Conditioning, HIIT, and Moar Conditioning

     For those who hate cardio, you're not alone.  Not particularly good at jogging a mile? That's okay.  My attention span is so short that I can barely get in a lap on the track without losing focus.  If you love to jog and live for your Sunday runs, that's awesome, but then this post wasn't meant for you.  Every time someone thinks about getting in shape they think of slogging away on some track/treadmill/trail until they are sweaty and tired.  The problem is not everyone is good at jogging or enjoys it.  Some people don't enjoy cardio at all and others have found ways to get it over as quickly as possible and make it as effective as possible.  Enter conditioning and high intensity interval training (HIIT).  There are about a million ways these forms of exercise can be done so I decided to make this post a jump off point instead of a lengthy essay on the wonders of conditioning.    Below are several links to various articles on the matter.  It should get you started nicely.

Predator Conditioning

7 Rules of Conditioning

Conditioning When the Weather Stinks

ACSM HIIT Brochure

ACE HIIT Factsheet



A word on technique.  If you do not know how to do an exercise, or feel uncomfortable with your current form find a well-educated trainer to help you.  a $35-$50 train session to correct form is much better than the doctors bills spent trying to recover from an injury that poor form caused.

Here's an article about that too.

Finally, WHEN should you start doing this conditioning and HIIT stuff?  When you are STRONG enough.  A good strength base is the key to pretty much everything (a bias opinion I know), but being strong does play an important role.  Sprints or walk/jog intervals are generally not included in this statement though as you become stronger you will be more efficient in your movements overall. 

Conditioning is a Sham
      (Don't let the title fool you. It makes some very good points about building a strength base and when to use conditioning)



There you go.  It's not all the information you'd ever need, but it should give you enough information to decide whether you would rather run sprints for 15-20 minutes or or hop on an elliptical for 30-45.