Choose Your Endurance Adventure

By Carla DiGirolamo, MD, CFL1

Functional fitness and CrossFit-style workouts achieve fitness gains by strategically grouping movements together to achieve a certain stimulus. You will often see heavy lifts paired with endurance segments that challenge your ability to adapt moving quickly from on energy system to the next. You will see movements such as deadlifts and thrusters group together to target hip extension, and the list goes on. Today’s workout is a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout that groups together 3 plyometric/endurance exercises that will challenge your cardiovascular system in 3 different ways on an every-minute-on-the-minute (EMOM) time domain for 30 minutes.

The magic of this workout is in this time domain so for best results, sprint for 40-45 seconds/rest for

15-20 and stick to it! Changing movements quickly and often promotes neuroendocrine adaptation - the gateway to your next level of fitness.

If you are not an endurance Ninja, that’s ok! Neither am I and I’ve got you! Modify the time intervals with 30 seconds of work and 30 sec of rest per minute and check out the movement alternatives to conquer this workout no matter what your fitness level. Use the Movement Practice to find the options that work for you.

Warm-Up

AMRAP 5 (As many rounds as possible in 5 minutes). Perform each movement in sequence for as many rounds as possible in 5 minutes.

•  10 high knee runs
•  10 Air squats
•  5 Burpees

Movement Practice

Test out 15-20 sec of each movement sequentially for 2 rounds. Use this time to select your options/rep numbers for the workout. Select a lighter thruster weight where you can do 15-20 reps in 30-45 seconds. Plan to work between 30-45 sec each minute and rest for the remaining 15-30 sec. Your score at the end is the number of reps you accomplish. So pick rep numbers/movement options and do your best to stick to it!

Workout

EMOM 30 (Every minute on the minute for 30 minutes)

HOW TO: Perform 30-45 seconds of lateral jumps over a dumbbell, rest 15-30 seconds. Then perform 30-45 seconds of dumbbell thrusters, rest 15-30 seconds, then perform 30-45 seconds of burpees, rest 15-30 seconds, then start again with the lateral jumps over a dumbbell. Continue moving through all three movements in sequence, every minute on the minute for a total of 30 minutes. Pace yourself! This is a long grind!

Minute 1 – 15-25 lateral jump over a dumbbell.

•  Options:
•  50 single-under jump rope or simulated jump rope reps.
•  50 jumping jacks or high-knee run in place (R+L = 1 rep)

Minute 2 – 15-20 dumbbell thrusters

•  Option:  air squat

Minute 3 – 8-15 Burpees  (see linked videos for modifications)

•  Option: Up - Downs

See you on the other side!

Cool-Down

8-minute calf and hamstring stretch from Train FTW