Lesson video

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Hi there, I'm Mr. Swaithes and I'm really looking forward to working with you today.

We're gonna be looking at continuous training in today's lesson.

So for this lesson, you will need access to a safe, supervised space to go and run.

And that may be your garden, or perhaps if it's safe to do so, out somewhere in your local community, and a timer or a stopwatch.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to complete a sustained, continuous training session at a steady-state, sub-maximal level to develop cardiovascular endurance.

Some of the key words we'll be exploring in today's lesson include aerobic, which is where it's exercise that uses oxygen to produce energy and is done at a steady pace over a prolonged period of time.

Sub-maximal, which means working below your highest efforts at a steady state and a manageable level.

And then motivation, the encouragement or support from others that helps you stay focused and complete a task.

So first of all, we need to warm up for this session.

So show me what you know about preparing the body for a continuous jog.

Can you start with a gentle pulse raiser?

You can perform that on the spot, then perform some dynamic stretches and joint mobility.

Here's a quick video to give you an example, but I'm sure you can manage this without watching the video.

Okay, so now you've completed that warmup, can you just quickly take your pulse?

So either in your neck here, your carotid artery or in your radial artery, so at your wrist.

Take your pulse and it should be over a hundred beats per minute.

So you should really feel that beating quite fast and quite powerfully in your chest, and that tells you that you're warm enough to progress for this lesson.

Do you feel warm?

Do you feel ready for exercise?

I hope so.

And have you mobilized your joints, worked your major muscles through their full range of movement and got good footwear on?

You could perhaps do a bit more stretching and mobility as you listen through the beginning of this lesson.

And remember, we need a safe space to run in.

So today's lesson, types of training: can you complete a continuous training session?

Is broken up into two parts.

First of all, we're gonna use intervals to build up stamina, and then in the second part of the lesson, we'll work towards completing a steady-state run for time.

And remember, you might need to do this over a number of sessions in the week and over a number of weeks to build up that stamina using interval training first, before you step into, I guess, what is the second part of this lesson, and a steady-state run for time.

So depending on your initial fitness will dictate whether you can go straight into this lesson or whether you need to build up to it gradually over a few sessions.

Let's get going then.

So let's look at using interval training to build up your stamina.

Now Parkrun, incredibly popular at the moment, and Couch to 5K are two really popular solutions that get people, part of a community, engaging with others to help motivate them and doing that running for pleasure.

They're both excellent ways to build a healthy, active lifestyle.

They develop aerobic fitness, there's that key word there.

So aerobic meaning using oxygen.

So it's the ability to exercise with oxygen, to provide energy for that muscular contraction that can be repeated for a long period of time.

And it's mainly the muscles in your legs, isn't it?

As you're running, as you are beating the streets.

And this aerobic fitness can also sometimes be called stamina.

And when you're working on your stamina or your aerobic fitness or your endurance, your cardiovascular endurance is a term that's sometimes used.

It requires really good pacing.

And by that we mean setting a pace that you can maintain and keep running for a prolonged period of time.

So more than a few minutes at that steady pace.

And depending on your level of fitness at the moment, that might just be a fast walk initially and then picking it up into a bit more of a jog, and then if you've done lots of training previously, you may be able to pick up the pace further into that jog and maybe even quite a fast jog.

So you're gonna dictate your pace based on the level of fitness that you have at present.

Remember that exercise you can do for a sustained period of time is known as sub-maximal, as it works at a steady and manageable level.

Whereas maximal exercise might be something like a 100 meter sprint or some of the weight training exercises or body weight exercises, where you're lifting a heavy weight, or perhaps doing pull-ups for example, can be a maximal exercise.

And as I said at the beginning, this requires motivation, doesn't it?

To keep going.

And it can be hard sometimes to get into that mindset where you keep working even though it's a little bit uncomfortable.

Well John here recommends that he finds that he can motivate himself by setting a hard challenge to work towards, and need to break it down into manageable steps to help that become more realistic.

So I wonder, could you break down a challenge into manageable steps in order to increase your chances of fulfilling that challenge?

And Alex has said that he finds completing runs with someone else helps maintain motivation as they can encourage each other.

And maybe you've got someone available to you, that could do this lesson with you, and that might help your motivation through that extrinsic route of somebody else.

Or maybe setting that target and the intrinsic motivation will come from reaching your goals and feeling your fitness improving.

So let's do a quick check for understanding, which of the following describes aerobic?

Is it A, high intensity exercise?

Is it B, working at maximal levels?

Is it C, low intensity exercise for a sustained period of time?

