The Hidden Beauty of Tempo Workouts

I’m pretty locked in on training for the Rev3 Olympic in Knoxville and that will consist of mainly speed work.  After a rough showing in New Orleans, I’m not only training my body, I’m training my mind.

I listened to a great Tim Ferris podcast while I was riding the trainer last night.  He interviewed child chess prodigy, Joshua Waitzkin, who wrote, The Art Learning Journey: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance, which is widely praised and used by brilliant executives and schools around the world.  Not to mention, he studies martial arts with Marcelo Garcia, who is regarded as the best pound for pound submission grappler in the world.

At one point Waitzkin made an awesome point about tempo workouts.  He said they are the greatest thing you can do because they train your body to be calm, then be full of vitality on demand.  He used the analogy of a boxer being completely at ease before going into the ring before unleashing controlled fury. He also said it’s a great way to mold your mind and body to turn off before bed or crank it into gear when you wake up.

Burst, recover.

My kindred alliance with Joshua must be serendipity because earlier that morning I did a bunch of 25 meter sprints with cool downs in the pool, and at night, I did a never before attempted bike workout.  The Bike-o-ghetti.

Yes, folks, it’s a direct descendant of the infamous Monoghetti family run.  It goes like this:

10 minute warm up.
30 on, 30 off (repeat)
45 on, 45 off (repeat)
1:00 on, 1:00 off (repeat)
1:30 on, 1:30 off (repeat)

Then go back down to 30’s.

The technique is what is killer.  The “on” portions are as fast as you can go in aero and the “off” stuff is standing, under control, slowly pushing the hardest gear.

10-15 minute cool down.

45 minutes and you have just fried your legs.  It’s awesome.

Enjoy your new life in Heaven and Hell!