Disappointed with your cardio test results??? Now What

The cardio testing component of Lazy Runner is the Beep Test or the 3km Time Trial. If you did these tests at the end of the program and find you are in the excellent or superior category, that is fantastic, that is where you should be. Running is a high cardio activity so you should see good results in the test.

There is a reason why I test your fitness levels every 10-12 weeks and no it’s not just because I’m sadistic b@#*! I believe everything should be measurable and that includes fitness levels. What point is it doing a lot of hard work, trying to achieve some health and fitness goals only to find out that all the work isn’t working for you.

We are all different. Our bodies react differently to many forms of exercise and what may have a good affect on one person may not make any difference to another. However, when it comes to cardio fitness, basically if you are working at your hardest, and pushing yourself, and training consistently then you should see positive effects in your cardio fitness levels.

The body is one big complacent lump though and it doesn’t take long for it to get used to your fitness routine. The body learns to accept where it is at and then remain in the comfort zone. Sure the good effects are still there, but if you are only half way on your fitness journey and want to see more results and have long term goals then what do you do?

There are four ways shake your cardio fitness levels up

1.Run more

2.Run faster

3.Run Longer

4.Change your routine or your course

1.If you found your cardio fitness levels dropped or didn’t improve the way you wanted or expected them to…ask your self how often are you running?

I believe you should run four times a week with a day off between runs to allow sufficient recovery. Have you dropped off a day? That could be the simple reason. We are coming out of winter so it’s been harder to get up and out there as often as we normally would.  Two or three Lazy Runner sessions and two runs on your own is ideal. If you want to do some exercise on the other non run days, try walking, cycling or swimming

2. Do you get out on your same old course, and run the same distance day in day out in the same amount time. If you do you probably find that your body has accepted that,  has the sufficient energy levels to cope with that, so it doesn’t need to improve. Running faster is one way to give the body a jolt into action. There are many ways to incorporate speed into your runs; I have plenty of tips on running fast on my training tips page. Or come to one or more of the Muck Up Sesh's

3. Do you run 5km four times a week. That’s fantastic and If you are happy with your cardio fitness levels, your health and your weight then that’s ideal for you, it’s like your maintenance for good health. However if you are not happy with any of the above then maybe you should be extending your run times. I believe you need to be out there for 45mins to an hour to get the heart rate really working and causing a positive effect. That is why most Fun Runs are of 10km as it is a great distance to get good cardio fitness. So consider making one of your runs longer. If your run 10km three time s a week, make one a 12km run, push your self that bit further. You will notice a difference. I suggest you add one or two kilometers on to one of your weekly runs and see what difference it makes

4. Do you run at the same time of the day on the same flat concrete course or road every time you go out for a run? As I said before your body is a very adaptable creature, once he masters this he thinks Ok that’s sorted now I’m comfortable and this is where I’m going to stay. So here’s one to shake him up, change your course. Get into the bush one day, get on the beach, put some hills in, run at a different time of the day, it’s amazing what one of those changes will do to shake up your fitness routine and get your body out of it’s comfort zone

So if you were unhappy with your cardio fitness score or would like to try and improve it, try some of these tips over the next 10 weeks and see what a difference you can make to your VO2 Max reading