Or is it D, exercise that doesn't use oxygen?

Have a think.

That's right.

It's C, isn't it?

It's low intensity exercise that can be maintained for a sustained period of time, and we're talking a few minutes, and for some people, like running the marathon, they can carry it on for numerous hours, and maybe that's something you might want to work towards.

A challenge that might be within your reach one day.

So, physical, mental and social benefits of running at a sub-maximal pace, there are many of them, but let's just look at a few of them.

So it improves your aerobic endurance, so you get stronger or more efficient heart and lungs.

Strengthened bones, so you get an increased bone density due to that weight-bearing exercise.

So anything when you're doing movement on your feet, it strengthens up your bones.

So unfortunately, although swimming is great for your aerobic endurance, so is riding your bike and so is getting on a rowing machine, those three types of aerobic exercise unfortunately don't help strengthen your bones in the same way that running and weightbearing exercises do.

You also get increased muscular tone.

So obviously, your muscles and your joints.

So at your joints you've got important ligaments, but also the cartilage that helps provide some cushioning between the ends of the bones, that gets nourished by doing weight-bearing exercise and your muscles will tone up too.

And then also, so far I've just talked about physical benefits, but you get improved mood and focus.

So often people see running as a real stress relief at a time to clear your head, especially if you're running outside in nature.

So those blue and green spaces are particularly good for improving mood and focus.

And I'll quite often get out and do some exercise in between recording these lessons to help put me back up, ready to record another one.

And then also that sense of achievement and perhaps a social connection with other runners also helps improve our emotional wellbeing.

So let's do another quick check then.

True or false?

When running, you need to pace yourself and not set off too quickly if you want to keep going for a long time.

Is that true or is it false?

That's right, it's true, isn't it?

And can you tell me why?

Okay, well hopefully you are thinking something along the lines of, if you set off too quickly, you will not supply enough oxygen to your working muscles to be able to exercise aerobically, and that results in lactic acid buildup in your muscles, which causes fatigue and triggers you to need to slow down or perhaps even stop.

So it's important not to set off too fast, and potentially increase your pace as your body adapts and copes with that exercise better.

The worst thing to do is to set off too fast and then feel the need to really slow down to a walking pace or perhaps even give up, because you've built up all that lactic acid.

So set off slow and build up your pace as you go, would be my recommendation.

Okay, so going from naught to a 40 minute run is tough.

If you haven't done much long distance or steady pace exercise for a while, it's best to start slow.

To start with some interval training, so you alternate jogging and walking, and you slowly increase the amount of time you jog for and reduce the amount of time that you walk for.

So that's what I'm gonna recommend that we do in task A.

So what I'd like you to do is set yourself a target time or distance to run for.

What do you think is suitable given your current level of fitness?

For example, could you jog for 60 seconds and then walk for 30 seconds, before repeating those intervals for 10 repetitions.

So you'll do 10 lots of 60 second jogs, interspersed with those 30 second walking or maybe fast walking sections.

So that will total 15 minutes of exercise.

Alternatively, maybe you'd rather measure it in distance or maybe that's an easier thing for you to mark out where you are.

So for example, you could jog 200 meters, or roughly 200 meters, and then walk for 100 meters.

And again, repeat that 10 times over.

So Jun here is suggesting that it's important that you challenge yourself with a suitable distance based on how much running you have done recently.

He plays lots of football, so he's going to do three minutes of jogging, then 30 seconds of walking, and keep repeating until 20 minutes are up.

So you have a little think, what's an appropriate target for you given your current level of fitness.

I want you to go out and perform that, and then come back to me when you are ready.

I'm gonna play a quick video clip now of someone doing this in their own garden to give you an idea of what you could do.

But I'm sure you know what running looks like, and you'll see in this video, alternating that period of running with a period of walking, and then repeating.

Welcome back.

How did you find that then?

So hopefully we've been working on that move target of aerobic exercise that requires low intensity movement for a sustained amount of time.

Now John's reflecting and saying that he had to be careful not to set off too fast and build up the lactic acid, which would make him want to stop.

How did you feel?

Did you manage to set a low enough intensity that you could keep going for the whole period?

I hope so.

And then thinking about whether that regular aerobic exercise is used to improve cardiovascular and muscular endurance.

Well, Izzy is here reflecting, saying that she wanted to do this a couple of times a week to improve the efficiency and endurance capabilities of her heart, lungs, and muscles.

And we've talked about that, haven't we?

The fact that yes, you're completing this one lesson with me today, but in order to get some fitness benefits from it, you really need to be repeating it a few times a week and for a few weeks before you'll start to really feel the benefits of it.

