Probably the most neglected component of training is building a proper aerobic base.
With the rise of high intensity training predominantly populated by the sport of Crossfit, many athletes looking for a faster route to fitness have fallen victim to it’s allure.
Why train for an hour when you can get the same benefits by doing a hard 10 minute metcon?
Well, you can’t get the same benefits. Not even close.
By not building a proper aerobic base you’ll end up having huge gaps in your fitness, and you’ll never truly realize your anaerobic potential.
If I was to go down the rabbit hole of aerobic vs. anaerobic training adaptations we’d be here all day. So I am just going to say that you need to trust us on this one.
The key take away is that the vast majority of your training should be low to moderate intensity, both for strength training, and metabolic training. In regards to strength this falls in the 60-80% range of a 1 rep max, and in regards to metabolic conditioning it should be in the 55-75% of max heart rate.
You’ll see sessions like this (but typically shorter) almost weekly in most of our programs as aerobic capacity adaptations will fade very quickly if not trained regularly. If you’re pursuing an endurance based event or sport, you’ll see lots of this training in your program.
Easy day today – enjoy it,
Coach Saenz
TRAINING SESSION
20 minutes
10x Atomic Abs
800 meter run
20 minutes
5x Lunge on e/s
10x Plank Walk-up
800 meter row or 4 minutes on bike
20 minutes
5x Kettlebell Clean + Press e/s (or 5x Dumbbell Thruster)
10x Toes to Sky
100x Step-ups with 25lbs
Notice there is no warm-up?
That is intentional as this session is done at a pace that does not need one. This entire session should be done at an easy pace, which means that you should be able to talk to your training partner the entire time without having difficulty breathing.
If you have a heart rate monitor you should stay below 75% of max heart rate, which for most athletes is under 145 beats per minute. We love heart rate monitors as they don’t lie, oftentimes an athlete will be working much harder than necessary and not even know it. If you are using one, don’t be surprised if you have to stop and walk at some point to stay below this threshold.
In truth, you could simply just run or row for an hour and you’d receive the same benefits. But we’ve found that formats like this work much better for gym athletes as it provides enough variety to keep them interested.
