Ross Enamait recent posted a new video of workout clips titled Low-Tech, High-Effect. Good gravy. The rope skipping clip is mind-boggling, and I'm green with envy at his power-overs. Ross is one of my fitness heros, even if I only have one of his books so far (The Underground Guide to Warrior Fitness). I'd buy more, but the one I have already contains a lifetime-worth of material. Still, I plan on picking up his new book, Infinite Intensity when it ships, as we all need pie-in-the-sky goals, and certain stuff like one-arm chins and the like are way out on my distant horizon. Can't wait!

( Note: here are my other Tabata Interval posts. )

In preparing for the 2005 Ultimate Frisbee season, I made the switch for the first time from predominantly long aerobic training to high intensity interval training (HIIT). Before I get into all the supporting documentation, let me repeat something: last season my workouts were hour-long moderate intensity aerobic sessions. This season my workouts were 20-minute HIIT sessions. When I finally stepped on the field in the spring this season, I was easily two months ahead of where I was the previous season, conditioning-wise. In other words, I cut my workout times by 66%, and was significantly, noticeably more fit as a result.

The workout I adopted was Taku's Interval Training. Taku underscores the point above (he's writing for combat athletes, but it really applies to all athletes except pure endurance athletes, like marathoners):

Hopefully it is starting to sink in that for combat sports, long slow distance training is ineffective. Jogging or running at a steady pace continually for 20-45-60 minutes at a time is really a massive waste of valuable training and conditioning time. To maximize your efficiency while training "Cardio" for combat sports build your routine around high intensity interval training.

You can skip down to "THE PROGRAM" if you don't want to read the science. What it boils down to though is this: once you've worked yourself up to the most intense form of the intervals, you do 15 minutes warm-up, followed by 5 minutes of intense training, followed by 5 minutes cool down. I know that looks impossible, but you are reading that right: the hard part of the workout is only five minutes long. This is exactly the routine I substituted for 60-minutes of lower-intensity aerobic work, with much better results.

I have since found many more articles detailing this form of HIIT. Phase 3 that Taku describes is a Tabata Interval, named after the study by Izumi Tabata that compared it to a different interval. I haven't found the study itself online, but Peak Performance has a compelling summary:

On a different day the subjects performed two different kinds of interval workout. The first session (I1) comprised bouts of 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest at an intensity equivalent to 170% of their VO2max. The subjects performed six or seven bouts each until reaching exhaustion, ie, they could no longer continue at the prescribed intensity. The second session (I2) comprised bouts of 30 seconds with two minutes rest at an intensity of 200% of their VO2max. The subjects managed four or five of these bouts. [snip]

The conclusion from these findings seems to be that the I1 workout, the 20-second bouts with 10 secs recovery at 170% VO2max, is a better training stimulus for aerobic and anaerobic systems than the I2 workout of 30-second bouts with two mins recovery at 200% VO2max. In support of this, Tabata et al found that a six-week regime of I1 resulted in a 13 per cent improvement in VO2max.

The results of this research by Tabata et al clearly show that two different intervals workouts have different demands and therefore training effects. I1, with 20-second bouts with 10 secs rest at 170% VO2max places the aerobic and anaerobic systems at peak stress. Therefore it would be a fine session for improving both aerobic and anaerobic capacity. Events where both aerobic and anaerobic demands are high are, for example, 400m, 800m and 1500m running, sprint cycling, canoeing, rowing and speed skating. This kind of workout would be great for these sports. Games players may also want to use the I1 workout as an intense training method for improving aerobic and anaerobic fitness.

The benefits described above are from just one Tabata set (20 seconds all-out work followed by 10 seconds rest, repeated 8-10 times). The gang at Crossfit string multiple Tabata sets together in a workout titled Tabata This. Ross Enamait, in his fantastic book The Underground Guide to Warrior Fitness also advocates stringing together Tabata sets. There are many exercises that lend themselves to the Tabata treatment: sprints, jump rope, squats, pushups, burpees (killer), chinnies, etc. There's no end to the ways you can torture yourself with Tabatas.

The one good thing about all that aerobic training was that it laid a pretty good foundation upon which I could build this more intense work. You would not want to undertake Tabatas or any other HIIT without a solid conditioning base. As is true for everything I write here—but particularly for stuff like this that might make your heart explode—consult a doctor before embarking on new fitness regimes.

Back when I was doing no strength training at all, I did some poking around and found Scrapper's Workout #1. This routine will always have a special place in my heart as it, along with discovering Tabata intervals, really changed the way I train. All bodyweight exercises, no equipment required, and it's a grueling full-body workout. When I first started doing the routine, I was careful to stick to the prescribed 20-30 seconds rest maximum between sets, but I cut most of the repetitions in half, and was still wrecked by the end. I'd try to squeeze the workout in during my afternoon break from work, but by the end I was often so nauseated that I had to lie down. Even sitting at the computer was out of the question! I attribute my extreme exhaustion to three things:

1. No strength training on my part for at least 10 years prior.
2. Very little recovery time between sets.
3. Working arms, torso, core, and legs to exhaustion all in the same workout.

