10-20-30 workout
Repeated cycles of 30 seconds easy, 20 seconds moderate and 10 seconds near-sprint.
Also called: 10/20/30 training.
The 10-20-30 protocol produced improvements in 5 km time and blood pressure in trained runners while cutting total training volume — a rare finding, and the reason it keeps circulating. The ordering matters: the 10-second sprint comes last in each cycle, so you enter it already moving fast rather than accelerating from a jog.
The session
Shown at a 4:00 marathon reference — 41 min total, about 6.0 km, including 15 min of quality work.
Warm-up
- 12 min easy (6:43–7:24/km)
Main set
- 5 × (30 s float @ 7:24/km (easy) + 20 s float @ 5:41/km (M) + 10 s near-max)
- 2 min easy jog / walk between sets
- 5 × (30 s float @ 7:24/km (easy) + 20 s float @ 5:41/km (M) + 10 s near-max)
- 2 min easy jog / walk between sets
- 5 × (30 s float @ 7:24/km (easy) + 20 s float @ 5:41/km (M) + 10 s near-max)
Cool-down
- 10 min easy (6:43–7:24/km)
Why this session works
The 10-20-30: repeated 30 s easy / 20 s moderate / 10 s near-max minutes. Shown to improve 5K performance and VO₂max on reduced volume — intensity without dread.
Source: Gunnarsson & Bangsbo 2012. Training phase: build.
Run it at your own paces
Open the workout generator and enter a recent race time — every rep length, recovery and target pace is recalculated for your fitness, and the session exports to .fit for a Garmin watch.
Frequently asked questions
What is a 10-20-30 workout?
Repeated cycles of 30 seconds easy, 20 seconds moderate and 10 seconds near-sprint. The 10-20-30 protocol produced improvements in 5 km time and blood pressure in trained runners while cutting total training volume — a rare finding, and the reason it keeps circulating.
How long is this session?
At a 4:00 marathon reference it comes to 41 min and about 6.0 km, of which 15 min is prescribed quality work. The generator scales both to your own paces, so a faster runner covers more ground in the same time.
Who is this workout for?
It is written for the build phase of a marathon build. The distances shown suit a 4:00 marathoner; enter your own recent race time in the generator and every rep length and target pace is recalculated for you.
More fartlek and combination sessions
- Fartlek — Varied faster efforts inside a continuous run, with no track and no fixed structure.
- Mona fartlek — A fixed 20-minute sequence of hard efforts with equal float recoveries, descending in length.
- Combination workout — Threshold, then interval, then repetition work in a single session — three gears in one run.
- Cutdown blocks — Long blocks that shorten and speed up through the session.