A New Kind of Interval Training

As we saw in June, I have gotten into obstacle course racing, which is a very satisfying way to cross-train for walkers. We develop upper body and grip strength, which is helpful with walking (keeping elbows at 90 degrees, and carrying bottles and such). It keeps things from getting boring (because let's face it, sometimes walking many miles every week and doing nothing else is a bit dull). It gives us a break from the same-old when we're burned out on cardio. And it makes us more well-rounded as athletes in general.

But pounding out reps at the gym is not always super fun, either. "There's got to be some kind of compromise!" we scream, remnants of protein bar flying out of our mouths. Good news: there is! Interval training! And it ain't your momma's interval training...assuming your momma does interval training. Mine doesn't. No, my favorite newfangled kind of workout combines walking and weights/calisthenics in a stupendously exciting way.

Two examples of my version of an interval workout:

1) Take something heavy (I have a 30 lb Spartan Pancake, which is essentially a round sandbag) to a local park. I have a pond/lake in my town that is surrounded by a 1.2-mile bike trail spotted with four outdoor exercise rigs. I carry my pancake around the lake, stopping at each rig to do monkey bars across, then climb through and around the outside of the rig, then maybe do some rig-related calisthenics (pushups, pullups, box jumps, etc) before picking up the pancake and moving on to the next. This mixes things up and keeps you constantly engaged, while at the same time giving you a distance to put miles on your feet. Imagine how much easier those miles will feel WITHOUT the pancake.

2) Mock Spartan Race. There is a free "outdoor gym" about 30 minutes from my house, featuring all kinds of interesting stuff - tire-flipping, arm ropes, A-frames to climb over, monkey bars, climbing ropes, etc. I have written out a workout that has about a dozen different "obstacles," and between each I need to walk a short (1/10-mile or so) loop in the area. You can do the circuit as many times as you want. Again, it's a fun way to keep your body guessing, and incorporate cardio into your workout so that you can have great all-around fitness.

Standard intervals are all about mixing up speeds, or "hard/recovery." With these sorts of interval workouts, you can keep the entire thing fairly difficult, while still being able to catch your breath and have fun. Win/win/win!