Okay then, let's move into the second part of this lesson, where you're gonna complete a steady-state run for time.

And if you found that first part of the lesson really challenging, then I recommend that you repeat that a few more times over the next few weeks before you progress to this second part of the lesson, because we're gonna be running nonstop.

Okay, let's explore the understanding of that a little bit first.

And whilst I'm doing this, you might want to perform a few stretches and mobility exercises so that you don't cool down too much.

So how do you then transition to nonstop running from that interval training of jogging, walking, jogging, walking?

Well, Laura is saying that continuous training involves working for a sustained period of time without rest, and it's best to build up to that gradually.

We call that progressive overload.

And you could do it on a treadmill, on a bike, on a rowing machine, a stair climber.

I did that yesterday in the gym actually, and it was really hard.

I did 50 flights of stairs and managed it just under 10 minutes.

So there's a really ambitious target, if you've got access to a stair climber.

You could do it on a cross trainer, in a swimming pool, or just get out for a run if there's somewhere safe to do so.

Jacob says that he thinks he could manage eight minutes of nonstop running and then a short walk before repeating.

I wonder, having experienced this now, how long do you think you could keep running for before you perhaps needed a short walk to build up your strength to go again?

Well, let's do a quick check for understanding.

Which of the following is not continuous training.

Is it A, a steady pace swim for 20 minutes?

Is it B, alternating sprinting and walking?

Or is it C, a jog around the block, trying to keep the same speed?

Which do you think?

That's right, alternating sprinting and walking is not continuous training is it?

That's interval training, and it tends to work on your anaerobic fitness rather than your aerobic fitness.

Still a good training session to do, but not continuous and not sub-maximal exercise.

Well, what if it feels too difficult?

Well, Sofia says you should always listen to your body.

Slow down if it feels too hard, or you feel any pain, as that could lead to an injury or burnout.

However, with a bit of practice, you should be able to find a pace you can maintain without triggering that fatigue.

And Lucas says, "So if I set off too fast and I feel a stitch," and maybe you've experienced this in the past, then you should slow down to a pace where enough oxygen is supplied to the working muscles so that they can act aerobically, and then maybe gradually speed up if your body becomes comfortable with that.

Absolutely.

That's a good idea, Lucas.

So what pace is best?

Well, Sam says, "A good guide for a jogging pace that you can maintain is a speed where you can still talk in full sentences without gasping for breath.

Is there someone you could go for a jog with and help motivate and encourage each other to keep going when it starts to get tough?

" Well, Andeep says, "That means you'll be working sub-maximally.

" If you are able to talk in full sentences whilst you are exercising.

How could you modify the workout?

Well, it can get a little bit boring, can't it?

Just running at the same pace.

So you could vary where you run, get better scenery or different scenery, depending on where you are running.

You could vary the type of continuous training.

So for example, you could, perhaps if you've got access to a rowing machine, or you could go swimming or maybe even cycling.

And you could vary your pace, maybe mixing in the odd short sprint within your jog, but not so fast that you can't maintain a jogging pace afterwards.

So the key there is ensuring that if you were to sprint for a little period, that you can maintain a jog after that, you're not forced to get down into just a walk.

Okay, let's do another quick check.

So you should always just run through the pain if you want to get fitter.

What do you think?

Is that true or false?

That's right.

It's false, isn't it?

And can you tell me why?

Well, if you feel pain, it's a warning sign, isn't it?

From your body, that you must listen to.

You may be uncomfortable because you are not used to the intensity of exercise, and hence need to build up gradually to that.

So absolutely, it feeling uncomfortable whilst running is okay, but pain could also be a signal, an underlying condition, or perhaps an injury waiting to happen.

So never ignore it if you feel in real pain.

Practice task of today's lesson then.

So this time, let's aim for non-stop running for at least 15 minutes.

Remember, start off steady, increase the pace slightly after five minutes if you can.

If it feels too easy, build in an injection of pace with short sprints every two minutes, and aim to never stop running.

That's the most important bit.

So Aisha says, "If this feels like too much of a struggle, maybe you need to work up to this over a period of a few weeks, where you can get out and jog, walk, jog, walk, for 15 minutes like we did in the first part of this lesson.

Perhaps doing that every other day until you are ready to transition to this harder session where we're jogging nonstop for 15 minutes.

" Okay, we're now gonna see a short video of somebody who's running in their garden.

So they're just doing laps of a tree or two trees in fact.

And maybe that's what you could do.

