039 : 018 PROGRESSIVE AEROBIC

Mistakes were made…

If you’re anything like me, most of your lessons need to be learned the hard way. But I’m always grateful to have a crew here at the space willing to saddle up and help me through those lessons. The shit-talking I received after this session was over was well warranted… 

As we near the end of the aerobic build phase, we’re starting to blend in some capacity work to test the effectiveness of our aerobic systems. By now, you should have a firm understanding of your zone 2 numbers for the particular medium you’ve been doing this progression with, whether that’s running, rowing, skiing, or biking. For this, I knew my MAF mile sits around 8:30-8:45 so I trusted that all my 400m splits should be around 2:10, even as the complex started to kick my ass as time went and my legs felt like sacks of lead, all my run time splits were where I expected them to be. This seemed to be the case for most of the crew at the space so this indicates that our aerobic work has been working. Have that in mind going into this session and see how it pans out, if you don’t get the same result, no problem, there’s just going to be a reevaluation of where and why there was a breakdown. 

Warmup. 

As needed. If running, hip, knee, and ankle CARs could be useful. 

Work: 

Choose one of the following options: 

Run: 

400m-800m-1200m-1600m-2km-1600m-1200m-800m-400m

Row/Ski:

500m-1km-1500m-2km-2500m-2km-1500m-1km-500m

Bike Erg:

1km-2km-3km-4km-5km-4km-3km-2km-1km

Assault Bike:

30cal-60cal-90cal-120cal-150cal-120cal-90cal-60cal-30cal 

In between each set of the ladder:

KB/DB Complex w/ 2 KBs/DBs:

6 Deadlifts

6 Squats

6 Clean and Press 

OR

DBall Complex: 

6 Deadlifts

6 squats

6 Ground to Shoulder 

*Add a rep to each movement every time you come back to the complex

**@ the 80:00 mark, if you choose to, test your MAF mile or do as many calories on the machine you’ve worked on the most over the past 8 weeks in 10 minutes at a MAF heart rate. 

Flow: 

The player will start a 90-minute clock and work through a pyramid ladder of their choosing. For example, if the player chooses to run they will run 400m, then 800m, 1200m, and so on until 2000m, and then start back down the ladder at 1600m, then 1200m, and so on until 400m. 

In between each rung of the ladder, the player will stop do a complex of their choosing. For example, if they choose to do KBs they will do 6 deadlifts, 6 squats, and 6 clean and presses after their 400m run. When the player returns from their 800m run, they will then do 7 deadlifts, 7 squats, and 7 clean and presses, then run 1200m and come back to complete 8 reps of each movement. They will continue this progression, adding a rep each time they return to the complex even as the cardio ladder descends. 

At the 80-minute mark, if the player chooses to, the player will complete a MAF mile. Most of the time, a MAF mile is conducted while relatively, if not completely, fresh. Doing the MAF mile after 80 minutes of grinding work, is, in my opinion, a truer test that one’s MAF mile is their forever pace. If the player is able to achieve the same or relatively close MAF mile time as they would when fresh then that pace is truly their pace they could go at indefinitely.