Workout Day 4 will most likely be Thursday, and it will be another break from weights just like Tuesday, but this time, we’re doing HIIT running instead of steady-pace running in the evening.
1. Daily 12 Minute HIIT in the morning:
2. 12-15 minute High Intensity Interval (HIIT) run in the evening.
Here’s how to do it:
HIIT Running
Low intensity interval: 60 second light jog (50% effort or less, you can even walk or just stand)
High intensity interval: 30 second sprint (100% effort, run like a madman or madwoman)
Total time: 12-15 minutes
I like to set my countdown watch to 30 second intervals in loop so it’s easy to do both half minute and one minute by letting it time out once or twice, respectively.
Do the two intervals as many times as you can for a total of 12-15 minutes. If you need to do less than 30 seconds of sprinting, that’s fine; we’ll build up to it. Do 10 second sprints and one minute light jog or adjust as needed. Or if you have to, go ahead and walk for the low intensity interval instead of a light jog, or just stop, or even take two minutes between sprints.
Whatever you need, it’s ok; we’re all different. The important thing is to recover enough to be able to give another all-out, 100% effort sprint, even if it’s for only 10 seconds.
Aim to get at least 5 sprints, no matter what it takes!
I usually set the chronometer function on my watch as well so that I know when 12 minutes is up. I prefer to sprint full force only when running uphill or at least flat, but never downhill. You can end up catching so much speed that you lose control and tumble. Besides, the whole idea of sprinting is that since you can’t vary the intensity of running, you simply increase the output by hauling ass! To maximize the calorie burning and to make the sprint more powerful, sprint uphill!
If you’re already in pretty good cardio shape, or after a couple of weeks of doing this, you can
Upgrade your sprints:
30 second light jogs
30 second sprints
Do this by turning down your low intensity, light jog interval to 30 seconds instead of one minute. This way, you’ll have a 1 to 1 ratio. It’s better to have a bunch of small sprints followed by rests than to have a few big sprints and then conk out quickly.
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