Suggested “Cardio 2.0” Workouts, Part 2

Hopefully you enjoyed the Suggested “Cardio 2.0” Workouts, Part 1, where I offered up some creative ideas to break free from steady-state, straight-ahead cardio workouts to add some variety and different fitness stimulations. The suggestions listed were “Jogging 2.0” (adding fitness challenges ala parcour along your route), “Walkabouts” where you depart from the path or trail and navigate some uneven terrain, repeating specific “Benchmark” workouts to measure your fitness progress, and a workout where you alternate between walking and jogging to stay under fat max with pace variation. Here are several more ideas that you might enjoy giving a test run:

Fartlek Workout, aka “The Persistence Hunt”: Fartlek is a Swedish word that translates as “speed play”--a workout characterized by unstructured variations in running pace, typically over varied terrain. For decades, fartlek sessions have been very popular among endurance runners seeking variety and novelty from the typical rigid structure of interval workouts on the track or hill repeats. Fartlek seems pretty similar to an ancestral persistence hunt, doesn’t it!?

Anything goes with fartlek workouts (you are not worried about staying below fat max during such sessions.) A pack of runners can take turns leading and setting whatever pace one likes for however long one likes before ceding to another runner. Or, a fartlek run might entail charging up any hill encountered on the route, while jogging on flats and downhills.

Some comments from the book Exercise Physiology on fartlek workouts: “When properly applied, this method overloads one or all of the energy systems”; and, “although it lacks the systematic and quantified approaches of interval and continuous training, it also adds freedom and variety to workouts.”

Walking With Purpose: Walk as fast as you can before having to break into a jog. You don’t have to swivel your hips like an Olympic race walker, but a hurried cadence and extra arm pump elevates your heart rate and calorie burning. And, you obtain excellent aerobic conditioning effects without the impact trauma of jogging. Walking with purpose also offers a better opportunity for social connection than jogging or bicycling. Unlike jogging, you can establish a pace that’s doable for all parties, can converse better without getting winded, and use less vigilance for safe footfalls. 

Rucking: Rucking is a hot new fitness trend that entails walking or hiking with specially designed backpacks or weighted vests where you can add incremental, efficiently distributed weights to carry 15-50 pounds. With rucking, you can obtain some good upper body conditioning, and also improve aerobic conditioning without the impact trauma of running. Rucking delivers cardiovascular stimulation on a par with a running workout, but without the impact trauma. Rucking can be especially beneficial for seniors trying to ward off sarcopenia who lack the musculoskeletal resiliency to perform medium or high-impact exercise. 

A rucking-specific backpack is typically recommended, but weighted fitness vests are fine too. Wild Gym have a great line of rucking backpacks. The main goal is to strap weight securely to the body so you don’t have the potential hazard of weight bouncing around and throwing you off balance. Experts recommend starting with around 10 percent of your bodyweight, and hard core enthusiasts will go up to 40 percent of bodyweight. As with starting any new workout protocol, proceed gradually with rucking. One or two sessions per week are plenty, as you’ll want sufficient recovery time for your muscles and connective tissue. 

Uphill Backward Walking: You can try this on a safe outdoor hill or walk backwards on a slow moving treadmill. Weighted backward uphill walking delivers an excellent strengthening effect to the arches, calves, quads, and glutes in a way that forward walking does not. This exercise is also great for improving balance and proprioception. It’s important to use minimalist shoes (or just socks on a treadmill) to get full muscle activation without interference from landing on an elevated heel shoe. Try walking for 3-5 minutes, take a short break for forward walking, and then repeat for a few sets. I do backward treadmill walking for a few minutes before many of my gym workouts. 

Speedgolf: In speedgolf, you play as fast as you can while also trying to score well. Your speedgolf score counts a point for each stroke, and a point for each minute to achieve the lowest possible total. You play with just a handful of clubs in a small bag, and get a great workout while enjoying a compelling new challenge. It’s easy to imagine the blend of strategy, cardiovascular fitness, and zen-like concentration necessary to excel in a speedgolf tournament. 

For players of all speeds, speedgolf is an exhilarating way to break free from the stodgy convention of what devoted speedgolfers like to call “slow golf.” Another key benefit is you can enjoy a nine or 18-hole round in a fraction of the time it typically takes to play, while also getting a great workout. Watch “Brad Kearns speedgolf introduction” on YouTube to learn how to get started.

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