To Your Health
December, 2014 (Vol. 08, Issue 12)
Teach Yourself to Move
By Editorial Staff
Want to move quicker, run faster or just make getting out of the bed easier in the morning? Then teach your body to move. Here are a few sample interval training tips that can teach your body to get quicker, faster and stronger.
- Court Vision: Ideally, this routine should be done on a basketball court (you'll understand why soon), but any surface you can mark with chalk or otherwise "break up" into sections with cones, etc., will work. Let's consider the basketball court, which has an end line (under the hoop), a free-throw line, a mid-court line, another free-throw line and another end line. Know where you're going yet? That's right – start at one end line, sprint to the free-throw line and then back to the end line. Then sprint from the end line to the mid-court line and then back to the end line again. A few sprints later and you'll be running from one end line to the other, completing the routine. Make sure to touch each line with your hand before turning back to the next one.
- Pace Yourself: This interval routine can be done on the basketball court, but all you really need is a field or other location (you can choose the size) with corners. Here's why: Starting at one corner (picture a rectangle), sprint to the halfway point of the first "side." Using the basketball court example, you'd sprint from one corner down the sideline until reaching the mid-court sideline. Once there, jog around the perimeter of the court until you get back to the original starting corner. Once there, sprint again, but this time, sprint from the corner to the next corner ... and then complete your trip around the perimeter by jogging. With each lap, the distance you sprint increases, until your last lap is a complete sprint around the entire perimeter of the court. Tip: Pace yourself! Go to fast during the jogging portion and you'll have no gas for the sprint sections, which get progressively longer each lap.
Lightpost Ahead: Jog at the same pace every day and you'll develop endurance; but mix in sprint intervals every so often and you'll teach your body to move on command – and sometimes even by itself. Consider a 1-mile loop around your neighborhood. Jog at your usual pace, but sprint for 10-20 seconds every quarter mile. If you're not wearing a watch (or don't like to constantly monitor it while running), let landmarks be your guide. Run from one lightpost to the next or one streetlight to the next; you pick the landmarks and the frequency with which they "appear" and command you to sprint.
Getting your body to move is one thing; teaching your body to move is another. Try these great interval routines and unleash the agility and speed lurking inside of you. Remember to consult with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program, particularly if a pre-existing health condition may require you to limit / modify certain activities.