Sprint your way fit

If you follow me on Twitter, you probably notice that I gripe about hill training once a week or so. Truth is, I don’t hate it…it’s just a tougher workout and I have a mild dislike for it, but in reality it’s not absolutely excruciating.

What I really, really, really don’t like? Speed training. Which is why I didn’t want to read the details on the findings of this study (in fact, I was very tempted to just gloss over it and block it from my mind — in the same way I try to pretend my eyes haven’t seen tweets spoiling the finale for Top Chef).

This research published in the American Journal of Human  Biology set out to find whether high-intensity workouts versus endurance workouts offer equal cardio benefits, and I had a sinking feeling it was high-intensity that would win–and it did.

Both groups experienced cardiovascular benefits, however, the high-intensity group experienced them in having worked out 15 percent of the time of the endurance group.

I’ll take working out less efficiently over more time to get similar healthy-heart results–such is the hate-on I have for sprints.

1 Comment April 7, 2011

Jogi: Yoga tools for everybody

Yoga has a bit of a reputation for being an expensive pursuit (if you haven’t read it yet, this 2006 article from the  Atlantic about the commodification of yoga is worth a read)–but it doesn’t have to be. Strike a pose with some tres affordable yoga tools from Jogi.

How affordable? Nothing’s more than $45.

Jogi is from the peeps at Joe Fresh (and btw Jogi is pronounced yogi, in case you were wondering) and the collection of fitness tools go beyond yoga (there’s also tools such as a Cardio Kit ($25)  and Pedometre ($10).

(And while we’re on the topic of affordabilty Passport to Prana is one of the most inexpensive ways to practice in numerous studios–and they keep launching in more and more cities–so be sure to check if it’s available in your neck of the woods).

4 Comments March 2, 2011