As a Fitness Specialist, one of the most frequent questions I get is, "What should I do for cardio?" I have so much empathy for this because we hear so many different opinions on what is cardio, and how it should be performed. Guidelines like 30 minutes of vigorous cardio exercise 5 days a week is great in theory, but what is vigorous? I also know that people getting into an exercise program start off strong willed and 30 minutes 5 days a week just for cardio seems absolutely achievable; however, studies show that people who have resolved to be more active have a 50% drop at the 6 month mark. So how can we not only be more efficient with our time and effort, but also have a better adherence to our program?
ESD or energy systems development is a specific approach to cardiorespiratory exercise using interval training. We do this for a number of reasons, first it's more time efficient, we are able to get a higher metabolic cost in 10 minutes of intervals than 30 minutes of general cardio. Second, it lets us use a smaller amount of time out of our day which will lead to a higher likelihood at implementing it at a higher, more consistent level. It is not only more engaging than general cardio but it is just as good at combating heart disease, diabetes, pulmonary disease, high cholesterol, arthritis etc. While many people know interval training as a term they have never been shown how long do I work for? How long do I rest? How hard should it be? Where cardio is often a general approach to conditioning, ESD is targeted to the individuals needs and demands. Each session is tailored to elicit specific training responses, and therefore develop the metabolic infrastructure that's required to achieve success. Hence the name, energy systems development.
We organize ESD by average intensity into three categories. Red zone sessions are high intensity, Green zone sessions are moderate intensity, and Yellow zone sessions are low intensity. In order to target one versus the other we modify the variables of either total session volume (how long you’re working) or session density (what percent of the time of the session you’re working, or your Work:Rest ratio). This gives us the opportunity to allow for the perceived effort of the session (in the session) to remain high, while intensity would be moderated. On a red zone day it would look something like 10 seconds of all out as fast as you can work, and 50 seconds of rest (1:5 Work:Rest ratio) on the row machine for 8-12 minutes total. Green zone could be a hard jog for 1 minute and an easy jog or walk for 1 minute (1:1 Work:Rest ratio) for a total of 10-20 minutes. Yellow zone can either be low intensity intervals, or continuous work like traditional cardio. Something along the lines of a 4 minute swim followed by 2 minutes of rest (2:1 Work:Rest ratio) , or a 20-60 minute light jog or walk.
Weekly programs can differ between experience and training goals, but a typical week in order would look like, green, red, yellow, green, red, yellow, rest day. Just remember that within each day your effort during the intervals determine what zone you will be in. You won't run a 100 meter at your marathon pace, and you won't run a marathon at your 100 meter pace. I know that is a little bit of a read, but after seeing some of the options and going through a few sessions most people really enjoy the variation and short duration. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out, or leave a question below!