A structured running workout focusing on varying intensity levels, designed to build stamina, speed, and recovery skills.
Start with a gentle jog to prepare your body for the intensity pyramid.
Jog at a relaxed pace to gradually increase your heart rate and prepare your muscles.
A series of running segments with increasing and decreasing intensity, interspersed with recovery periods.
Run at 70% of your maximum pace.
Increase your pace to 85% of your maximum speed.
Push to 95% of your maximum speed.
Decrease back to 85% of your maximum speed.
Return to 70% of your maximum pace.
Jog slowly to recover while maintaining some forward momentum.
Gradually lower your heart rate and relax your muscles with a slow jog followed by stretching.
Jog at an easy pace to start cooling down.
Perform static stretches focusing on the calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes.
The Intensity Pyramid Running Session is designed to enhance your stamina and speed by taking you through a cycle of increasing and decreasing run intensities. This workout challenges the cardiovascular system, improving its efficiency and your body's ability to handle varying paces in a single training session. By incorporating recovery periods, it helps you to learn efficient pacing and control under fatigued conditions, essential for races or long-distance runs. Additionally, it aids in muscle adaptation to handle different intensities, resulting in greater overall running performance.
This session is suitable for intermediate to advanced runners who have a solid base of endurance and are looking to improve their speed and intensity handling. Beginners may find the session too demanding; however, they can modify the session by focusing solely on maintaining a consistent moderate effort throughout instead of varying intensities.
To get the most out of this session, ensure you're properly warmed up before starting the pyramid. This will prepare your muscles and reduce the risk of injury. Focus on maintaining a controlled breathing pattern and consistent form through each intensity change, keeping in mind to not start too fast, which can drain your energy reserves early. Use the recovery periods to bring down your heart rate slightly and mentally prepare for the next increase in intensity.