I get a lot of questions about intervals...
What's the best way to do them?
How long should they be?
How many should I do?
Should I do them after weights or on rest days?
Why do you recommend intervals for beginners? Isn't that dangerous.
First, a little background...
Intervals are the single most results producing exercise that I've ever found for boosting your metabolism, helping you burn inches off your body, and giving you a tight, lean, strong shape.
Just to clarify...
An interval is a short period of exercise performed at a given intensity for a specific length of time. Each interval is separated from the next interval by a short rest or lighter activity. There are no strict rules on how long or how intense the interval must be, however, changing the interval length or intensity changes the way your body works and responds to exercise.
That's why beginners can do interval training. An interval doesn't have to be a sprint for your life. An interval just needs to be more intense than normal cardio. So a beginner that regularly walks at 3.3mph on the treadmill for 20 minutes can do an interval at 3.6mph for 1-2 minutes.
It's as simple as that. They don't have to put their track spikes on and run repeated 100-meter dashes.
As for the best length of interval?
It's unknown. The recent Australian interval study had subjects work for 8 seconds and recover for 12 seconds. The Tabata interval program uses 20 second intervals with 10 seconds rest. Other research uses 30 second intervals to increase fitness. And you can even do aerobic intervals of 2-3 minutes in length.
That is why my programs use a variety of interval durations. If I ever hear of the best interval length, you better believe you'll be the first to know!
Moving on to rest intervals...Never sacrifice the quality of rest between intervals because this will only reduce the benefits. To succeed with intervals, you must first shake the mindset of traditional continuous cardio training. Do not use a regular cardio pace for your interval rest period. That just sucks the intensity from your real interval. Take it real easy during the recovery period.
Intervals continue to burn calories and fat after the training session, and that's something you won't get from slower, longer sessions of cardio. Afterburn, Turbulence, whatever (c'mon, someone think of a cool new name), you'll get it if you do intervals.
Use this workout 3 times per week to blast fat. You can do the intervals after strength training, but not before. You can also do intervals on rest days. That might be a way to increase your results. I'm not sure.
BEGINNERS: Start with this beginner protocol:
Warm-up for 5-minutes.
Work for 30 seconds at an 8/10 level of intensity.
Follow that with "active rest" for 90 seconds at a 3/10 level of intensity.
Repeat for 3-6 intervals.
Finish with 5 minutes at 3/10 for a cool-down.
ADVANCED: As you become accustomed to intervals, progress to the experienced protocol:
Warm-up for 5-10 minutes.
Work at a 9/10 level of intensity for 30 seconds.
Follow that with active rest for 60 seconds at a 3/10 level of intensity.
Repeat for 4-8 intervals.
Finish with 5 minutes of low intensity exercise for a cool-down.
That's it, that's all.
I'll keep you posted on all the latest interval research,
CB
PS. For the most variety in interval training...
Get the 6-Month Bodyweight Manual. With progressively increasing interval programs, you'll kickstart your fat loss every 4-weeks as the training phases shift. Not too mention, you'll have fun working out.
The bodyweight workouts are tough, but exhilarating.
"I have been going to the gym for a number of years and am always looking for newer and more efficient ways to work out. I started doing the TT program about 8 weeks ago and already (to my surprise) I am leaner than I have been in about 3 years. I am also finding that I am actually less tired than what I was doing other programs that I have tried, most of which involved longer cardio, rather than the short hard intervals recommended in TT. Given the variety of workouts within the program I hope that I will never be bored or have an inefficient workout in the gym again. I highly recommended it for anyone especially those who feel like they have plateaued."
Rebecca Organo
Click HERE to get the 6-Month manual
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