Goal: A cardio-focused session designed to elevate heart rate, improve aerobic capacity, and promote calorie burn through interval running.
Daily Benefits: Cardiovascular exercise like this is essential for heart health, increasing lung capacity, and aiding in weight management, boosting both physical and mental wellbeing.
Running Warmup
- Dynamic Stretching: 5 minutes of leg swings, arm circles, and gentle torso twists to prepare the body.
- Brisk Walking: 5 minutes of brisk walking to gradually raise the heart rate and get your legs moving.
Interval Running Session
- Light Jog: Start with a light jog for 5 minutes at a comfortable pace.
- High-Intensity Intervals: Alternate between 1 minute of sprinting and 2 minutes of walking or light jogging for recovery. Repeat for 20 minutes.
- Steady Pace: Run at a steady, moderate pace for 10 minutes to maintain cardiovascular effort.
Running Cooldown
- Cooldown Walk: 5 minutes of walking to bring your heart rate down gradually.
- Stretching: Spend 5-10 minutes doing static stretches, focusing on the legs and lower back to reduce muscle tightness.
Monitor your heart rate throughout the session to ensure you’re working within your target heart rate zone. Record your distances and how you feel during each interval in your workout planner. Stay hydrated and refuel with a nutritious post-run meal to aid recovery and muscle repair. Tweak the intensity of the intervals and the distance of the steady run as you progress and according to your fitness goals.