1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:05,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: I am Tom Holland and this is Fitness Disrupted. Fit Tip. 3 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: What is polarized training? I think many of you will 4 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: find this term totally new, even though I've talked about 5 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: the concept many times, and it goes directly to the 6 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 1: concept of interval training. So what is it? Really? Simply 7 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: it is when it comes to training. Now, quite often 8 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:45,479 Speaker 1: you hear me talk about in others in the fitness 9 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,840 Speaker 1: world talk about twenty When it comes to diet, right 10 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: of the time you eat healthy of the time, that's 11 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: when you indulge in. That is a great way to 12 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 1: kind of break it down to live your life still 13 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: having what you want, but spending the majority of your 14 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 1: time being healthier, right, eating healthy stuff. Well, when it 15 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: comes to endurance training, what they have found is that 16 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:12,199 Speaker 1: elite endurance athletes train about eighty percent of their time 17 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: low intensity and twenty of the time at high intensity, 18 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: and they get enormous results from that. And so you 19 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: can apply that to yourself regardless of whether you're a 20 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: competitive athlete or you're someone who's just trying to be 21 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: as fit as possible. I have often talked about the 22 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: gray zone, and this is the antithesis of the gray zone. 23 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: There is no gray zone when it comes to polarized training. 24 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: And this is why when I wrote my first book 25 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 1: right out of grad school, and I was looking at 26 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 1: the marathon books and the triathlon books, and some of 27 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: them popular books had five, six, seven different zones to 28 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: train in. Now you can use those, but that's complicated, 29 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: and that gets really kind of tricky, especially if you're 30 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: running outside where they're hills and stoplights and people and 31 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: biking same issues. So over the years, I basically have 32 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: three zones for the most part for myself and back 33 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: when I was coaching clients as well. So there is 34 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: super easy, there's the middle, which is tempo training, and 35 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: then there's hard. But the difference between easy and hard 36 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: is huge, is huge, and that's why I say so 37 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: often when people are thinking they are doing high intensity 38 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:42,399 Speaker 1: interval training, they're not. And the research shows this. Okay, 39 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: there was one specific study that basically just asked some 40 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:52,639 Speaker 1: competitive runners what they're perceived intensity was after a workout, 41 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: and what they found is not surprising. They were pushing 42 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,560 Speaker 1: harder than they should and that they thought they were 43 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: on the easy days and they weren't going hard enough 44 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: on their hard days, and that is exactly what I 45 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: see the vast majority of people doing now. Listen, always 46 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: have to preface by saying, any exercises great, and the 47 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: gray zone, you're gonna get some benefit there. You're gonna 48 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: get benefit there, absolutely. But when we're exercising more and more, 49 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: and I always want us to be as healthy and 50 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: the best we can be, then we want this variation. 51 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: And this goes for people like my wife, who is 52 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,080 Speaker 1: not a huge fitness person per se, but now has 53 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: found you know, cardio that she loves that she does 54 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: almost every day, and I'm constantly telling her this very 55 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: same thing that you can't do or shouldn't do, you know, 56 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: high intensity training every single day. And when you do it, though, 57 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: you want to go hard and go easy. So that's 58 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: what polarized training is. Polarized training is of the time 59 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: you're going easy easy, of the time you're going hard, 60 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: and that hard is hard. So those intervals are short 61 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: and the rest periods are generally longer than most people 62 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,799 Speaker 1: give themselves. So many classes that say they're high intensity 63 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: aren't because they are improperly designed, and quite often that 64 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: is that the work intervals are too long. Rest intervals 65 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,039 Speaker 1: are too short. There's too many of them. So on 66 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: your easy days you go easy, this is great news. 67 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:33,719 Speaker 1: And on your hard days you go hard. But those 68 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: workouts are shorter and those intervals are shorter. And yes, 69 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,839 Speaker 1: I don't care if you're not an endurance athlete, you 70 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:45,840 Speaker 1: are going to get the benefit, huge benefit, cardiovascular, early, mentally, 71 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: fat burning, all of those things. The epoch affect post 72 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: exercise oxygen consumption. You burn more calories and more fat. 73 00:04:55,040 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: We can debate how much after a true you it 74 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: will work out, but there you have it. That's what 75 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,400 Speaker 1: polarized training is. So keep it simple people. You know, 76 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 1: if you want to follow those zones, if you're someone 77 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,479 Speaker 1: who's a competitive athlete, or you like you know, more 78 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: data and things like that, sure you can follow the five, six, 79 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: seven zones. But again you don't have to. And the 80 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:24,880 Speaker 1: research shows exactly what those memes say, go easy, go hard, 81 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: go home. Right. So I am going to go into 82 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:34,719 