Increasing metabolic conditioning is important for many sports and activities.  Team myHMB athlete & pro boxer Mike Kurzeja shares some unique workout ideas that he likes to use.

Interval training is a great way to train in order to increase your endurance and metabolic conditioning. There are many different workouts you can incorporate with interval training.

Weight Training

Basic weight training and taking minimal rest in between is one form of interval training.  It can get the heartrate up while also building muscle.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Doing specific High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is another technique. HIIT training is performed by doing short bursts of sprints/all out efforts with rest built in after.  It’s all about performing at a high intensity for a short duration and performing multiple rounds or sets.  A typical HIIT workout could look like the following:

8 rounds of:
20 seconds all-out effort of a movement (sprinting, biking, rowing, push-ups, squats, etc…)
40 seconds of rest

The above uses a 1:2 work to rest ratio, which is a good place for beginners to start.  Want to step it up a notch try a 1:1 work to rest ratio. 

Kettlebell Circuits

One of my favorites is doing a set of kettle bell swings or kettle bell snatches and then running a quarter mile. I will complete 4 to 8 sets of this and trust me it will work wonders on your endurance. 

Jump Rope

Another one of my favorites is to skip rope for one minute, and then do a set of dumbbell presses and push-ups.  The idea is to do two separate sets, one set of skipping rope and one set of presses and push-ups which should take an additional minute. There is no rest in between the sets. Skipping the rope is what I call “active rest”. The multiple sets will really help you with your endurance.