Modified Push-Runs for cross training.
I want to share with you a couple interesting workouts I’ve put together recently. Typically I’ll do these workouts on my cross-training days. The point is that you can mix and match the strength and cardio elements of your plan to get great workouts and keep it interesting.
The point of these workouts is usually a day when I’m not running. Currently in my schedule I run 4 days a week. I do a work out every day in most weeks unless I’m traveling or it’s a rest day after a race. I try to do something every day.
I don’t want to injure myself so I can’t run back to back days, but I still want to get cardio on some of these off days. When I’m traveling or at the gym in my office complex my best choice for non-running cardio is the stationary bicycle. I’m not training for a bike event at this point so when I’m on the stationary bike the point of the workout is not to stress my legs but to raise my heart rate and get some cardio on my legs without running.
In general when I’m doing cross training with the bike it is my personal opinion that you have to use a 2X factor to convert to running. Meaning that 2 hours on the bike is worth the same as an hour run.
The other thing that I try to get in on my cross training days is core and strength work. This means doing dumbbell workouts, abdominal exercises and pushups. I have different versions of these routines, but the point is not to bulk up. The point of these core workouts is to build lean muscle strength and core strength.
When I do these I use a lighter weight and more reps. For example, let’s say you can curl a 25 pound dumbbell 8 times. Then you would, for this workout, do 15 quick, clean curls with 15 pounds. This also serves the purpose of getting your heart rate up at the same time as you quickly cycle through the sets. It takes less time too.
When I’m doing these cross training workouts I’ll also throw in 4-6 sets of 20 pushups, 20 crunches and 20 leg lifts. This ends up being between 80 and 120 of each of these per session. It’s great for maintaining tone and core and helping you run strong.
Anyone who wants the specifics can shoot me an email.
The way I’m cycling it now, I run Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I cross train on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Monday is when my legs are most tired from back-to-back running over the weekend and I will typically just do core and weights but make sure I do 3 full sets to exhaustion.
An example core/weights workout might be the following:
Stretch
Standing dumbbell flys
Standing dumbbell forward shoulder raises
Standing dumbbell shoulder press
20 crunches
20 leg lifts
50 bicycles
20 pushups
Tricep kickbacks with a dumbbell
Alternating standing dumbbell curls
Standing tricep curls with the dumbbell behind the head
Two-arm, standing bicep curls with dumbbells
20 pushups
1 minute plank
I’ll repeat this 3 times, cycling through the sets as quickly as possible.
On Wednesday and Friday I’ll do 40Min to an hour of cycling and try to mix in some pushups and crunches if I can.
What I wanted to share with you today is a way of combining the light cardio and the core work that is quite fun and mimics some of the muscle confusion stuff that is popular today.
Here’s how it works.
If I have extra time I’ll start off on the stationary bike at my club. I’ll cycle at a low effort level, maybe level 10 out of 15 and make sure I keep the cadence very high, 90+ rpm. I’ll do 10 minutes, jump off and do a set of core like the one I outlined above.
Then I’ll jump back on the bike for another 10 minutes and repeat until I get 40 minutes of cycling and 3 sets of core.
It doesn’t take as long as you think. The core sets take 10-15 minutes and since you are getting a 10 minute rest in between you can really hustle through them and get a good quality effort.
This is an awesome workout.
If I don’t have so much time I can do 30 minutes of cycling with two sets of core. If I’m really pressed for time I can just do the pushups and crunches in-between 10 minute bike sprints. You can adjust it to how much time you have and how you feel.
I typically use the stationary bike, but you could do the same workout with any piece of cardio equipment, the rower, the recumbent bike, the elliptical, the stair-thingy, whatever makes you happy.
In my taper last week I did the classic push run version of this. I did three sets of tempo intervals on the treadmill and in-between I jumped off and did a set of pushups and crunches.
It’s a great way to mix and match your cardio and you core.
One thing to be aware of is that the other people in the gym won’t know what you’re doing and may get on your cardio equipment while you’re doing pushups. This has happened to me. You just smile and tell them what you’re doing and move to another machine, but it might be easier to plan these type of things during slack times at the gym.
If you’ve ever heard Brett over at the ‘Zen and the art of triathlon’ blog/podcast he’s famous for push runs. He mixes in all sorts of exercises at every mile of his runs out on the road. I did this once and had a car pull over to ask me if I was ok as I was lying on the road on a freezing night doing crunches between hill repeats.
It may sound nuts, but give it a try. It’s a great workout and it can spice things up a bit for you.
If you want more details on any of these things just shoot me an email. I’m not a coach and I usually end up breaking the people who train with me – so caveat emptor and I’ll see you out there.