By: Katy Reid
“Discipline is remembering what you want.“ – David Campbell
A few decades ago I learned the value of endurance workouts when I was regularly running marathons and logging 60-mile weeks. The weekly long (2-3 hour) run of 15-20 miles was magical for both my mental and physical health. Although I have since replaced the running with lower impact activities like spinning, cardio machines, and swimming, the long cardio workout has remained the foundation for my weekly fitness schedule.
The time I spend on these long workouts makes me so much more productive in my regular life that I feel like it gives me additional hours in my day. After I’ve moved long enough and hard enough at a consistent pace for at least 60-90 minutes, I am happy, confident, and almost stress-free. Shorter, less-intense cardio workouts certainly don’t have the same effect for me.
The physical benefits of my endurance training have also been enormous. When I was training for marathons, for instance, I could lower my race times in shorter races simply by running one longer run per week, even if I didn’t train at a faster-than-usual pace. Currently, the long workouts are key for helping me to maintain my weight and fitness level.
Exciting recent research has shown that endurance and high-intensity interval workouts can be anti-aging at a cellular level! Perhaps that explains why I am still about 34 years old! I try to incorporate both endurance and high-intensity intervals into my INTERVAL CYCLE CHALLENGES. The workouts are 60-80 minutes with different music and interval lengths each week. If you don’t have a bike at home, you can use any cardio machine.There are also two spin bikes and cardio machines in the fitness center.
Contact Heather at hwilliamsahc@gmail.com to get the weekly INTERVAL CYCLE CHALLENGES. I encourage you to work up gradually to the 60-80 minutes unless you are currently doing weekly endurance training. As a guideline, increase your total time by no more than 10% per week to avoid injury. Feel free to contact me at katyreidspin@gmail.com if you have any questions.
