A Cross Training Workout That Will Tear Down Your “Wall”

Many runners talk about “hitting the wall” during a race or long training run. No, there isn’t a literal wall that creeps out from behind a bush to smack you in the face. The “wall” I’m talking about is the kind that hits you late in the race when your muscles begin to fatigue and cramp up, seizing as if you had just touched a live wire. The quads and hamstrings burn intensely each time you muster up the strength to run another 30 meters. At that moment you realize that your body does have a limit. The first time you hit the wall it’s surreal. Despite how much your mind and heart tell you to run, sometimes you just simply can’t. Watch this video if you don’t know what I mean about hitting the wall. This should make it clear.

Every person will reach their tipping point. Legs give, calves cramp, muscles burn, backs spasm, and your mind gives in. Not every person, however, trains hard enough to push the wall further and further back until it no longer limits them during a race. Many people wonder why runners such as Dean Karnazes and Bart Yasso can run as far and as long as they do in such harsh conditions. Certainly I think most could argue that physiologically they were born with certain gifts. But it’s undeniable to me that they are capable of doing the things they do simply because they train as hard as they do, and don’t stop when they begin to fatigue. Instead they surge forward and move the wall back a bit further each time.

From my experience I’ve learned that hard training leads to an easy race. Along the way I picked up a cross training routine that has been used at the professional level in football and basketball and I decided to adopt it as part of my cross training when preparing for a marathon or endurance trail race with thousands of feet of elevation change. I call it Cardiac Tuesday. Here’s how it goes:

1. Find an upright stationary bike
2. Tie your feet in, grab a bottle of water and a towel
3. Bring the pain
4. Don’t flinch if the people in the gym around you gawk
5. Kick ass in your next race

All kidding aside (kinda), here’s what you actually need to do once you get on the stationary bike:

(Quick note: the “levels” I suggest below are based on a scale of 1-20 where 1 is easy and 20 is hard. Most stationary bike’s use this scale. If yours doesn’t, you should still get the gist of the intensity explained below and should adjust your scale accordingly).

1. Warm up for 3 minutes on level 6
2. Warm up an additional 2 minutes on level 8
3. At the 5 minute mark, crank it up to level 16.
4. Stay on level 16 for 30 seconds, maintaining 100 rotations per minute (stay seated, don’t get out of the saddle)
5. Lower to level 8 for 30 seconds, maintaining 100 rotations per minute (stay seated, don’t get out of the saddle)
6. After 5 repetitions of level 16/30 seconds followed by level 8/30 seconds, lower to level 6
8. Pedal at level 6 maintaining 100 rotations per minute for 2 minutes (at this point try controlling your breathing and getting your heart rate down)

Repeat steps 4-8 above two more times. At the completion of the third cycle you will have pedaled for 26 minutes. Spend the last 4 minutes cooling down. Pedal at 70 rotations per minute at level 6 and you’ll be done.

I guarantee that this will be the most exhausting 30 minutes of your life. It’s important that you don’t cheat. Make sure that you try to maintain 100 rotations per minute during the intervals. Most stationary bikes should tell you the rotations/minute so keep your eye on it as you go. Also don’t stand up or “jump out of the saddle” as they call it in spinning.

The reason I recommend you stay seated is to stay focused on the quadriceps and hamstrings. When you stand up to cycle you bring multiple other muscle groups into play which eases the distress placed on the quads and hams. The intensity should be directed at those major muscle groups so that they are pushed to fatigue and incite a rapid lactic acid build up.

The intention of this cross training technique is to push back the barrier at which your muscles begin producing and metabolizing lactic acid. Many other knowledgeable and experienced runners will tell you that interval training such as Fartlek intervals or running stairs will do the same. I completely agree with them and often include both Fartlek and stair running in my training. However, I’ve yet to find an exercise that helps me break through fatigue barriers more effectively in a 30 minute workout than the Cardiac Tuesday’s cross training session described above.

By doing this session early in the week you should still be able to recover in time for a longer run on weekends while still getting in a few training runs throughout the rest of the week. If the intensity is too high for you to begin with try either lowering the number of repeats or lowering the resistance level on the bike. Ultimately it should be your goal to complete the entire workout described above in one 30 minute session.

When I integrated this into my training schedule consistently I went on to break my personal record in the half marathon by 10 minutes and finish my next full marathon 40 minutes faster than the previous one I had run! I’m confident you’ll have similar results so try it out and see how you feel.

To read about other great training ideas for runners check out our other articles.