Muscle & Fitness Australia - Issue 352 - June 2017

JUNE 2017 MUSCLE & FITNESS 85

ANOTHER GREAT METHOD:hit up

a stairwell and go as hard as you can

for five minutes. Then take your total

distance travelled and divide it by 300

seconds: Congratulations – that’s your

lactate threshold. Now be sure to work

at 85-95% of that same pace during

any cardio session to ensure you’re

becoming a well-conditioned beast.

YOU DON’T HAVEto run a marathon

to prove you’ve got some kick-arse

endurance. Think of conditioning

as real-world functional fitness – how

your body supplies energy efficiently

to meet the demands of everyday

activities, whether it’s playing

with your nephew in the park or

just strolling through the city.

THE TEST

Max aerobic speed

assessment

HOW TO DO IT: hit the gym and tackle

US pro basketballer LeBron James’

favourite total-body, vertical climbing

machine, the VersaClimber, or visit

your local footy stadium and find a

section with 40 to 50 rows of seats.

GOAL: climb 250 metres on the Versa

in under five minutes, or sprint to the

top of the stadium seven times (and

back down) in under five minutes.

THE RESULTS

IF YOU PASSED: you’re in such good shape

that the challenge now is refining

the rest of your body – ie, building

explosive strength and increasing grip

strength – without sacrificing your

conditioning. That’s why you need to

add this timed HIIT workout to your

routine once a week. It will continue

building muscular endurance and

boosting your conditioning:

The finetuned HIIT workout

Do this sequence five times, as fast as you can:

■ 20 kettlebell swings

■ 15 weighted step-ups (50cm)

■ 10 burpees over bar or lateral jump

over kettlebell

IF YOU FAILED: it means you’re

struggling with muscular and

cardiovascular fatigue, in which

case body-weight intervals are

your only way to go. Do this to

get yourself up to speed:

Climb your way to the top

FITNESS TEST CATEGORY 3: CONDITIONING

The VersaClimber is a

fantastic full-body workout

for strength and conditioning.

STAIR MASTERSprinting stairs is one

of the best HIIT workouts there is.

The baseline HIIT workout

10 minutes each, as many reps as possible:

■ 12 burpees

■ 12 plyo box jumps (50cm)

■ 12 walking lunges

TEST TO BE YOUR BEST