Workout: The Bell Curve

Today’s workout comes to us via my college track and field coach, who liked to inflict this one upon us when she felt we needed a good figurative kick in the arse.

I would put this in the “medium to hard” category, as far as workouts go, since it requires you to be conscious of your pace for the entire time.

Before I write out the workout, I think it’s best if we all refresh our memories as to what a bell curve actually looks like:

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Remember these bad boys from high school algebra? Or was it geometry? Clearly, math is not my strong suit!

Anyways, here’s how the workout goes:

*5:00 easy jog warm-up (with some dynamic movements thrown in, if you want)

*2:00 at a pace you would consider a “1″ on a scale of 1-5 (one is the easiest)- this is the beginning of the bell curve; follow this with 2:00 at a “2″  pace (slightly faster.)

*Continue the workout with 2:00 intervals at levels “3″, “4″ and “5″ (level 5 being a pace you could maintain for 2:00 but probably not much longer than that. In other words, you should be sucking wind by the end of that interval!)

*Once you do 2:00 at level “5,” drop down to “4″ for 2:00, then “3″ for 2:00, etc until you back down to the “1″ pace, or your easy jog.

*5:00 cool down of easy jogging or walking

This workout is designed to be done continuously, moving from one level to the next without stopping and it’s a great way to focus on your pace and push your body out of it’s comfort zone.

I also like this workout because it’s quick but it gets the job done. Cardiovascular limits are pushed, mental barriers are broken and it’s just a great little session to bust out whenever you’re feeling the need to push yourself.

What do you guys think, does this look to difficult to attempt or could you do it?

 

 

 

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Easiest Workout Ever

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Haha, get it? The cat is in an actual rut!

Seriously, even if you only have 25 minutes or less, this is a very effective way to maximize a workout.  Here it is:

One minute on, one minute off, for as long as you want to work out.

You can do this on any machine in the gym or any type of physical activity (running, biking and swimming come to mind.)

All it means is that you do one minute of activity at a hard pace, followed by one minute at an easy pace.  Rinse and repeat.

I swear, it works, as simple as it sounds! I did 30 minutes like this on the elliptical the other day and I definitely felt a difference from my standard “barely exert myself” normal half hour on the ol’ ellip’.

Plus, for some reason, the time seems to always fly by whenever I do this work-out, which is another bonus. Mostly ’cause I can only handle one episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” or whatever syndicated sitcom happens to be showing (with the exception of Friends.  Friends rules, forever!)

Anyways, you should try this workout, it’s really, really easy and you’ll get good results.   So go now, try it and report back to me and tell me how it went!

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