Want to ramp up your cardiovascular conditioning, and burn more calories? (And create new, exciting workouts?) Add some speed to your workout. Speed training improves...your speed, your metabolism, and not only increases fat burning…you will increase your mind-body awareness AND mentally, you will feel like a baddie because you have just kicked your own booty and lived to tell the tale.
I love jumping rope for speed!
Here are a few ways to add speed:
Do speed intervals boxing on the heavy bag ie: one minute speed work: one minute recovery.
You can do the same 1:1 work:rest ratio running, doing plyometrics, using a jumprope, or on the stairs or the bike. During the one minute of speed you are going 100% full throttle. Do your speed work for about 20 minutes and then spend 10 minutes cooling down and stretching out. Because this is taxing on both your nervous system and your metabolic system, you will want to do this workout only about 1-2x per week, depending on your level of intensity.
Here is another workout you can do which incorporates speed; Lets call this the
Early Polar Vortex Workout #5
(Make sure to do a dynamic warm-up and mobility (see earlier posts!) before speed conditioning, you need to prepare your body to accelerate and decelerate quickly and correctly).
Sprint on treadmill one minute (or outside, or stairs, or box) then do 10 pushups as fast as possible
Sprint on TM/exercise of your choice one minute, then do 10 plyo pushups (you explode off the floor as you do your pushup )
Sprint on TM one minute, then do 10 frog jumps
Sprint on TM one minute, then do 5 single leg squat jumps each leg
Sprint on TM one minute, then do 10 burpees
Sprint on TM one minute, then do 5 single leg burpees each leg
Sprint on TM one minute, then do 15 split lunge jumps
Sprint on TM one minute, then do 20 mountain climbers
Sprint on TM one minute, then do one minute slow recovery run, walk, stairs, etc.
Stretch!
BRILLIANT. EASY. BESPOKE.