interval-training?
admin | Dec 19, 2008 | 4 comments
lizzy s asked:
does this burn more calories and fat than just normal cardio where you run at the same pace?
and what are some types of interval-training
Filed Under: Cardio
Most people will say that yes, interval training burns more calories than a consistent-pace/intensity workout because you are challenging your body more. You can do intervals in a number of ways. The idea is that you work at different intensities in your workout. This could mean walking for 2 minutes and running for 5 for 30-45 minutes. It could mean jogging at a slow place and then sprinting. It could mean walking at a steep incline and then walking on a flat surface. You can do intervals with just about any cardio activity. Just choose something and then find a way to vary the intensity in your workout.
interval training is not for the feint of heart, it is very hard on your muscles and I advise you to be in decent shape before you start it. Now interval training is probably the best cardio that you can do. Running, bicycling and swimming can all be done in intervals. I run in intervals of thirty seconds, but what I do is different. For example:
Sprint 30 secs.
jog 30 secs.
and so on…
You can do something like this:
Sprint 30 secs
walk 30secs
for about thirty minutes, that is only fifteen sets apiece for each sprint and walk. A big benefit of interval training is that it will shock your cardio system into becoming better
Professor almost answered the question correctly. Interval training is in shorter burst. If you’re working for 5 min straight, that is far too long and you’re not giving an all out effort. Shorter burst, 30 sec sprint, active recovery for 1min to 90 sec
or a 1min sprint to 2 min active recovery. If you don’t believe me, just click what yahoo experts had to say about it!
Interval training does burn more. Interval can just mean variety. You want to keep your body from getting used to a particular motion. For example, you can do a combination of jog-stride-sprint or walk-jog-run of times of 20-30 seconds each. You could even intersperse strength in there. You could have a circuit of:
jog 30s
walk 30s
pushups 20s
walk 30s
run 30s
walk 60s
lunges 15s each side
etc.
A 12 minute workout like this can be very beneficial. Watch out though, because there has been some recent research that shows that we become more efficient in burning fat only after 20 minutes of aerobic activity in which the HR is greater than 120. According to the article we use our carb stores for the first 20 minutes but once our body knows that it will be doing continuous exercise, then it will start producing additional enzymes to start breaking down fat. Be careful not to get too high i.e over 70-80% of your maximum heart rate.
Remember fat loss is primarily going to be done through calorie reduction rather than exercise. Exercise is great for overall health and toning and stress reduction etc. According to a metastudy of over 2000 other studies, diet was shown to have an 80% impact on weight loss as compared to exercise.
Good Luck!