13 May 2010
Work It: The Law of Averages
Do you get bored on cardio machines? I DO. So incredibly bored. I’m happy to hop on the elliptical for half an hour if I have a good playlist, a good mag, or there’s a good TV show on, but otherwise? I’m more likely to fall asleep than I am to get a good workout. And that’s the thing — I’m probably NOT getting a very good workout if I’m lazily plodding along as I keep up with Basketball Wives (um, PS, does anyone else find it weird that NONE OF THEM ARE ACTUAL WIVES?).
I’m here to tell you there IS a way to make dull cardio machines more fun! I call it the Law of Averages (but not THIS Law of Averages!). And I understand that it might not even make sense. But it’s just what I call it, mmmk?
Have you ever paid attention to the “average pace” stat that most treadmills and other cardio machines provide? Probably only if you’re trying to train for a race. But it’s actually pretty useful! Turns out, you can use it to make sure you’re stepping up your workout game without having to bust your booty the whole time AND preventing boredom at the same time.
Here’s how it works, using the treadmill as an example: Pick a goal pace. Say it’s 5mph. Then use intervals to get you to your pace, rather than going that speed the whole time. Here’s a sample workout:
- 5 minutes @ 4mph
- 5 minutes @ 6mph
- 5 minutes @ 5mph
- 3 minutes @ 7mph
- 3 minutes @ 3mph
- 5 minutes @ 5mph
So, your average pace for the workout will be 5mph even though you’re only actually running at that pace for 10 minutes. And you’re actually walking relatively slowly for 8 minutes! Okay, so that’s nothing totally new. Everyone pretty much knows that.
But you can also do the same thing with incline. This is where things get more interesting. You can walk slower at a higher incline, or you can walk/run faster at a lower incline and burn the same number of calories. This means you can alternate between walking slowly at a higher incline and jogging at a lower incline to prevent boredom without sacrificing the quality of your workout.
I love walking at a high incline (like all the way up) at a really slow place for a few minutes, and then flattening out the incline and speeding it up for a few minutes. In the end, the pace and the incline will average out to give you a solid workout without having to plod along at the same settings forever.
You can use this concept on any cardio machine or even when you’re running outside! Don’t be afraid of interval training to bust boredom and keep your body guessing.
