Whether you are following the creed or not, fighting Templars is hard work. So is chasing them through the streets of Renaissance Roma or trying to escape them as they swarm at you in a busy market in Damascus during the Third crusade. If you are an assassin you had better be fit and have a good relationship with your cardiovascular system; because you are going to need them! A lot of the time you are going to be on foot and time is going to be a factor between you reaching your destination in time or de-synchronizing.
>>> Assassin’s Creed Workout Series [Live By the Creed]
>>> Assassin’s Creed Workout: Reach New Heights
>>> Assassin’s Creed Workout: Practical Strength
Check out the full Live By the Creed series.
A big chunk of your time playing any title in the Assassin’s Creed series is going to be spent walking, running and sprinting. Perpetually moving forward, one foot in front of the other. As this is the case, if you are going to live by the Creed through your workouts then a chunk of your workout week needs to be dedicated to mastery of aerobic and anaerobic cardio.
Live By the Creed: Fartlek Training [Day 2]
The way we are going to tackle our major running session of the week is by using Fartlek training, this method was invented in Sweden and its name is actually Swedish (literally meaning “speed play”). The translated name of this method of cardio actually gives us a big hint on how the training will actually take place, as we play around with the speed we travel at – switching between running, sprinting, jogging and walking at intervals at random.
This allows us to work at varying intensities while constantly on the move, improving our aerobic capacities, ability to deal with lactic acid and our stamina all round – not to mention the health benefits to our cardiovascular system and a calorie burn from being active.
Fartlek training has always been a very popular form of training for those participating in team sports such as Soccer or Field Hockey. Anything that involves constant movement at various intensities. This makes it the perfect form of cardio and running training for our Assassin’s as they have to use similar methods in navigating around a busy city.
Our Fartlek training session will last for 40 minutes and ideally we want you far away from a treadmill, out in the open, where you can interact with your environment and a more rich running experience. We are going to give you 3 potential methods with which you can manipulate the intensity of your workout, don’t be afraid to pioneer your own method though! Here they are…
The Landmark Method
This method has been popular with recreational runners for as long as people have been running. Outside in the fresh air you will be running for 40 minutes, using landmarks in your surroundings to race towards or help to measure to rest breaks. You may want to sprint to the next lamppost and then jog to the next street corner as recovery, before setting off at a solid running pace for the duration of that particular street and then mixing it up again or during. The whole thing should be organic and dependent on how your feeling and how you want to push yourself. Just keep moving!
The Soundtrack Method
I don’t know many people who haven’t used an IPod or similar to distract or entertain them while they are out running, but this is only one way that this method of musical playback can be used during a ritualistic pounding of the pavement. Make a 40 minute playlist of music that varies in tempos and different dynamics from upbeat and energetic to slightly more relaxed. Now get your running shoes and press play, use what is happening in the song to dictate your pace and intensity. Sprint through energetic pumping sections, jog and recover through intros and breakdowns, you get the idea! This turns on its head what happens in a lot of video games, like Assassin’s Creed, where the action on the screen will dictate the mood of the music. Instead, your playlist will be dictating the actions you make during your run! Make it as challenging as your fitness level will allow and remember to incorporate active rest where you need it while being constantly on the move.
The Full Immersion Method
The third suggestion we have for your run is in ways your most challenging and most open to interference from outside forces. A lot of people will aim to run in quieter areas or the country or a park in order to have the space keep moving constantly, this method requires you do the opposite and seek out busier places to run in imitation of the cityscapes and streets of the AC games. Sprint when you have a clear space, slow down and weave through crowds of people, hop up steps and curbs, do whatever you have to do in order to keep moving for 40 minutes. You might not get to sprint or run fast as much if you stick to just busy areas but they are good to incorporate into your route as they are highly interactive and will require you to use quick decision-making to blaze a trail and keep moving. If you have any Parkour skills then now would be a good time to make use of them! Just remember to protect the innocent and not cause an accident, we can’t be responsible for what happens if you make a bad judgement – so take care! Set yourself a penalty of 5 burpees for every time you make contact with another person as incentive to stay out of trouble.
Try out each of these methods to see which works best for you and remember to push and challenge yourself each time you set out. This is a great way to actively recover from the previous days participation in The Eagle Circuit as well as improving your all round fitness. Don’t forget to try to complete your session while getting 100% synchronization if you want to do things the hard way.