Very high (too high) intensity workouts!

[jamix]

Just thought I'd have some fun, by asking you RMers whats the most brutal workout you've ever done?

Have you ever tried any of the following:


1) THE DOWNHILL TIME TRIAL:

Basically either find a very long hill outside, or use a treadmill that has a decline and TT over the distance as if you were running a race! If you practise enough and its steep enough, perhaps you could even run a sub-4 minute mile .

2) 12-SECOND HILL SPRINTS IN CYCLES OF 3

You find a steep hill. Sprint up for 12 seconds then walk for 12 seconds, then repeat two more times. Afterwards, you walk down the hill and complete the whole thing again two more times. Depending on how long your break is, this workout can be brutal and may easily cause injury.

3) HIIT OF DECLINING GRADE AND DURATION

This one is really complicated to describe! And you have to use a treadmill. Your doing intervals on a steep incline for this workout, but the length/distance of the interval is halved each time, until you get to a set time/distance, after which the whole thing is repeated again, but at a smaller incline (told you its complicated to describe).

For example you might start the treadmill at a 8% grade and run your first interval for 4 minutes, the next for 2 minutes, the next for 1 etc. Clearly your increasing the speed each time the interval is halved. However there's more to it than that. After you get to 30 seconds, you go back up and to 4 minutes and decrease the incline (to 6% grade say) and repeat the whole thing again but at a slightly faster speed this time.

Keep doing the above each time until your last interval of HIIT is done on 0% grade .

Don't suppose anyone dare to try any of the above a ? In my opinion #3 is the least likely to cause injury, but only because the intensity/speed can be made lower.

[Dstew]

I would jog as a warm up around 6 - 7 k. Then I would do 10 sprints up the Calgary curling club stairs with a jog back down. I was so out of breath one time around the 8th repeat that someone asked if I needed an ambulance. Barely catching my breath I said no and I could see them take off as if this guys lungs or heart explodes, we do not want to be in the splatter zone. Then I could take no more than 2 minutes rest and then run the 6-7 K back home at marathon pace. In retrospect I was lucky not to have something explode. But having said that, helped take off almost 45 minutes in my marathon time in one year.

[jamix]

I would jog as a warm up around 6 - 7 k. Then I would do 10 sprints up the Calgary curling club stairs with a jog back down. I was so out of breath one time around the 8th repeat that someone asked if I needed an ambulance. Barely catching my breath I said no and I could see them take off as if this guys lungs or heart explodes, we do not want to be in the splatter zone. Then I could take no more than 2 minutes rest and then run the 6-7 K back home at marathon pace. In retrospect I was lucky not to have something explode. But having said that, helped take off almost 45 minutes in my marathon time in one year.

Incline running/sprinting seems to cause a higher oxygen debt than level running. However the short sprints appear effective in creating strength too, if one wishes to do them with a much longer recovery time than a usual HIIT.

[Dstew]

I would jog as a warm up around 6 - 7 k. Then I would do 10 sprints up the Calgary curling club stairs with a jog back down. I was so out of breath one time around the 8th repeat that someone asked if I needed an ambulance. Barely catching my breath I said no and I could see them take off as if this guys lungs or heart explodes, we do not want to be in the splatter zone. Then I could take no more than 2 minutes rest and then run the 6-7 K back home at marathon pace. In retrospect I was lucky not to have something explode. But having said that, helped take off almost 45 minutes in my marathon time in one year.

Incline running/sprinting seems to cause a higher oxygen debt than level running. However the short sprints appear effective in creating strength too, if one wishes to do them with a much longer recovery time than a usual HIIT.

And is probably safer. After qualifying for Boston did a variation of option 2 that started a chain reaction to a stress fracture. I find myself through a combination of experience and wisdom and pain moving away from high risk and high reward work outs.