Or perhaps there's someone that could go jogging with you out in your local community, in order to get a bit more variety.

So pause the video now whilst you go out for that 15 minute run, or longer, if you can manage longer, and then come back to me to reflect on this lesson together.

Okay, so we've been looking at the fact that aerobic exercise requires that low intensity movement, doesn't it?

For a sustained period of time.

And so, Sofia here is reflecting on how, if she set off too fast, she'd be working anaerobically and this leads to lactic acid buildup, which will cause early fatigue.

I really hope you manage to avoid that.

And then in terms of some of the learning that comes from this, well, we know now, don't we?

That regular aerobic exercise is often used to improve your cardiovascular and your muscular endurance.

And Izzy definitely knows that she needs to commit to a regular run if she wants to get the benefits.

So she's going to start running three times a week.

What are you gonna do?

And then also, that steady pace run is best when doing aerobic exercise, isn't it?

To avoid fatigue too early in the session.

So by going at a steady pace, and maybe building up to faster later in the session, we'll avoid that feeling of fatigue too early in the session.

And Lucas says that when he's running and gets tempted to speed up too much, it can feel that.

.

.

That kind of, change in his breathing.

So it goes from a steady breath in and out, to more of a panting, and that's when he knows that he's not gonna be able to keep that up for long.

Did you recognize a change in your breathing at all as you were out running?

Could you maintain those nice, big, I guess, well sequenced breaths, with nice rhythm, or did you go a little bit too fast and break into that panting, that fast inhale and exhalation?

And then, have you used others for encouragement to help you maintain motivation?

Or maybe you've set targets that will help you with that intrinsic motivation.

Well, Sam here, well they are saying that they would much rather run with someone else, and I'm certainly the same as Sam here.

Even if we message each other and head out at the same time to run separately, but check back in afterwards to support each other and reflect on it together.

So that's another solution, isn't it?

If you've not got someone that could run with you physically, maybe they can head out to run at the same time of day, and you can check back in with each other afterwards.

Okay, well we've just got enough time now to cool down from today's lesson.

So I want you to perform the following sequence of exercises.

First of all, two minutes of jogging on the spot, so you can start to jog as you continue to listen to me.

So you've got two minutes of jogging on the spot, slowly reducing that down to one minute of walking on the spot.

Then we're gonna do five roll down and walk outs.

So you're going to roll your chin down to your chest and then down to the floor, touch your toes, and walk out in front of you into that plank position, walk back up and roll back up again.

So you're gonna complete those five roll downs five times.

Then you're gonna do five cat cow stretches.

So that's where you get on all fours on the floor and you are arching your back, and then pushing your belly button towards the floor.

Arching your back, pushing your belly button down to the floor.

So really helping mobilize that lower back, that sometimes people feel some pain in when they've been doing some running.

And then you need to perform some static stretches of your quadriceps, your hamstrings, your gastrocnemius and your gluteals.

So those muscles in your legs that you've worked hardest today.

And perhaps you want to add in some additional stretches for muscles that you've worked hard today, or that you can feel.

I quite like to do this stretch where I rotate my upper body round and look behind me.

So again, really focusing in on my lower back.

Pause the video now whilst you complete this cool down, and then let's reflect shall we?

On whether you are feeling better now in comparison to before the lesson started, and how long did you manage to run for without stopping?

As always, I'm gonna set you a little commitment, a little challenge.

So when will you repeat this continuous training session and how long do you plan to run for next time?

Because it's all about building your targets gradually over time.

There is no point in going out hell for leather for a big run today, and then being unable to run again for weeks.

So trying to build that regular commitment is the keys to success and to that healthy, active lifestyle.

So let's just summarize the lesson quickly together.

So we've been looking, haven't we?

About aerobic exercise and how it requires that low intensity movement for a sustained amount of time.

Want to understand that aerobic exercise is often used to improve cardiovascular and muscular endurance.

You should have felt that that steady pace is when you are doing aerobic exercise, and that you avoid fatigue too early on in the session by going at that steady pace.

Remember, we talked, didn't we?

About, could you maintain a conversation?

And if you could maintain a conversation, that's probably about the right level of intensity.

If you head out too fast and you're gasping for breath, you're probably crossing over into that anaerobic zone.

And then hopefully, you've been able to connect with somebody else, to use them for encouragement, to help maintain motivation.

And even if that's not physically coming and running with you, perhaps just sharing your goal and what you managed to achieve, and your target for your next run, might be just as good for you.

Thanks for joining me, you've worked really hard today, and I really hope that it's motivated you to get out and run again.

Thanks for joining me.