David Beckham's 5 Challenges!

Beckham is not a giant, nor the strongest in football. But his conditioning as a player was unquestionable. Watch the training and prove it!

David Beckham was once considered one of the best soccer players in the world. But, in addition to his immense technical capacity, the Englishman has always displayed impeccable physical conditioning.

The secret, in addition to dedication to tactical, technical and physical training, is also in your cardio training, which is heavy!

Journalist Adam Bornstein, one of the world's most highly regarded fitness writers and researchers, found – and did! – training with the athlete himself, in an interview in 2008.

The Englishman isn't big – he's far from a strong player. But his focus was never on hypertrophy, which could compromise his agility and speed.

Therefore, don't get carried away by the player's physique, which is thin – what matters here is its resistance and its very low level of body fat.

O Cardio do Beckham

Concept

It is an intense training based on sprints. The idea is, of course, to increase physical resistance, speed up metabolism and burn a lot of fat.

It is a HIIT so heavy that, in Bornstein's case, it required 24 hours of sleep and 72 hours to recover. It is no coincidence that Beckham has a ripped body.

This workout is great for those who want to work their abs, because the amount of fat burned during the activity is impressive – thanks to the sprints and high intensity. And as already proven, this exercise keeps the metabolism active, burning fat beyond the time the activity is done.

To do this, you need to use a heart rate monitor and establish your maximum heart rate (MHR), with the account 220-“your age” – for example, if you are 30 years old, your MHR is 220-30 = 190.

This is important because the workouts are based on this value. Below you will understand.

Practice

There are 5 challenges – one for each day of the week. You can do one of the challenges after lifting iron, or you can do them alone, eventually even trying to do more than one challenge.

But there's an important warning: no matter how you decide to do it, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE the difficulty of the workout. It's a tough activity, done by a professional athlete – definitely not for amateurs.

The ideal is to count on the help and monitoring of a physical educator, always!

Beckham Challenge #1: 5 minutes running at 80% of your MHR. 4 minutes of rest. Do five sets.

Beckham Challenge #2: 8 2-minute runs at 95% of your heart rate, with a 1-minute break between each run.

Beckham Challenge #3: 20-second sprint at your top speed (running for your life, really). Rest 1 minute. Repeat this 30 times – that's right: THIRTY!

Beckham Challenge #4: Run 110 meters in less than 20 seconds. Rest a minute and a half. Repeat 10 times.

Beckham Challenge #5: Run 55 meters at your top speed 8 times in a row, with a 10-second rest between each sprint.

Our Play the 90 Minutes training programs contain Beckham's workouts for you to do just right so you get the most benefit from those workouts!

Via: Adam Bornstein / BornFitness