12/16 Wellness Wednesday

Duane rows fast

Why we row hard and rest 

A keystone of our strength and conditioning program is the High-Intensity Interval. Most folks call this kind of training HIIT (high-intensity interval training.) 
We love HIIT for its ability to make us stronger, faster and more powerful. Anyone who's trained with us has experienced the brutal elegance of 10 rounds of 2 min max effort row, bike or run with a prescribed rest after each effort.
Newbies always want to shorten the rest. Don't fall for it. 
THE REST IS WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS. 
I know that might seem strange coming from a fitness coach. We coaches have a saying, you don't get stronger from your efforts, you get stronger from recovering from your efforts. This holds true for a sprint workout just as much as for a strength workout. 
The rest between intervals is what determines your power output. Power output is what determines the stimulus of the workout and the training adaptation. 
Today we are only "working" for 10 minutes total and because we are doing it in intervals, our power output will be much higher than if we had a sustained 10 min effort. 
You have certainly experienced this. Go for a 10 min run and measure your heart rate. Now, break that 10 mins up into 5 x 2 min intervals with 2 mins rest and go as fast as you can for each interval. Measure your heart rate now. Which one was harder? Which one required more power output?
Can you guess which type of workout will get you in shape faster?
Yep, the 5 x 2min intervals. Every. Time. 
High intensity interval training is what Olympians and we, mere mortals at TSCF, use to get in shape and become fitter, faster and more powerful. 
Sure we also program longer sustained training and we program strength days. It's the combination of all of these things that gets our folks in such good condition. 
So let's get after our HITT today! Have some fun and great ready to show us your power!

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