Saturday night I went to the local TREK store here in Madison, WI and heard Tim and Nicole DeBoom talk. It was a great chat and very motivating. Both openly talked about their careers, training, personal life, sponsors, etc. He brought his TREK TTX. What a pic posted?
Anyway, one thing Tim said was: at times he is so busy/travel that he can only get in a 20 minute training session for the day! I was really suprised at this. I assumed that 20 minutes were more or less worthless and in fact it would be better to take the day off and use it as a recovery day. Tim didn’t detail if the 20 minutes was run or bike, but either way it’s not much more than a jog or spin.
So my question: is it better to 100% take a day off or do a 20 mintue training session? If 20 minutes is beneficial, specifically what type of work out can be done?
I got to take a class taught by The Man, and he says he does at least 20 minutes of something every day. Boosts immune system, jump starts metabolism, and something is better than nothing and can help reduce loss of fitness.
I’ve heard Dave Scott suggest the same thing. Something about an endorfin release in that limited workout that builds a positive feeling about your next workout (that is hopefully, longer).
When I sleep in and skip a workout, getting in a 20-30 minute substitute later in the day does wonders for salvaging the feeling of guilt I’ve drug around all day. So I’d have to say yes.
I know that in the mornings I don’t work out and come to work… that I am sluggish and feel tired all day. Even if I get on the trainer for 10-20 mins I feel a lot better.
Not a waste- This morning I did a 20 minute strength session (core) because the pool was closed. I have a weekly 25-30 min recovery swim that I do when I need an easy session. After long rides I do a 20-25 minute easy run. Everything counts.
i was just reading in Bicycling magazine that a 25 minute trainer session can actually lead to improved fitness. the idea being that a shorter workout is better than nothing and can actually help you to make gains.
have read the same principle in running. remember one story where a top performer had no time during college so he would hop on the treadmill and run as fast as possible for 5 minutes. he ended up clocking PB’s during races.
additionally Paulo and others have spoke to the power of running back to back days–more along the themes of consitency, as opposed to mileage/duration.
the bottom line is: if you’ve got 20 minutes, make it count.
Tim didn’t detail if the 20 minutes was run or bike, but either way it’s not much more than a jog or spin.
IMHO, most MOP/BOP triathletes would actually be better off taking two days a week, scrapping the higher milage workout they had planned and doing a HARD 20 minute interval workout.
Swim: 300 warm up followed by 100 repeats on 20 seconds rest done at well in excess of race pace. You should be able to get in at least 10 which would be 1000 yards of fast hard swimming (compare that to the amoutn of fast hard swimming you actually do in your regular swimming workout).
Bike: this is harder but you can warm up for 5 minutes then do a 15 minute all out time trial or do 5 1:00 all out sprints with 2 minutes rest after each.
Run: warm up and do some intervals or run a 2 mile time trial.
If you have no time, 7 times 20 min can equal 30K of running per week. This is 30K more than zero and from that 30K per week over say a month you can easily jump over several weeks to 50-60K when you get time back.
Sometimes on business travel, I will do exactly this 20 min in the morning before a flight or 20 min before bed if I get to somewhere late and I know I won’t have time the next day.
In the end, endurance sport is about consistency. The guy who beats you was likely more consistent in getting the training in over time, often years than the guy on the silver bullet shortcut “13 weeks to FILL IN THE BLANKS event” McProgram.
What KC et al said - 20 mins can get ya a pretty decent workout.
I regularly do an abs/pushups/pullups/swim cordz workout in 20 mins (skip the cordz and it’s only 10, actually)
It sounds hokey, but you can do the ‘Body for Life’-esque aerobic workout in exactly 20 mins. I do this on the trainer on occasion, it’s really a good workout. Can easily be done for running too.
Or, you could do the ‘Four Minutes of Hell’ workout, with an 8 minute warm up and cool down on either end : 20 secs on (full-on sprint), 10 secs off (easy spin), x8.
You could do a nice easy run, and/or some Strides.
I have a hard time pictuing Dev only doing a 20 min workout per day while on a biz trip. I imagine it’s actually more like:
Wake up, work out for 20 mins. Attend working breakfast, leave early, work out for 20 mins. Attend morning meetings, then during break do 100 bodyweight squats. At lunch, leave early, work out for 20 mins. Afternoon meetings, then during break, more bodyweight squats. After meeting end, skip happy hour, do 20 min workout. Attend work dinner, then afterwards go back to hotel room, work out for 20 mins. Post to ST for an hour, then go to sleep. Lather, rinse, repeat.
I must say in 11 replies all are consistent: DO the 20 minutes. I don’t recall ever 11 ST’ers agreeing on something!
All kidding aside, I appreciate the input. KC: any suggestions for the 20 minutes in the saddle? For a 20 minute run: a 3-4 minute warm up followed by 2 miles hard effort with 3-4 cool down should work. The whole theory about feeling better, more energy for the day etc., makes a lot of sense.
Another thing to consider if you’re trying to lose weight is that an intense 20-minute workout can actually boost your metabolic rate for the rest of the day even more than a long, steady-state workout.
Gee, I hope not. I seldom swim more than 20 minutes. When I’m racing, my track workout is no longer than 20 minutes. I also ride the Airdyne hard for 20 minutes as a speed workout. So, 20 minutes seems to work for me under these circumstances.