Speaker 1: much greater detail on another podcast on this specific training, 83 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 1: tell you how to do it, how to break your 84 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: week out if you are, you know, doing four or 85 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,040 Speaker 1: five six workouts a week, and how to be much 86 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: more specific what those intensity zones are, percentage wise, things 87 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: like that. But for the vast majority of you, it's 88 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: perceived exertion. That's what I love. When you look at 89 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: the research, by the way, you know, you pull up 90 00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:56,920 Speaker 1: the research on this, the people I love, the smartest 91 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 1: in the business come up right away. Matt Fitzgerald as 92 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: a whole book. You know, polarized training is Matt Fitzgerald, 93 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: and he is one of the smartest and one of 94 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: the fastest. It is fifties walking the walk, and and 95 00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: you know he knows what he's talking about. Alex Hutchinson, 96 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: again one of the best writers sports scientists out there, 97 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 1: amazing talks about polarized training. So for those of you 98 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: who are looking to be fitter, to vary your workout routine, 99 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: this can be biking, running, by the way, whatever type 100 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,480 Speaker 1: of cardio you're doing, you want to mix it up, 101 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: and so on some days you go easy and some 102 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: days you throw in those intervals, and generally speaking, when 103 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 1: you have more time to exercise, those are your slow 104 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: easy days. And when you have less time twenty minutes 105 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,839 Speaker 1: or so, that's a five ten minute warm up and 106 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: then a handful of really short, really hard intervals and 107 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: then a cool down. That's the way to do it. 108 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: I will talk talk about that middle zone, the tempo, 109 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: but when you look at that, it is the least 110 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: amount of time that most elite endurance athletes, elite athletes 111 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:15,160 Speaker 1: spend in that zone. So it's you know, if you 112 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: broke it down something like, you know, different ways to 113 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: do it. Obviously super easy, easy zones, that middle zone, tempo, 114 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: and then what's the math still high intensity. But this 115 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:39,120 Speaker 1: I'll leave you with is what I primarily used heart 116 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: rate monitors for with my clients for specific purposes involved 117 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: with this, and it wasn't for their hard intervals, it 118 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,640 Speaker 1: was for their easy intervals. Most of you know when 119 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: you're working hard. Now again, the research shows people still 120 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: think they're working hard but not hard enough, So yes, 121 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: absolutely can use the heart rate monitor for that as well. 122 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: But generally speaking, it's much easier to know when you're 123 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 1: going hard than easy, So harry monitors for me are 124 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: just as important, if not more so, on your easy 125 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 1: days to make sure you're not going too hard. And 126 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: that's really challenging for so many people. Competitive athletes and 127 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: durance athletes that I compete against. Two I love it 128 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 1: takes discipline. You don't want to be running that slowly, 129 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 1: maybe outside when people are looking, but there you haven't 130 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: Polarized training super easy, super hard, So it isn't that complicated, 131 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: although many books and articles will try to make it 132 00:08:38,840 --> 00:08:41,640 Speaker 1: that go easy, go really hard, stay out of that 133 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: middle zone. If you want to really really improve your fitness, 134 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: you can still spend some time there. And there's benefit 135 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:57,439 Speaker 1: in all cardio. But like everything else, variation is key. 136 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: Variation in intensity, areation in mode, variation in duration, all 137 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: the above, and that helps you not only get fitter 138 00:09:08,040 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: and as fit as you can be, regardless of whether 139 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: you're competing or not, but it's also going to help 140 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:20,560 Speaker 1: you stay mentally interested and connected to your workout program. Okay, 141 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: polarized training, spend the vast majority of your time endurance 142 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,080 Speaker 1: and then once or twice a week, depending on what 143 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: you're doing. And again I will talk about this much 144 00:09:33,800 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 1: more in the longer podcast about this. That's when you 145 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: do your intervals. All right, thank you for listening. If 146 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: you have not yet rated the show, rated, subscribe. My 147 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 1: goal is very simple to help you have the best 148 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: information so that you can have the best life based 149 00:09:52,640 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: on research based on experience, because I want you to 150 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,040 Speaker 1: be able to do whatever you want to do for 151 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: as long as you want to do it pain free. 152 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 1: If you want to reach out, love to hear from you, comments, questions. 153 00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,400 Speaker 1: Tom h Fit is Twitter and Instagram, Tom h Fit 154 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: Fitness disrupted dot com. You can email me through the 155 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:17,600 Speaker 1: site new book out micro workout plan if you are interested, 156 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: check that out brand new and thank you for listening. 157 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: We all control three things, how much we move, what 158 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: we put into our mouths, and our attitudes. And that's awesome. 159 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: I am Tom Holland. This is Fitness Disrupted. Believe in yourself. 160 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: Fitness Disrupted is a production of I Heart Radio. For 161 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart 162 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 163 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:49,280 Speaker 1: favorite shows.