Fartlek

[munchingfoo]

Does anyone at the Uni do this?

I've been swimming 1km every day and running 3.5 miles every night (break at weekends) since October, and I'm not really feeling that much more capable on the CV side of fitness (I have lost 2 stone though, which is f'ing epic). Fartlek was recommended to me by a serving Royal Marine who swears by it. Is it much more different than interval training, and could it aid my CV more than my current regime?

For those that don't know what this is but are interested - http://www.brianmac.co.uk/fartlek.htm

[Bizarre Atheist]

I've done some fartlek training before. To be honest I hated it though I imagine a regular regime would be beneficial. I'll stick to high-mileage running and some cycling/rowing a couple of times a week for the time being, particularly since I have a very specific goal to work towards at the moment.

What exactly are you trying to achieve? (other than astonishing weight loss - congrats by the way)

[munchingfoo]

I'm trying to join the Royal Navy. My primary goal was to be able to pass the fitness test on entry. This is a 1.5 mile run. I can do that in less than 10 mins, which is a good pass at age 25. My secondary goal was to lose three stone, nearly there.

My new primary goal is to get a high score in a multi-stage fitness test (bleep test). I haven't even started practising this yet, so I have no idea how good I am. I'm aiming for 11-12, but I'd be happy with 10. Obviously this is going to kill my heart/lungs rather than my muscles.

Throughout all this I have to keep my swimming up. The test is 4 lengths breaststroke wearing overalls and boots, pull yourself out of the pool (40cm ledge), dive back in for a brick, then pull yourself out again. I reckon I can do this, but I've not tried it with overalls and boots on.

After that it's press ups and situps, but that's a way off yet.

[schmod]

I trained for a short while using Fartlek. Although it's indeed effective, it's absolute hell on your body, which could potentially displace any benefit you receive from it.

Of course, I also despise running on flat, even surfaces, which could make me biased here.

[cozzie]

In case it's of any use to you, there are some downloads and information here. I have been training for police selection, but haven't tried the bleep test yet (too many bad memories from school)

http://www.acpos.police.uk/Policies_FitnessStnd.html

[munchingfoo]

Just so as anyone using that link knows, the navy one uses a 20m track, so I guess the timings on the mp3 are different.

http://www.savefile.com/downloadmax/241705

[jollytiddlywink]

I'm not quite sure what the above post means about fartlek being "hell on your body." It isn't any more or less tough on you than any other training technique. You can do the specific workouts on the brainiac website if you want, but there's no magic in those numbers. All you need to do for a fartlek is to get out, warm up thoroughly (ten minutes is a good number there), then do alternating periods of faster and then slower running. It's the change in speed and effort, rather than any given duration or intensity, which will improve your heart.
But speaking as a distance runner, the best way you can improve your cardio is to run further. Doing 6k a day is good, but if that isn't doing enough for your heart, consider doing extra mileage a few days a week, building up to 10k, 12k, whatever it takes to see the results.
Out of curiosity, do you measure your resting heart-rate? Or your heartrate in the middle of a run, for that matter?

[munchingfoo]

My resting heart rate is 72.

My 3.5 mile heart rate is 150.

My 1.5 mile heart rate is 176.


I recover about 40 bpm in the first 30-45 seconds.

[andrewdalgleish]

I saw 'fartlek' as the title and 'munchingfoo' as the author and took a double take

fartlek is probably better for you (meaning munchingfoo) as it's more fun than intervals!

I would recommend doing 1 fartlek session a week and increasing the length of one of your runs slightly (5/6miles), mainly for a bit of variety.

Improving your CV is all about pushing your limits regularly (i.e. more than 1 time a run with rest inbetween), so yes it'll improve your CV, but don't do it every session.

edit: i should have read what jollytiddlywink wrote before posting, oh well.