a venture into more rigorous training

Cycling is often touted as one of the best cross-training workouts that a runner can incorporate into their routine, so for almost a year now I've been teaching an indoor cycling class at my local Y; the obligatory nature of being an instructor insured that I would always get at least one cycling session in each week, and the class worked really well for me in my schedule. However, in an effort to draw in a younger crowd for the summer, I've been switched over to teaching an outdoor endurance class, a class that centers around all of the awesome exercises you can do with cinder blocks and giant tractor tires. I throw some weights around a few times a week, so I'm no stranger to bringing a little strength training into the routine, but this class is a totally different level. It might not have the same counterbalancing benefits of cycling, but it certainly gets the job done in terms of bringing the sweat.

In researching the different workouts that I could incorporate into the class, my eyes have really been opened to a much broader range of strength training activities. My stumble down the rabbit hole of extreme fitness eventually led me to Freeletics, a high-intensity program comprised of bodyweight exercises that are either done for time or for a maximum number of reps. Some of the workouts seem like they could be pretty long, especially when you're first starting out, but as a teacher with the summer off, I figured I'd commit to trying out the program while I'm riding this wave of being really into strength training.

As soon as you sign up and confirm your account, you're sent an email with your first workout: Burpee Max, Sit-Up Max, and Squat Max. Each of these exercises requires you to knock out as many reps as you can in 300 seconds; it's certainly not the most novel first workout, but it's a good way to establish a baseline of fitness before officially starting the program. So after my run today, I did some light stretching, laid out a yoga mat, and hit start on a timer for the first five minute set. When all was said and done, I had pulled off 47 burpees, 65 sit-ups, and 138 squats. I'm not sure how that stacks up in the grand scheme of things, but I'm certainly pleased with those results for the first day.