Sunny Speed Play
So, I’ve just got back from a a lovely sunny run and rather than just going for a continuous steady (slightly boring) pace, I decided to ramp up my workout by doing some Fartlek Training. This method of training was developed by a Swedish cross-country coach and literally translates to ‘speed play’. It is a type of interval training where the intensity is varied in a fairly sporadic manner, as opposed to set times or distances. It was originally designed to simultaneously work on speed and endurance but can be used by anyone as an easy alternative to regular interval training. It’s great if you’re short on time, want to increase the intensity of your workout and improve your overall fitness. Some other benefits include:
Increased burning of fat at higher intensities
Decrease in resting heart rate and blood pressure (your circulatory system becomes more efficient)
Increased ability to tolerate lactic acid (the burn!) and improved rate of removal from your muscles
Improved recovery during and after training
Decrease in body fat percentage
Highly adaptable – modify during response to your performance
So, how do you do it? This is easy part…you can pretty much make it up as you go along. The intervals are all decided by you so it really doesn’t matter what fitness level you are, what your sprint speed is or how far you go…as long as you’re giving those high intensity sections your all. It can be as short or long as you like and you don’t even need to run – you could just increase your walking pace and push up hills harder than usual to see an improvement in your fitness. My session today went something like this:
5-10 minutes jogging to warm your muscles up
Pick a tree, gate, stream, cow (etc) in the distance and sprint for it as fast as you can!
Walk it out and recover
Jog for a few minutes until you find a hill…
…run up that hill as fast and as far as you can
Walk it out and recover
Repeat as many times as you can/want to
I was only out for about 30 minutes but I worked really hard and my time per kilometre was actually even a little faster than my usual steady pace. This type of training is great fun outside in a park and perfect to do with a friend – turn the sprints into short races and some fun with your markers! If the gym is more your thing then this can easily be done on treadmill using time or distance. However you do it, have fun with it and get out of your comfort zone!
