What is 5 4 3 2 1 interval training?

Adding in intervals and speed work into a regular run can do just that. Running at your “easy run” pace is great, but eventually your body will get too used to it. Incorporating speed work into your runs can help break up the muscle memory of your usual pace, helping you to become faster with the same amount of effort. Speed work can also lead to a VO2 Max improvement, allowing you to be able to work harder for a longer period of time. This is what we need to do: 5-4-3-2-1. The key is to make the last one-minute interval of speed work as fast as the first five-minute interval. This will help you train your body/legs/mind how to kick it into gear and push through the fatigue, which will come in handy during the last few moments/miles of your next race. The workout is perfect for a 6-7 mile run with a full two-mile warm up and cool down. You can also start the speed intervals at four minutes rather than five.

5…4…3…2…1 fartlek est une séance d'entraînement où les participants effectuent des intervalles de course à différentes vitesses. La séance commence par 5 minutes de récupération active, suivies de 5 minutes d'effort à un rythme tempo. L'entraînement se poursuit avec 4 minutes de récupération active, puis 4 minutes d'effort à un rythme légèrement plus rapide que le précédent. Le pattern se répète avec 3 minutes de récupération active et 3 minutes d'effort à un rythme plus rapide, puis 2 minutes de récupération active et 2 minutes d'effort à un rythme plus rapide encore. Enfin, la séance se termine par 1 minute de récupération active et 1 minute d'effort à un rythme plus rapide que le précédent. Le principe est d'augmenter la vitesse à chaque segment d'effort, tout en réduisant la durée de celui-ci. Il est recommandé d'augmenter la vitesse d'environ 15 secondes au mile à chaque segment. La séance est conçue pour être une course continue, avec des périodes de récupération active pour permettre aux participants de se rétablir entre les efforts. L'utilisation d'une montre pour chronométrer les segments et aider les autres coureurs est encouragée. L'entraînement vise à améliorer la vitesse et l'endurance des participants.

The Countdown Fartlek will make your run fly by, as each interval is shorter than the previous one. You run for only 30 minutes, but you will get a heart-pumping workout in. The Workout Warm up with 10 minutes of easy running. Run hard for 4 minutes, easy for 2 minutes, hard for 3 minutes, easy for 90 seconds, hard for 2 minutes, easy for 1 minute, hard for 1 minute, easy for 30 seconds. Cool down with 5 minutes of easy running. After a 10-minute warm up of easy running at a conversational pace, you will run 4 minutes hard, 3 minutes hard, 2 minutes hard, and 1 minute hard—with a half-time recovery interval in between. This means that for 4 minutes of hard running, you recover with 2 minutes of easy jogging, and so on. Hard is a relative term—the exact pace will differ from runner to runner. Instead of worrying about pace, focus on effort: your breathing should be labored and you should be able to only speak a word or two at a time without gasping for breath. You don’t want to run so hard that you are unable to recover by the start of the next interval, so hold back a bit during the first interval and try to run faster with each successive interval. Track it here with Runkeeper. Our Audio Cues will tell you when to speed up or slow down. If you’re just getting started, check out last week’s Out-and-Back Progression Run. RUNKEEPER DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE OR MEDICAL SERVICES: Please be aware that the company is concerned with the well-being and health of all of its users. However, the content is provided as informational only, and we do NOT provide medical or similar types of assistance or treatment services or similar advice. The content is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease and is not meant to be a substitute for any medical device, medicine, treatment or professional medical advice. The content does not replace the relationship between you and your physician or other medical provider. Any action you take on the basis of the information provided is solely at your own risk.

The 5-4-3-2-1 method is a type of interval training that involves applying the “eat the frog” mentality to your workout. You start out with longer intervals and work your way down time-wise, while increasing the speed of your threshold intervals. According to Corinne Fitzgerald, head coach at New York’s Mile High Run Club, applying this type of approach to a treadmill session is known as fartlek, the Swedish word for speed play. The idea that you’re going fast, then recovering, then going fast for a certain amount of time, and when you have a block of recovery time that you’re working toward, it kind of helps you mentally. Fitzgerald recommends programming this variety of workout into your schedule about twice a week, leaving ample time for recovery in between. If you want, you can shorten the active recovery portions to make the workout a little more challenging. Or, if you have more time to dedicate to the gym, you can start at a higher number than five and work your way down. The 5-4-3-2-1 workout is structured as follows: 5 minutes: Active Recovery 5 minutes: Threshold Pace 4 minutes: Active Recovery 4 minutes: Threshold Pace 3 minutes: Active Recovery 3 minutes: Threshold Pace 2 minutes: Active Recovery 2 minutes: Threshold Pace 1 minutes: Active Recovery 1 minutes: Threshold Pace.