A short, sweet and zippy heart-pumping movement practice for ya
How I am integrating more Zone 3 cardio for resilience and heart health
Goooood morning! Today we’re focusing on a movement tool for well-being (and dare I say joy), and I have to give my dear friend and fellow TurF instructor, Natalia Gutierrez, full credit for the inspiration for this post.
I have always been aware that zone 3 cardio – a step up in intensity from zone 2, which is known as “chattable cardio” – is very beneficial for cardiovascular health, but it’s not something I actively focus on with my movement routine. As I have written about here before, I don’t track anything about my runs (or more appropriately, jogs) and 99.9% of the time a run/jog involves sitting down for a coffee midway. This is because, in the past, using things like Strava turned running into an unenjoyable experience for me, and I am much happier running with the intention of getting some morning sun on my face and enjoying ocean views and a coffee than trying to achieve a certain pace. Maybe one day I will find tracking my run data will bring more happiness and less anxiety, but for now, I am an intuitive running girlie. With all that said, my leisurely runs don’t take me to zone 3. There once was a time where I would do one, sometimes two spin classes a day, which definitely incorporates some zone 3 training, but these days I am not drawn to the sensory experience of a spin class. I didn’t think much about its absence until Natalia posted her 20 minute treadmill ritual that she has found has helped improved her pacing with outdoor runs. I felt a ping of inspiration and loved the idea of someone telling me what to do and planning my little routine for me, especially when it’s someone I know (usually I’m the one doing the planning!). I thought, okay, don’t love the idea of being on a treadmill, but I do love the idea of a quick zingy workout followed by a sauna or tacked onto my current strength training routine. So I gave the treadmill run a try, and honestly loved every minute of it. I put on one of my meta playlists and parked my phone on the treadmill ledge with Natalia’s times and paces and went for it. Here were my takeaways:
Running to high BPM songs evoked the feeling of a spin class without the sensory overload, and it was a feeling I didn’t realize I missed
I am able to breathe through my nose throughout the entire workout, which is really cool as I have been practicing that on my outdoor runs, something that at first caused me to slow wayyyyyy down but my system has now become really accustomed to it
I always thought a sprint of 10+ sounded absolutely bonkers and figured I would face plant on the treadmill, but I am able to do it confidently and have started adding .1 each run to ease into the 10+ territory
It’s so short and sweet! I love that I can pop over to the gym and be in and out in 21 minutes, or, I can tack on 15 minutes of heavy lifting on the leg press or with free weights for a well-rounded movement practice
I have decided to commit to this 2x a week and I’m curious to watch how my HRV and VO2 max shifts, both of which I track on my Oura ring (reminder that both are great data points to measure cardio health and resilience to stress)
After just 4 treadmill runs, I am noticing my outdoor runs feel far more easeful – again, I don’t track them, but I feel quicker!
Okay finally, here is Natalia’s treadmill workout! I would recommend taking a screen shot and display on your phone to keep track as you run. Definitely adjust these speeds based on your comfort level – your jog might look like a speed of 5 and your max sprint might be 8 to begin with! Listen to your body and ease into it, especially if you are new to treadmill running or sprinting in general. I will say, your hip flexors and hamstrings will likely feeeeeel it after the first few sessions as your body adjusts to this type of movement.
THE PLAN
If you don’t have access to a treadmill, you could find an outdoor track and use a timer app (there is a free one called Interval Timer) to signal when to speed up and when to slow down (you can program this on this app which could be perfect). Kyle does track workouts and gets a lot of joy from them! Maybe you have a fancy watch that tracks your pace, and if not, just play between a jog (where you can talk while you run) and a run/spring (should be difficult to talk, all out effort).
Thank you Natalia for the share and for inspiring me to integrate some zippy cardio! Let us know if you give it a try and how it goes!
On another movement related note, my outdoor 6 week FLOW series starts this week! Join me Thursday mornings at 7:15am at the grass where Maple St meets McNicoll Ave (just above the Kits dog beach) for a 45 min yoga inspired flow. Bring your own mat or towel and note there are washrooms close by :) can’t wait to open up, breathe and soak up that morning infrared light with y’all! You can sign up on the TurF schedule.
Much love!
xoxo T