Someone asked me recently what they need to do to both build and maintain a decent measure of fitness. The answer is there really isn’t an easy answer to this simple question. There is no definitive rule of thumb and many folks who have more knowledge and experience than me have radically different viewpoints related to this subject. I should also start what I am about to say by stressing the fact that I am not an expert, I’m not certified as a coach, fitness instructor, etc. I’m a PR guy.
However, fitness has been a core part of my being for 35+ years and it’s a subject I have taken more than a keen interest in. I am a long time ultrarunner, and in the process I have been coached by some of the finest coaches in the country. I did triathlons for seven years and during that time I also worked with top tier coaches. I’ve swam several open water endurance swims, I have done Crossfit for seven years and I’ve worked privately with Crossfit and Gym Jones coaches. Over the years I also coached a handful of athletes myself ranging from aspiring marathoners to some fo the top teen athletes in our area.
My point here isn’t to boast, but rather demonstrate that during this time, I’ve assimilated a lot of information. And I am a voracious reader on the subject as well.
What it comes down to, in my opinion, isn’t enormously complicated. But it’s important to note that the perspective I am about to outline here isn’t one built around, say, a runner looking to do a sub three marathon, or someone looking to deadlift 400 pounds.
Rather, it’s based around the simple question “what do I need to do to achieve a solid measure of fitness in my life?”
Ok, with all of that out of the way, my suggestion boils down to this: two days a week of strength/weight/power work and three days of what I will categorize as “cardio”. Cardio day should include one longer, easier effort and two days of higher intensity work.
Let me break this down a bit more.
Cardio can be defined in my opinion as anything that gets the heart going and propels you forward. Running, biking, swimming are the obvious candidates to me, but power walking could count as well. For the purposes of this discussion, however, I will focus mostly around running. Your easy cardio effort should be 20-30 minutes, minimum, and should be at a low heart rate. Think conversational pace; you should be able to hold a conversation with a training partner fairly easily.
The two higher intensity workouts, in my opinion, are critical. These efforts should be around 10 minutes, minimum, and should get your heart rate up to around 85 percent of your max. If you were to think of it on a scale of 1-10, these higher intensity efforts should be between a 7 and a 9 (whereas your 30 minute aerobic effort should be at a 5 or so).
For me, personally, my two high intensity workouts are done on the track although I might occasionally do one in the water as well. I religiously do twice weekly track sessions that range from mile intervals, to 400 repeats, etc.
My own workouts take the form of around 4 miles of intensity but my own training is built more around a marathon/ultra approach and I think one can accomplish a lot in a much shorter period of time. Crossfit WOD’s, as an example, are very much built around this notion of higher intensity/shorter intervals (called HIIT workouts in their parlance). Many Crossfit workouts, though hard, are only ten minutes (or less) in terms of duration.
Crossfit style workouts fits the bill in terms fo what I am talking about here, as does swim set intervals, bike intervals and more. If you were to ask my to pick ONE thing to focus on to quickly achieve a satisfactory level of fitness, it would be these two higher intensity workouts. Although I would caution one that if you’re coming from a place where your fitness coming into all of this is a bit on the lower side, you need to be very careful about jumping in too close to the flame here.
OK, let’s move on to strength. Building strength, particularly as we age, is really critical. Our bones start to slowly deteriorate as we age and strength work will help slow the process. Plus, as my former Crossfit coach once told me, when is it ever really bad to be strong?
I am of the school of thought that any strength work is beneficial. I realize that during the pandemic, many folks are limited in terms of the equipment they have at their immediate disposal.
However, during the first six months or so of the pandemic, I did Zoom workouts for a group of 10-20 people, depending on the day. For the most part, I’d categorize most of the participants as reasonably fit – but not all of them. We solely did bodyweight work: lunges, air squats, pushups, planks, etc. – and it was astonishing to see how fit (the fitness came from the HIIT construct of many of these workouts) and strong they ALL got in a very short period of time. So, to be clear, bodyweight workouts definitely work.
That said, my preference would be for both of those workouts to incorporate some weights – if even light weights, dumbbells. etc. As the same Crossfit coach of mine famously put it, “ You want to get strong? It’s simple. Lift heavy shit from the ground and overhead.”
You know what; he’s absolutely right.
And that’s about it. To recap, in a nutshell: three aerobic workouts a week, two of which include a measure of higher-intensity.
Two strength workouts a week of a duration of 20 minutes to an hour. Not enormously complicated, nor should it be, really. Give this a shot for four weeks and I promise you will see a noticeable difference in many aspects of your life. Keep in mind that improved fitness correlates to other areas such as improved sleep, appetite, etc.
While the above program might not enable you to free solo El Cap with Alex Honnold, I can almost assure you if you stick with it you’ll look better, you’ll feel better and you’ll likely have a lot more energy through the course of your day. And at the end of the day, those are the outcomes that are most meaningful to a majority of those who seek improved fitness.
Perpetual Motion 