Gerschler Fartlek
Fitnance trainee, Chloe Parker pictured
Woldemar Gerschler of Germany was a pioneer of interval training in the 1930’s. His methods were based on heart rate recovery.
Gerschler Fartlek involves hard running for 30 seconds, followed by a 90 second recovery. A full set repeats this cycle five times, but each interval’s recovery period is reduced by 15 seconds, i.e. 30/90, 30/75, 30/60, 30/45, 30/30. Depending on fitness levels, these sets can be repeated 2 – 5 times, with 2 – 3 minutes active recovery between sets.
Run the 30 seconds efforts at your 3000m race pace, with an active jog or “float” in the recovery periods. Pace should remain the same throughout the set, while the intensity should increase thanks to the shortening recoveries.
Minimum, 10 minute warm-up and warm-down jog
