All of my pondering and research into the leg development of sprinters and cyclists has changed my cardio…
I’m now using my stationary recumbent bike for one of my weekly cardio sessions—even though I said it was too boring…
Trainer Vince McConnell recommended the Sprint 8 protocol, written by Phil Campbell.
It’s basically eight 30-second all-out sprints at a high-resistance level on an exercise bike, elliptical, treadmill, or other cardio machine, separated by 90 seconds of low-intensity work at a low-resistance level.
You can apply it to running—which I was kind of doing; however, the sprint times are shorter, and you do more damage due to pounding your joints and skeleton as you run than you do on machines…
After reading researcher Chris Beardsley’s take on running being catabolic for that very reason, I decided to switch one of my run days to sprints on my stationary recumbent bike—as an experiment.
How hard can 20 minutes of these sprints be? Answer: brutally hard…
I thought I was in good cardio shape—until I tried Sprint 8. I could only manage four sprints my first time out. My entire lower body was on fire, not to mention my lungs. Plus, my heart rate shot up to 160 beats…
At my next outing I had my iPhone nearby with 911 ready on speed dial. I did manage five sprints that second session, but still with plenty of major gasping and muscle-burn.
I’m hoping that less pavement pounding will result in less cortisol and more hypertrophy—not only in my legs but overall…
And Campbell suggests that Sprint 8 ramps up anabolic hormone release, including growth hormone. I’ll take all the anti-aging compounds in my bloodstream I can get. Maybe I can stop peeing multiple times during the night. Then again, my legs may get so fatigued that I can’t get out of bed to pee.…
I’m still hanging on to one steady-state running day, however, and will monitor my resting heart rate and VO2 Max on my Apple Watch to make sure they don’t degrade. When experimenting, it’s always good to have some way to monitor…
And all of that hinges on if I can keep this up until I’m able to crank out eight of the torture sprints. Sheesh, I thought 20-rep squats were rough.
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Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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