Training with Medleys
A protocol for improving cardiovascular fitness by way of heavy conditioning
Image by Positive_Images from Pixabay
Interval Science
Back in 2011, the Cardiovascular Exercise Research Group put forth a number of exercise recommendations, one of which is their 4x4 Interval Training method. Like most good programs, it is pretty straightforward: 4 sets of 4 minute intervals hitting 85-95% maximum heart rate, separated by 3 minutes of active rest at around 70% maximum heart rate.
In their study, this 4x4 method beat out 45 minutes of steady state cardio AND 10x1 minute maximum intensitiy invervals in terms of how well it improves your ability to take in and use oxygen - a key indicator for both cardiovascular health and perfomance in endurance exercise.
This is great! A scientifically proven protocol for improving fitness that takes about 25 minutes to complete is exactly what Everyday Fitness is about - efficient training with a big bang. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you might suspect where I’m going to take this…
Heavy Intervals
At it’s heart, this 4x4 program is tailored for running and jogging. I’d much rather shift these intervals toward heavy conditioning, and to do that we need to determine two things:
A heavy exercise that can be done for 4 minutes at a time.
A way to step it back for 3 minutes of active rest.
Carries, sleds, and rucking all might fit this bill. But there’s some practical considerations - carrying something or dragging a sled for 4 minutes needs a decent amount of space, but then for that 3 minutes of active rest you’d need to drop the implement and probably move away from it. It can certainly be done, but it feels impractical for a normal person.
So what do we do?
Enter: Medleys
In strongman events a medley involves taking something heavy and moving it across a course, then often returning with a different implement. It’s a back and forth action where competitors try to complete the medley faster than the other folks.
For our purposes, we’ll program a medley a little differently, like so:
Figure out how much room you have to work with. A good distance is around 60ft (about 20m). If you space is particularly small (under 20ft / 7m), you’ll want to go back and forth maybe 3 or 5 times for each leg of the medley.
Choose either 2 or 4 heavy implements that you can confidently push, pull, or carry for the whole distance and still feel like you can do more. You’re going to be manipulating these things when fatigued, so don’t go too heavy.
Split the implements so that half are on one end of the course and half are on the other.
Set a timer for 4 minutes, then pick something up, move it to the other end and set it down. Then pick up a different implement and move it back to the other side.
When the timer goes off, record how many rounds of the medley you did, noting the weights and distances used so that you can gauge progress. Then we move on to a 3 minute period of active rest before starting again.
When you’ve completed your 4th medley in this way, lay down on the floor and pant for a bit.
You do not need to go at full effort, but you should not stop and rest. Reduce your speed if you need to as you fatigue. A good rule of thumb to pace yourself - make sure you… are unable… to say… more than… a few words…. at a time. This ensures you’re approximately at the right heart rate for the 4x4 Interval Program.
You can be creative with your movements, too. Bear crawling while dragging a sandbag, walking lunges, and plate pushes are all really good movements to go along side standard carries and sled work. Also consider mixing in one-handed carries and sled work, overhead carries, and all sorts of variety here.
Using medleys for conditioning work and cardiovascular health is far different than training for a medley in a strongman competition. Here, it’s about heart rate and variety over pure brute strength. So focus on that - go a bit lighter than you’d think and use the implement change to get a little bit of muscular rest.
About that Active Rest…
You thought I forgot, eh? There’s a whole 3 minutes of active rest in between the medleys we still need to account for. And it needs to keep the heart rate at a moderate level for the whole time.
The simplest solution here is to just walk back and forth on the course for the full time alotted. This is not a leisurely stroll, mind you. But at some point, this might not be enough - walking could be too restful.
If you need to ratchet up the active rest, you can jog back and forth on the course or do shuttle runs for the whole time. If you space is smaller, jumping jacks or jump rope are great options for more advanced active rest. Remember that this is rest, but you still want your heart rate up during this time, so remaining active enough for your fitness level is key.
Try It And See
To summarize the whole thing:
Using a medley course setup with 2 or 4 implements, repeat the medley for 4 minutes.
Walk or jog the course for 3 minutes of active rest, or do jumping jacks if you space is small.
Repeat the above 4 times, then have some rest.
I’d love to hear from anyone who tries this out. If you do, go ahead and comment here.
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