High Quality Stacked Workout
A good example of a stacked workout to maximize time and results would be a bike run combo that gets your heart rate up and then lets it recover over and over like in a high intensity interval training session. If you have a solid base, then give this one a whirl:
Bike: Warm up 5’ Zone 2 easy pedaling at about 90 rpm. Complete 5 x 30” of spin ups (easy gear, high cadence) to prime your CNS, then proceed with 2’ Zone 4 effort at 88-92 rpm followed by a 1’ Zone 2 recovery still with a cadence of 88-92 rpm and repeat nine more times. Spin 5’ more high Zone 2 to flush some of the metabolic waste, then get off the bike and lace up your runners. (Time elapsed 45’)
Run: Your body is already warmed up from the bike session and ready to go, so we will hit the meat right away. Begin jogging at your maximum aerobic heart rate for 5’ so your legs wake up, then accelerate over 20” to your mile pace, recover 1’40”, repeat this four more times, then jog 2’ easy to help lower your heart rate back to your recovery heart rate. When you’re ready to go again, aim for 2’ at your goal 10K pace, then 2’ at your goal 5K pace, and finish off with 30” at your goal one mile pace, recover 3’30” by jogging low Zone 2 then repeat the last set of the 2/2/30 and finish this off with at least 5’ of easy aerobic running and if you have time, include another 5’ of aerobic walking at the end. (Time elapsed 26’) Women should aim for at least 10’ of aerobic running/walking at the end to have a better chance to flush metabolic waste. Men are more efficient and need less cool down (5’ minimum), but that’s a topic for another day.