Sunday Story…Cardio-Respiratory Response

 

Here we are in exercise 3.0 talking about your heart, lungs, and how to get the most advantageous outcome for your work.

There are 3 pathways we want to work here…long slow Zone 2, the 4-8 minute hard and fast in Zones 3 & 4, and the all-out pedal to the metal sprint in Zone 5.

First and where we get the most bang for our buck is in the long slow distance work. 4 times a week for 45 minutes. Yes, you read that right. But this isn’t sitting on your butt on an exercise bike and reading a magazine. No, you must monitor your heart rate continuously in concert with your pace. If your heart rate goes too high, you Must slow down or stop until it returns to zone 2. Then you start again. This is training your heart to work efficiently. It will also train your heart to recover faster. And eventually, you can go faster and keep the heart rate down.

Second, is the place where we work a lot of the time. My heart rate is up but not maxed out. A pace you can keep up for 4-8 minutes. We need to do these 1 or 2 times a week. You can mix many activities here and you don’t need to continuously monitor your heart rate, but you need to look at it when you finish. Then analyze what went right or wrong. How did you feel? Can you remember what you did to stay in control? This is the learning curve you want to ride.

Last is the all-out sprint. Think Tabata…20 seconds of work 10 seconds rest for 8 rounds. All out work for 20 seconds. That means a tongue dragging, head swimming, and legs shaking piece. That will be all there is and there ain’t no more! Once or twice a month on this will do it.

You have now trained all the metabolic pathways. Strengthened your heart muscle, flushed your lungs, and created a more resilient human. A human now designed to live every day with a health span that allows them to enjoy the life they want to lead.

 

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com