Runners know. You need a little L.S.D. in the mix if you’re going to improve your fitness or lower a run time.
But we’re not talking about one of Jerry Garcia’s dancing bear tabs. L.S.D. is short for Long Slow Distance. For a runner this usually means a slow outing covering 7 to 20 miles as they prepare for a long race.
At Cardio High we emphasize constant, careful motion during our workouts. We aim to help clients achieve a high-intensity workout through short bursts of exercise followed by brief rest periods. Clients usually push themselves for up to 30 seconds on a bike or treadmill or up to 45 seconds with an exercise during an interval. But we have started to mix in longer cardio intervals of 45 seconds or even up to 4-5 minutes.
We coach clients to approach the longer intervals by training at 80-90 of their max effort vs aiming for an all-out push. Our hope is that clients can use the longer intervals to learn to train at a high intensity while in a relaxed state. We want people to find a zone in which they feel comfortable and able to continue at a high intensity for longer stretches of time.
For those clients who have exercise ADD and who need constant change, we prompt them to break up the long interval into smaller pieces. This can be done by altering the gait (running style) on the treadmill or by changing speeds on the bikes. We hope clients can find moments of joy during their workout. Using L.S.D. may be a great tool.
