the intervals are shorter, it's a good opportunity to make the inclines really challenging.

You can mix and match depending on what you have time for and what is more fun for you. I think it matters less which one you do and more that you do something you enjoy and will work your hardest at. I did the first one for 16 minutes, then I spent about 10 minutes doing the second, then I went back to the first for another 10 but only alternating between incline 5 and 6.

B. "21s"

21s are great, because you can use them for nearly any exercise. Instead of doing the complete movement, you do 7 reps of the first "half" of it, then seven reps of the second "half," and lastly seven reps of the whole thing. So for example, if you were doing regular bicep curls, you would do seven reps where you only go from the bottom to the midpoint. Then seven times from the midpoint to the top of the movement. Finally you would do seven complete curls. Fun for everyone!