Sports Fitness

Cybex Arc Trainer – Cardiovascular Strength Endurance Training

The Arc Trainer has much more potential than the many users have discovered in their gym. And while talking to many Arc users over the past 2 months, I have discovered that, although they all love the machine, many only use it for a warm up device or as an alternative cardio piece where they simply cruise at a steady pace for 20-30 minutes at the default settings.

Cruising on the Arc is a great start, but is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the capabilities of the machine. Over the next few months I will be posting some of the workouts that we have implemented with our clients that have shown improvements in everything from heart rate recovery to leg strength endurance.

Today's Workout: Progressive Resistance Ladder – 30 minutes

Start off with a typical warm up on the Arc where you will adjust the settings to a comfortable level (somewhere between 20-35 resistance at between 100-120 strides per minute). Continue this comfortable pace for about 3 minutes, working up a light sweat and letting the legs loosen up. We would like to start off the workout at about 25-35 resistance at 120 strides per minute, so make sure you test out how you feel at that resistance and pace.

After a light stretch and brief water break, return to the Arc, set your body weight and resistance to a good starting load of around 25 – 30. Adjust the incline to a comfortable level and set the machine so that strides per minute (pace) is always visible on the display.

Workout:

During the off minute (rest interval) decrease your speed to less than 10 strides per minute (just keep the machine moving, but going as slow as possible). Assess your fatigue level and consider moving the resistance up by 5. At the start of the next interval (2 minutes on 1 minute off) you should have increased the resistance and still be able to maintain the pace of 120 strides per minute.

After this interval, rest again, assess your fatigue and consider moving the resistance up again for the next interval while keeping the same pace settings. The ultimate goal is to get the resistance up as high as possible by the last interval (1 minute on 1 minute off) and still be maintaining a 120 strides per minute pace.

Some of our advanced athletes will increase up to 75 or 80 resistance in this workout, while some of our recreational clients will get up to 45 or 50 resistance by the final minute. You can perform this workout 1x per week, each week striving to push your resistance a little higher while maintaining a steady pace.

If at any time in the workout, you have trouble maintaining the pace, back the resistance down in increments of 5 until you are working at a level you can maintain for the required time. Even if you back it down on the 8-minute interval, don’t be afraid to try and push it back up on the next 4-minute interval. Continue to challenge yourself each level. This is a great way to kick off your cardiovascular strength endurance-training program.