A Fartlek Isn't Just a Funny Word. Here's How These Running Workouts Can Make You Fitter, Faster.
IF THE WORD "fartlek" makes you giggle, you're not alone. But there's nothing funny about how this style of training can help runners—especially beginners—level up to faster speeds.
The idea of running "fast" can feel overwhelming when you're still figuring out how to make running a consistent practice. The whole principle behind this training approach is to take the pressure off by making it less push, more play. Fartlek means "speed play" in Swedish, says Tucker Grose, a USATF-certified run coach in Denver, CO. And that's exactly what it is: a fun, no-pressure way to add short bursts of faster running into your routine.
That loose approach is what makes fartlek workouts so effective. When you're not worried about a set pace or distance (or obsessing over what your watch is telling you), you can zero in on how your body really feels at any given moment and start to recognize when it's time to push through or ease off. And that's the kind of training that's going to help you run stronger for longer.
What Fartlek Workouts Mean for Runners
Running can sometimes feel like a negotiation between your brain and your body. If you've ever picked up the pace to catch a walk signal or challenged yourself to run to the next mailbox, tree, or lightpost before taking a walk break, congrats: You've already done a fartlek.
"A fartlek workout is usually an unstructured workout of various speeds and distance and intensity," says Matthew Meyer, an RRCA-certified run coach and certified personal trainer in Boulder, Colorado. If that sounds ambiguous, that's kind of the point. "It's so informal because it's teaching you how to gauge feeling and effort."
A fartlek workout is a type of interval training, in that you're mixing up your pace during a run by alternating between harder efforts and easier recoveries. But while interval workouts are generally tightly structured with the goal of hitting specific paces for set distances or time splits to elicit certain training adaptations, fartlek workouts are looser and more effort-based. You don't need to be on a track and you don't need a fancy running watch—you just need to run on feel.
That's what makes fartleks such a beginner-friendly place to start with speedwork. But these workouts aren't just for novices. Fartleks are also a great way for experienced runners to ease back into harder efforts after time off, and they're often used at the beginning of a training cycle to reintroduce speed without the physical stress of going from 0 to 100.
The Benefits of Fartlek Workouts for Runners
Fartlek workouts are unstructured, so they teach you to run by effort. This is a skill every runner needs to avoid overtraining or underperforming. Most runners are actually pretty bad at self-pacing for optimal returns; one small study found recreational runners were, on average, 14 percent slower when they externally regulated their pace (i.e., stuck to a strict time per mile plan) than when they ran based on their physiological capabilities (using Vo2 or heart rate to determine effort—in other words, when they ran by feel). In a race, that could mean you're not going as fast as you potentially could if you stick to strict pace splits, leaving time on the table.
"The main benefit [of a fartlek] is just getting to learn how you feel at different effort levels," says Grose. To gauge effort during running, coaches often recommend runners to rank their rate of perceived exertion (RPE) on a scale of 1 to 10, with one being at rest and 10 being all-out. It's a subjective measurement that can be tough to pin down when you start, but you will get better with practice and experience.
"Some people have a pretty good internal thermometer for that but some people have zero, and when you tell those people to run at an effort level of 6 out of 10, they're like, what does that even mean?" says Meyer. "That's definitely a vocabulary we learn over time."
You can't get more in tune with your body without figuring out where your limits are, and "the unstructured nature of fartlek training allows for that kind of experimentation," says Grose.
By varying your pace and effort, Meyer says you're also training the aerobic and anaerobic systems. Think of it like shifting gears: The former is lower intensity and builds your endurance so you can run longer; the latter is higher intensity, which will help you run faster even during slower, longer efforts. The methodology seems to work: Runners who did fartlek workouts for 12 weeks significantly improved their cardiovascular endurance and speed endurance during a small study published in the International Journal of Physiology, Nutrition and Physical Education.
How You Can Use Fartlek Workouts
Before you start mixing in speed play, you should be consistently and comfortable running two to three times per week. That way, your body has a solid foundation from which you can start dialing up the intensity.
Since fartlek workouts are based on feel, keep your surroundings in mind. "I think one of the best ways to approach a fartlek workout is to really let the terrain and how you feel dictate how you move at different speeds," says Grose.
If you're in a hilly park, you'll naturally have to work harder against the incline—but when you hit the downhill, you can ease off the effort while still moving quickly. On flat terrain, suggests Meyer, you can use visual cues, like mailboxes or light poles, as markers, speeding up between the first two and slowing down between the next two. You can also use your music: Run easy during each verse, then pick up the pace when the chorus hits.
Because these workouts are so unstructured, it's totally up to you to figure out how hard you should be running. "The intent is to be able to do these intervals more than once, so the hope is that you're not burying yourself in each interval," says Grose. "You're getting to the point where you're breathing heavily, you're feeling a little fatigued, maybe you're starting to slow down, and then you take a break to recover so you can do that again."
Your recoveries can be as long as you need—especially in the beginning. "In the beginning, walk breaks can be really helpful," says Grose. "Then, as you get more and more comfortable with the style of workout, you can play around with jogging during those recovery intervals." Remember: You're not trying to empty the tank during a fartlek workout. You're just trying to get a better sense of what efforts you can hold for certain durations.
3 Fartlek Running Workouts for Better Training
Fartleks are meant to be unstructured, but if you're new to the concept, a little guidance can go a long way. Each of these workouts gives you just enough structure to follow while still letting you run based on feel. Make sure to start each session with a five- to 20-minute brisk walk or easy jog to warm up, and finish with a similar cooldown.
1:00 On / 1:00 Off Fartlek
"This is a favorite of mine for checking in to see where your body's at," says Meyer. "It's a great one to start with, and to return to through a training cycle to see how things have changed." It's also super scalable: You can start with as few as five reps (just five minutes of work), and add more reps over time as your stamina increases.
How to do it:
1:00 at a 7 out of 10 effort
1:00 at a 3 out of 10 effort
Repeat 10 times
Ladder Fartlek Workout
"This one teaches us how we feel at six minutes of intensity versus one minute of intensity," says Meyer. "The only rule is to start at a moderate enough effort that you can get faster as the intervals get shorter." The challenge is pacing the long intervals smartly enough that you can still hit the gas towards the end of the workout.
How to do it:
6:00 at a 5 out of 10 effort
5:00 at a 6 out of 10 effort
4:00 at a 7 out of 10 effort
3:00 at a 8 out of 10 effort
2:00 at an 9 out of 10 effort
1:00 at a 10 out of 10 effort
Recover for 1:00 at a 3 out of 10 effort between each interval
Hill + Tempo Fartlek Workout
"Hills are a great way to develop speed and power and work on form," says Grose. "This workout builds up fatigue on the legs, and then you have to hang out at a comfortably hard effort to let the body process some of the waste product you accumulated during the hill sprints." That's going to help you feel stronger at the end of a longer run or race.
How to do it:
8 x 0:30 uphill at an 8 out of 10 effort
Walk down at a 3 out of 10 effort
2 x 6:00 on flat ground at a 6 to 7 out of 10 effort
Walk or jog for 3:00 at a 3 to 4 effort in between
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