High Intensity Training Without A Gym
I’ve been barbell lifting like usual lately. And I’ve also been going to a gym for weekly conditioning workouts. It’s not a Crossfit gym, but they do some Crossfit style sessions a couple of times per week. Meaning they’re focused on high intensity intervals or chipper style workouts, etc., with varied movements. It’s a nice compliment to my lifting, but life happens and I’m not always able to make the scheduled workouts. So at times I’ve started looking for ways to get high intensity training without a gym. That way I don’t miss a week and set myself back.
I’ll plan to share new conditioning workouts as I come up with new ideas, but one I do once a week as of late is very simple and literally requires no equipment.
A Pair Of Shoes And A Park
I watched a very informative video on proper distance running technique recently, and I wanted to practice this new approach. But I’m not a big jogger unless I’m at the beach. I do like running on grass though and actually enjoy shuttle runs because it feels more like football two-a-days. So I started going to the park and running back and forth across a grass field with a focus on proper technique over speed.
In time my technique got dialed in and I realized I could basically turn the shuttle runs into a type of fartlek. Where I’d run easy in one direction, and much harder coming back. Not a sprint, but about 90-95%. And instead of focusing on stride length, I keep my technique consistent regardless of output and focus on the quickness of my leg turnover to push the pace. Essentially more strides as quickly as possible instead of bigger strides. I’m still covering some ground with each stride when I pushing harder. But it’s not true, all out sprint where I’m reaching with each step. One benefit of this approach is that the quicker, shorter strides don’t make me as sore the next day. But they make me gassed just as easily which is the point here. This is for conditioning.
So I started doing that for fifteen minutes. Back and forth over a distance of about 100 yards. It’s a good chance to get some sunshine and Vitamin D while breaking a sweat on sunny days as well. A nice reason to be at the park. Or anywhere else you can run back and forth unimpeded for that matter.
An Added Wrinkle For Increased Challenge
And then the light bulb went off that I can make this a little more challenging by adding five burpees at the end of each “sprint”. The nice easy jog back to the start is essentially what makes this more of an interval workout. I’m not sitting still during that time, but I’m going very easy during that phase and catching my breath a little bit.
I set a stopwatch for fifteen or twenty minutes depending on how I feel, then I start going back and forth. Most of the time I don’t even bother to count how many cycles I get through. I just go and push myself as hard as I can on a given day.
No Excuse Not To Train
It’s simple, it’s free, and all it takes is a pair of shoes and a patch of grass. And it’s not long, slow cardio. So even though I do this regularly I’ve maintained a body weight of around 210 lbs., and it doesn’t detract from my strength training at all. And since it’s so convenient and inexpensive, there’s no excuse not to train and get in great condition.
Give it a try if you’re looking for quick, effective high intensity conditioning without a gym. It’s fun to have lots of gadgets and gizmos at a gym, but running is as primal, basic, and dare I say functional, as it gets. And sometimes it’s nice to keep it really straight forward.