The "I Hate Mike" Interval Workout

Back a couple of weeks ago in this post, I talked about how hard you should be going in your intervals. Basically, at your own subjective pace, you should be going hard enough to hate doing them.

Well over the last two weeks I've been trying out a new twist with a workout and I absolutely HATE them. I get nervous before doing them. The shoulders tense up. But, when I'm done with them, it's almost an immediate feel that I had one of the best workouts of my life.

This interval workout should take about 25 minutes to do and you'll need either a bike or a treadmill (treadmill is preferred).

What you're going to do is sprint (or pedal) at 90% of your max for 30 seconds, and then get off the bike or treadmill and do countdown pushups.

Let me explain what I call countdown pushups. You start by doing 10 pushups. Then you do 9 pushups, then you do 8 pushups, and so on until you do one pushup and then you're done.

You can do the pushups either the "normal" way with resting your body on your hands and the tips of your feet or, you can do them kneeling where you rest your body on your hands and knees. Regular pushups to easy for you? Then place your feet on some steps or a chair and do decline pushups.

After you're done with the pushups, you'll get back on the treadmill (or bike) and go at a slow pace for 90 seconds (well sort of, I'll explain).

So this is how the workout is going to go when on a treadmill:

0:00 - 2:15 - slow walk
2:15 - 2:35 - faster walk
2:35 - 2:50 - jog
2:50 - push the speed to your sprint level
3:00 - all out sprint
3:30 - press stop button and get off and do 10 pushups

After the 10 pushups, get back on the treadmill:

3:30 - 4:15 - slow walk
4:15 - 4:35 - faster walk
4:35 - 4:50 - jog
4:50 - push the speed level to your sprint level
5:00 - all out sprint
5:30 - press stop button and get off and do 9 pushups

Continue doing this countdown until you've done 1 pushup and then you're done.

Try this out a couple days a week to start.

Now, if you want to change it up and include something other than pushups, go ahead and try it with an inverted row (if you have a squat rack or something you can horizontally pull yourself towards).

Here's how you should look before and after the lift. This would be the beginner variation:



Notice that my hands are in an underhand grip (palms facing towards me).

Here's what you should look like during the lift:



Notice how the center of my body stays in a straight line. In other words, no slouching.....

If that's too easy, try it while resting on the heels of your feet:

Before and After:



During:



And finally, if you want to get more difficult, prop your feet up on a chair or another bench.

Before and After:



During:



Wanna really be a stud? Use pull-ups...

If you've got any questions or if you try it out and want to let me know how it went, drop me an e-mail at mike@leanbodyfitness.com


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