I am a big fan of functional, whole body fitness. In addition to being able to (someday) run a marathon I want to be able to lift heavy objects, sprint after something, hike and climb, row, etc. Being able to leap tall buildings in a single bound wouldn't hurt as well. The point here is that instead of having pumped up muscles that aren't very strong, I would prefer to do what's necessary to have a strong body with some muscle definition but more importantly -- to have a body that has the right combination of strength and endurance for many activities.
Training for "strength endurance" is tough. Some would say it is near impossible. There are designated protocols to work out and get big muscles, to train for strength, to run a marathon -- but to combine the elements to achieve "strength endurance" eluded many so called experts in the stregth training world for years. And then someone looked at gymnasts and sprinters... Gymnasts and sprinters combine excellent muscle definition with explosive speed and body control. Boxers and fighters also fit the bill here. Bingo! The latest "functional fitness" craze is in large part inspired by looking at boxers, gymnasts, sprinters, and the like and realizing that there simple training methods work to forge a hard, lean body capable of amazing things whether you are female or male.
And that brings me to CrossFit.
is a website blog that is all about functional fitness. Their journal is one of the best available and daily they post their infamous "WOD" -- workout of the day. Mostly named after women, the WOD is a short duration, strange combination of exercises that promises to exhaust and inspire even the elite athlete. The CrossFit WOD is awesome, and with these past two days of travelling, I've done Monday's WOD the past two days -- and while I feel great, I also feel like a truck's run over me.
It's a simple workout:
Run 400 metersDo 50 squatsRepeat for 4 total rounds. You are looking to minimize your total time.
This has to be one of the most grueling lower body interval workouts I've ever tried. A great burn for all parts of the legs and the lower back and abs. Given the distance and number of reps going all out on round 1 is probably not the smartest thing to do. And most people cannot do 50 squats to parallel (or below if you are on your toes) at once in a single set. So a workout like this looks like 4 intervals but it really forces you to pay attention to pacing and spacing. On Monday I tried to go all out from round 1 and ended up spent and with a time of 25:32. Tuesday I thought about things a little better and paced myself in round 1 and increased my pace and effort with subsequent rounds. 21:17. A big improvement.
If you are a runner or training for any endurance activity it is important to mix long runs with intervals as part of an overall training program week in and week out. This simple workout is a great way to emphasize building strength and endurance in your legs, lungs, and abs like few I've seen and can be done on a treadmill or outdoors easily.
