interval Archives - Just J.Faye

30-Minute Elliptical Workout

November 2, 2014 by Jenna

Let’s play a little game of Would You Rather?

Would you rather… run 7 miles outside or do the elliptical for 20 minutes?

For me, 7 miles. Hands down. Every Day. No more questions. What would you choose?

I know, a short-lived game. It was fun though, right?!

My point here is that strongly dislike the elliptical. The treadmill too. Oh, and the stationary bike. Basically, any form of cardio that is done indoors on a machine for longer than 8 minutes.

8 minutes on one of these things = eternity. I don’t have the mental strength for eternal workouts.

But you know, sometimes you just do whatcha gotta do. Maybe it’s -20 degrees outside (Please, God. Not again.). Maybe there is a lightning storm. Maybe you have a bum hip/knee and need to take a break from running (like me right now. Sad face). Whatever the reason, sometimes you just need to roll with the punches and jump on a machine.

I have found that doing interval workouts on the elliptical/treadmill/bike fly by much quicker than doing a steady pace the entire time. Plus higher intensity = shorter workouts. Shorter workouts = happy Jenna.

So when life hands you lemons… go work on your speed. Here’s what we’ll do:

Start off with a nice 5-minute warm up. Get your blood pumping and try to get a little bit faster every minute. Minutes 5-10 will alternate between 30 seconds of sprinting at a high resistance level and 30 second of jogging at lower resistance. Then jump off gently step down, because Minute 10 will be a plyometric exercise and Minute 11 will be a strength exercise. The pattern in Minutes 5-12 will repeat two more times with varying resistances, plyometrics, and strength exercises. Afterwards treat yourself to a full 4-minute cool down while thinking about how surprisingly enjoyable the workout was.

When you get off of the elliptical to do the jumps and push ups use a clock or watch to time the minute. If you don’t have easy access to a time keeping device you can do the quantities listed below instead.

Chances are that the machine will have reset due to inactivity. This is ok. Get the machine going and proceed with the 5 minutes of intervals.

I did this workout on Friday and burned just over 300 calories according to my heart rate monitor. Not bad for a 30 minute workout! Make sure to do some stretching afterwards.

And hey, maybe in this little game of Would You Rather you chose the elliptical over running. If that’s the case then you are awesome and I hope you enjoy this workout.

It’s Sunday. Get on it and go burn off all that Halloween candy!

5-4-3-2-1 Variety Speed Run

October 6, 2014 by Jenna

I love a nice and easy five-mile run; however, every once in a while it’s good to switch things up and add in some variety speed.

You know, break up the monotony of routine. Spice up coffee with some cinnamon. Listen to country instead of pop. Wear lipstick. Do some speed work in the middle of a run.

We’re not doing anything crazy here. But still, let’s try out something different. Bust through plateaus. Be re-energized. Become better. And when it comes to running, get faster.

Adding in intervals and speed work into a regular run can do just that.

Running at your “easy run” pace is great, but eventually your body will get too used to it. You won’t be improving, because you won’t be adding new stresses (good stress in this case) for it to adapt too. Incorporating speed work into your runs can help break up the muscle memory of your usual pace, helping you to become faster with the same amount of effort. Speed work can also lead to a VO2 Max improvement, allowing you to be able to work harder for a longer period of time.

These are all good things, so this is what we need to do: 5-4-3-2-1.

This workout is definitely a workout. It’s not easy, but it goes surprisingly fast.

Once the second speed interval is completed you’re basically almost done! This is also about the time I need to start my mantras: “Three minutes! You can push it for three minutes!”, “Two minutes. Two minutes. Two minutes. That’s it. Just two short minutes”, “I just need to pick it up for one more minute – that’s basically nothing!” Some days it’s easier to convince myself of these things than others.

The key is to make the last one-minute interval of speed work as fast as (if not faster than) the first five-minute interval. This will help you train your body/legs/mind how to kick it into gear and push through the fatigue, which will come in handy during the last few moments/miles of your next race.

You can check out some other speed workouts here and here. Maybe add in some burpees just for fun?

Kidding.

(I’m not kidding)

This workout is perfect for a 6-7 mile run with a full two-mile warm up and cool down (depending on your pace). If you want something shorter you can decrease the warm up and cool down, just be sure to get at least eight minutes in for each. You can also start the speed intervals at four minutes rather than five.

If you are a go-getter or are further along in marathon training, feel free to add on a six-minute speed interval with a three-minute recovery at the beginning. This would probably get you closer to 7-9 miles. I will be doing tomorrow this after work. Cannot wait.

Speaking of marathon training and marathons… the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon was yesterday!

This marathon. It’s amazing. I love it. The runners. The spectators. The course. All wonderful.

I am on the Marketing Committee for Twin Cities in Motion and organized the cheer zone contest. Part of my duties for this was to bike along the course and judge the cheer zones to determine the winners. My friend Katie and I biked, stopped at the cheer zones, chatted with people, ate, drank, cheered on runners… it was rough, but we got the job done. It was my second year working on the cheer zones and being on the association – I loved every minute of it!

Now that I have run a couple of marathons I understand the blood, sweat, and tears (literally) that go into training for and running one. The 26.2 mile journey begins long before the start line. It’s a true feat of endurance and is (in my opinion) just as much of a physical challenge as it is a mental one.

8,848 people crossed the finish line yesterday. All at different times for different reasons with a different story. I hope they are all celebrating right now. And foam rolling.

4th of July Tabata Workout

June 30, 2014 by Jenna

I don’t know about you, but I had an awesome weekend. It just really felt like summer. I needed one of those. It reminded me how great it is to be alive and young. So much fun.

And this coming weekend: 4^th of July! Who is excited?! A short workweek followed by a long weekend. What’s not to love? I hope you are all planning on lots of sunshine and lake time and BBQs and watermelon. I am. That is fo sho.

Inspired by the 4^th of July, I put together a little tabata workout.

July 4 = 7/4 = 7 rounds of 4 exercises. Get it?

The awesome thing about tabata is that it is super quick and extremely effective. Remember this HIIT workout when I explained the benefits of this type of training? The science around tabata is the same.

This workout will take you less than 20 minutes. It is quick, but it is not easy! It actually is harddddd. In order to make it worth your time, you have to push it – really make yourself work. You should be huffin’ and puffin’ and sweatin’. Then afterwards you will feel amazing. Your metabolism will be all revved up and you won’t feel as bad about indulging in hot dogs, s’mores, and flag cake.

Do it a once or twice this week to prep for all the lake/pool time, delicious food, and cold beverages.

Maybe you are going out of town and won’t have access to a gym. That is no problem! You can basically do this workout anywhere. The only thing you need is a timer, because if you can easily and evenly count to 20 seconds through all these exercise it means you are not working hard enough. Luckily for us, there is a plethora of timer and stopwatch apps.

I will be doing this workout outside of my cabin on Friday morning before throwing on my swimsuit and chilling by the lake. Maybe I will get the rest of my family to join in. The sound of loons will be our background music.