What if We Trained Like a Child in This Scorching Heat?

You know that I draw a lot of inspiration from watching horses and dogs—creatures that, like children, are far from fond of running at a constant speed. Yesterday, in my role as deputy mayor of my village of 1,200 inhabitants, I witnessed their fantastic endurance during a 2‑hour‑30 show in blistering heat: the little ones (3–5 years), the middles (6–8 years) and the big kids (9–10 years) followed one another in intense dances and songs. They gave everything for their teachers, dressed in costumes that traced the march of time, from dinosaur dances to those of the future ("The Spook" by KSHMR:

Not a hint of breathlessness: the kids performed a musical‑comedy‑style interval session while, in the shade, the parents sweated into their espressos and grew more tired fanning themselves than the children did hopping about.

So I hereby open the “Kid Session for the Mums and Dads,” inspired by the BillaTraining “by‑feel” method: depending on your training level and the temperature where you train, choose your session, ladies and gentlemen.

If your VO₂max is above 40 ml·min⁻¹·kg⁻¹, you can copy the 9–10‑year‑olds’ session. I can guarantee these sessions are effective—we tested them with fourth‑graders (CM1) and compared them with a classic endurance cycle during the school cross‑country race. For everyone else, cut the session time in half (≈ 15 minutes).

• Warm‑up: 8 min in the easy zone (green) + 4 motor‑skill games (30 s each*)
• Main block – repeat 3×:
– 5 min easy (comfortable conversation)
– 5 min moderate (broken phrases)
– 1 min hard (no talking)
– 1 min walk or balance game
• Finish: 3 × 5 s sprints on a gentle downhill (≤ 5 % grade for over‑speed) – 55 s walk between sprints.

Fit adults may repeat this session provided the temperature and humidity do not fall into the red zone of the table below.

Green: all BT components—Easy, Moderate, Hard, Sprints (over‑speed). Normal hydration.
Blue: shorten the Hard phase to 30–40 s, lengthen recoveries. Keep Easy and Moderate; limit Sprints to 2 reps.
Red: cancel or move the session. If it must take place: Easy zone only with slow games; hydrate + mist every 5 min.

• No self‑imposed or group competition during the “somewhat hard” phase; priority to how you feel.
• Use the “talk / blow” rule to gauge intensity without a heart‑rate monitor.