On Monday we introduced the 3-2-1 Method of conditioning.
If you have four minutes, please read on. There’s a lot of information here that could be broken into future newsletters.
Or this could also be as short as, “Move your body based on your goals.”
Let’s review what we sent already:
For low intensity conditioning, where your heart rate isn’t getting over 120-130 beats per minute depending on your health metrics, you can train at a frequency of three low intensity sessions a week for 60-90 minutes total. Most lower intensity conditioning can be done nasal breathing.
For moderate intensity conditioning, where your heart rate might be between 120-150 beats per minute, you can train at a frequency of two moderate intensity sessions a week for 12-30 minutes total.
For higher intensity conditioning, where you’re working very hard performing intense bursts working at 90% or more of your max output, you’d be looking at 4-12 minutes total work for a frequency of one session per week.
What does this look like on paper or in a program?
Before we get into that, this is where wearing a heart rate monitor comes into play. It’s very beneficial to know what your maximum heart rate is so you can adjust your conditioning sessions accordingly. Our favorite heart rate monitor is from Morpheus.
For low intensity conditioning, which is also recognized as “Zone 2,” the goal is 60-90 minutes per week. There are many options to choose from to fill your low intensity bucket, including but not limited to:
- Walking
- Hiking
- Rucking
- Biking
- Jogging / Running
- Rowing
- Elliptical
- Dance
- Yoga
- Hobby sports like tennis, pickle ball, basketball, soccer, flag football, kickball
Your low intensity sessions can be broken down a number of different ways – 15/20/30/45/60-minute blocks, based on your time availability/schedule, environment and goals. You could also switch up the tool you’re using if boredom is a concern (it’s the biggest issue people have).
Ride a bike for 20 minutes, then ruck for 20 minutes and you’ll have completed 40 minutes of your 60-90 minute weekly goal. Pick joint friendly options if you desire the higher end of the targeted time.
For moderate intensity conditioning, the goal is to get 12-30 minutes of work each week. Once again, depending on the person, their overall health status and health history, heart rates can vary between 120-150 beats per minute, or 75-90% of max heart rate. This is where most people spend too much time. Orange Theory has made a business model training in this zone and it’s not where you need to be most of the time. Some is good, more doesn’t necessarily make it better.
Moderate intensity conditioning can include:
- Fan bike intervals (aka Assault Bike)
- Ski Erg intervals
- Battle Rope intervals
- Run intervals with walking as rest
- Crawling intervals
- Jump Rope intervals
- Heavy carry intervals or 6-Point Carry (overhead + rack + suitcase)
- Sled / Prowler work
- Kettlebell Swings, Cleans, Snatches, Medicine Ball Slams with at least a 1:1 work to rest ratio
- Fixed time interval training like 15 seconds work with 15 seconds rest, or 30 seconds work with 30 seconds rest, working in stations (battle ropes, squats, push ups, mountain climbers, carries, etc.)
- Finish All or AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) Work (example: 20 calorie bike then 20 medicine ball slams then sled push + pull x10 yards each way, repeat for time or rounds)
- Hobby sports again like tennis, pickle ball, basketball, soccer, flag football, kickball, jiu jitsu
Moderate intensity conditioning can be broken down in 2-3 sessions a week. People like to sweat and feel like they did work which is why so many gravitate to moderate conditioning work.
Much of Pavel Tsatsouline’s and Dan John’s work could fit in this category. Armor Building with kettlebells (2 Cleans + 1 Press + 3 Front Squats, rest, repeat) or swing/snatch series going every 30 seconds (5/4) or every minute on the minute (10/2) is moderate conditioning work. Session blocks for things like this type of strength endurance can stand alone as a training session, filling both the strength and conditioning buckets. 10 minutes up to 30 minutes of kettlebell work is effective (and some protocols will carry on for 90 minutes in one session).
For high intensity conditioning, you’re looking at 4-12 minutes of HARD work! You’re working at 90% or higher of your max heart rate. This helps recruit the highest amount of muscle fibers and places the most stress on your central nervous system.
The Kettlebell Snatch test is an event that comes to mind – trying to snatch a kettlebell 100 times in five minutes with exceptional technique. It takes time to work up to an event like this.
Side note, I would never recommend someone train the snatch test once a week. That’s torture mentally and physically on your hands. The cost of high intensities is the extreme levels of fatigue that will accumulate if you do too much. That is why this has the lowest dosage of all of the conditioning strategies.
Methods that could work for your high intensity conditioning include:
- Fan bike sprints (8-10 seconds work followed by 40-60 seconds rest for 8-12 rounds)
- Fan Bike Tabata Protocol (20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest for 6-10 rounds)
- Sled Sprints (6-8 seconds work with 40-60 seconds rest for 8-16 rounds)
- 3 minutes work with 1 minute rest (example: KB 2-Arm Swing x30s > Mountain Climber x30 seconds > KB Goblet Squat x30s > Jump Rope x30s > Dead Bugs x30s > Double KB Farmer March x30s, rest, repeat 1-2 more times)
- A 1-2 mile Fan bike ride for time
As you can see there are a lot of options to get the three different types of conditioning in. It’s easiest to get the low intensity sessions on your own, outside of the gym, where minimal equipment is needed. Low intensity conditioning just takes commitment.
The moderate intensity is easily the most overdone. Look at the total time suggested: 12-30 minutes is all it takes. Not a full 30-60 minute class two or more days a week. Dose it appropriately by finishing your strength work with 6-12 minutes of work twice a week and you’ve hit this target.
The high intensity is a shorter bout and you’ll suffer. 4-12 minutes is plenty. Most people think they’re doing high intensity when in reality they’re working moderately. A hard 2-mile Assault bike ride or a kettlebell snatch test will rewire how you feel about this type of conditioning. Too much of this and recovery lags and tweaks and twinges become more prevalent.
To summarize, if you want to build or improve your conditioning, consider the 3-2-1 Method. Three low intensity sessions a week totaling 60-90 minutes at a comfortable heart rate lower than 130, two moderate intensity sessions totaling 12-30 minutes a week targeting a heart rate around 120-150, and one high intensity session at 90% or greater of your max heart rate for 4-12 minutes a week.