I really came to dread my two days per week with this workout (that's a compliment), but happily I'm much better at it now. Not so good that I'm ready for Workout #2. I may never be ready for Workout #2, but it's good to have it out there as a goal.

The Netflix Workout carried me a little ways, but it wasn't far enough. Starting at the beginning of 2005 I completely overhauled my training approach, and that overhaul is now fodder for this weblog. Here were my revelations (which I'm sure are old hat to anyone who's already fit):

• You can only get more flexible and stave off injury if you make stretching a priority. Do it every day, and not just as a half-assed workout warmup. I now take a break from work to stretch, making it an entirely separate activity from my workout proper.
• You have to train for strength in addition to training for endurance.
• Intervals and high intensity training are king. Long duration aerobic training is for marathoners, not team sports and power athletes. Shorter, more intense workouts will still boost your endurance, but without sacrificing speed and power.

You can check out the links to the right to see how I came to many of these ideas (none of which are original, that's for sure).

I have to admit, I was quite skeptical that intense interval training would get me the same endurance benefits (within the context of Ultimate Frisbee) as my hour-long aerobic sessions in front of The Sopranos. But the bottom line is this: I cut my workout time in half, and was easily two months ahead of schedule, conditioning-wise, from the previous season. I was amazed. Shorter workouts, better results. Oh, and I dropped the rest of the forty pounds, bringing me roughly back to my college weight.

Best of all, after many months of forcing myself to exercise, I'm finally happy to exercise for its own sake (and that's despite my workouts being intense and varied enough that watching TV at the same time is out of the question).

Okay, that's enough groundwork. Time to start blogging for real.

Having dug myself into a hefty forty-pound hole, I had to find a way to climb out. I had long loathed running and other forms of standalone conditioning, so I had to find a way to make exercising a little more fun (I would later come to embrace exercise for its own sake, but that took a long friggin' time). Enter what I call "The Netflix Workout". It's simple:

1. Get an account at Netflix.
2. Pick a TV series you've been meaning to catch, and load it into your queue.
3. Hop on your favorite aerobic exercise machine of choice, and watch an episode. Your workout ends when the episode ends.

I'd workout at a moderate-to-hard pace (for reference, shoot for breaking a sweat about five minutes in and finished pretty soaked). I started with The Simpsons (~22 minutes per episode), then jumped to 24 (~42 minutes per episode). I'd probably do this around four days a week, and I also stopped having seconds at lunch and dinner (effectively eliminating 1.5 bonus meals from my day; I'm such a hobbit).

Less food and more exercise bought me a 20-pound drop over about four months. I started playing better, and was able to keep my shin splints in check (I'll save those details for another post). I kept at this for two seasons, but in hindsight I plateaued after the first few months. Even making the jump to The Sopranos (~55 minutes/episode) didn't bring much of an improvement. All it did was make my workouts longer (and the onscreen language more colorful). Then I went and pulled a hamstring on day two of Regionals, so decided the relatively mild aerobic stuff wasn't enough. It was time to ramp things up, and throw some strength and flexibility into the mix...

Even though I'd been playing competitive and recreational sports for most of my life, I'd never been as fit as I could be. I'd mostly get my exercise in the context of playing whatever sport I was enjoying at the time and I'd do very little in the way of dedicated training. Youth and an active lifestyle allowed me to get away with this lax attitude, but I always struggled with shin splints, and my performance on the field was never quite what I would have hoped. Then age and inactivity began to catch up with me. A short timeline (and weightline) casts this in stark relief:

• Late eighties. High school. 6'4", 170 lbs. Incapable of gaining weight, much to the disappointment of my basketball coach.
• Early nineties. College. Prompt acquisition of "freshman 15". Active lifestyle, including the beginning of a long Ultimate Frisbee career.
• The rest of the nineties, through 2002. Adult life. Day job. Parenthood. Gradually accrete 40 pounds, topping out at 235! Unfortunately there are no corresponding gains in height. Occasional shin splints are now chronic.

The shin splints were particularly troublesome. In previous Ultimate seasons they'd follow the same arc: I'd take the winter off and they'd feel great. I'd start playing outdoors in April or May and by July they'd hurt enough that I'd take Ibuprofin before every session. The pain/performance curve would start working against me in August, I'd hobble through Regionals in October, and then take the winter off, rebooting the cycle.

But in early 2002 I tried playing a couple indoor games, and my shins flared to July-levels of inflammation almost immediately. Clearly if I was going to keep playing, even recreationally, I was going to have to get myself into better shape.

Also, I was tired of sucking.