Staying conditioned is an important part of your exercise regimen. Not only does it keep your body healthy and up-to-speed, but able to complete difficult physical tasks.
Exercise Goals
This is a great treadmill workout that will work all areas of your conditioning in a short period of time. By using HIIT methods you will fatigue your anaerobic as well as aerobic pathways of fuel. Ending the workout with burpees will ensure a difficult finish and by doing so, you will be sure to burn the most amount of calories in the shortest amount of time.
Tips Before The Workout
Be sure to get some foam rolling or stretching in before you hop on the treadmill for this workout, especially if you will be sprinting during the high-intensity portions. This will help prevent injury during exercise.
Proper Forms to Remember For This Exercise
When completing this exercise, remember the following forms:
- Running: When you are jogging or sprinting, be sure to try to land midfoot to forefoot. Do not heavy heel strike, as this can lead to long term injuries.
- Burpee: This movement is about efficiency and not as much about form. Many people will perform this movement safely with vast differences. With a burpee, you want to go from a standing position to a prone position (lying on your chest), and then back to a standing position. To do this efficiently you will “flop” yourself to the floor using the least necessary control as to not hurt yourself or smash your face. Once your chest touches the floor, immediately push yourself up and jump your feet underneath you and stand back up with your feet leaving the floor at the standing position. That is one rep.
Final Thoughts
Focus on your running form and really put forth maximum effort on the high-intensity portions to reap the greatest rewards. Stay in control at all points in time on the treadmill to limit your risk of injury. Log your speeds used on the runs/sprints and simply repeat this workout in a week or so to see how much better you have gotten.
The 4-minute burpee challenge in this workout is a great measure of your conditioning and strength gains combined. When doing burpees for 4 minutes straight, try to keep a pace of X number of burpees for a minute, this will help you push hard the whole 4 minutes. Stay active, eat enough food, and rest enough. All these factors will help you recover faster.