Spinervals 10k Strength Builder & An Ab Workout

Last night’s workout was just an indoor bike ride for about 35 minutes with no running or strength work. The recovery day left me feeling refreshed and ready to tackle a treadmill workout, and I decided to follow Troy Jacobson’s 10k Strength Builder from the great Runervals series.

Runervals 5.0 10k Strength Builder DVD

Buy Now

Here’s a review of the workout from my other blog which I’ll edit based on tonight’s speed and effort:

Produced by Troy Jacobson’s video production company, LifeSports, Inc., 10k Strength Builder is a 50 minute treadmill workout designed to improve your anaerobic threshold, strength and sense of pacing.

The workout, set to upbeat music which can be turned on or off, starts with a 10 minute warm up at a comfortable “base pace”. Midway through the warm up Coach Troy throws in several 30 second “striders” at 2mph above base pace and a 2% incline. The striders are simply designed to elevate your heart rate and prepare your legs for the impending 5×6 minute repeats.

Once the 10 minutes are up, Coach Troy increases the speed to your estimated 10k race pace. Based on my current fitness I chose a moderate 7.0mph which I knew would elevate my heart rate sufficiently and replicate a challenging pace. Each 6 minute repeat begins gently at a 0% incline, but increases 1% every minute. You finish up at your chosen speed at a 5% incline – pretty challenging and my heart rate of 170 proved this!

(Make sure you’re working out in a well ventilated room and have plenty of fluids available. This is a tough workout, rated at 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 and will soon have you sweating plenty. It’s a good idea to have a towel handy too!)

Thankfully you get a 90 second recovery after each 6 minute repeat, by which time your heart rate will have dropped (it drops quicker the fitter you get) and your legs will be ready to go again. Troy works you through 3 more repeats in the same fashion as the first, each one stressing your body slightly more than the previous one.

The real strength builder is saved for the last 6 minute repeat. You start off at the same speed (by now I’d increased the speed to 7.5mph) and same 0% incline, but after each minute you increase the incline by 2% – thanks Coach Troy! Halfway through the repeat and you wonder if you’ll ever make it, and by the end of the 6 minutes you’re running at a crazy 10% grade at your chosen speed. My heart rate maxed out at 182 beats per minute and my legs were burning so bad, but I made it to the end and was “rewarded” with a 4 or 5 minute cool down by Coach Troy!

I must say to anyone who doubts you get a decent workout on a treadmill, you have to try the 10k Strength Builder. The 50 minutes go by really fast and you know when you’re done you’re going to be stronger and faster for the effort. It’s also great for someone who doesn’t have a local track to run on or who finds it hard to stay motivated running intervals on a 400m oval.

The DVD is available for just $14.95 on the Spinervals web site and in my opinion is really good value. If you noticed that it’s cheaper than other DVD’s in the Runervals and Spinervals Series, this one is classed as an “Off the Cutting Room Floor” edition. Here’s an explanation from Coach Troy:

In our quest to create the most useful and effective workouts in the industry for serious athletes and fitness enthusiasts, we are constantly trying new and improved video production methods. In some cases, our attempts fall short and the video picture quality, sound quality or other aspects of the show do not meet our high production quality standards.

‘Off the Cutting Room Floor’ workouts are fantastic training sessions that we feel fall short on production values but meet our high standards of training effectiveness for our loyal customers. Therefore, instead of ‘scrapping’ these highly effective workouts, they’re made available at a reduced price through limited distribution.

After a few minutes of stretching to help my legs recover, I did the second ab workout in this the third week of the Essential Abs program. I have to say, I can feel the difference in core strength already and although I have some body fat to lose, I can feel the abs firming up underneath. Keeps me motivated to stick with the plan and I’m actually looking forward to Thursday and the next workout!

So, a positive night of training tonight and I’m now feeling much better about my general fitness level. Things are starting to come together but I need to spend time thinking of my goals for 2008 – just like fellow blogger and local running friend Charlie has just done.

What are your goals for the year? Will ’08 be great?