Interval Training: The Basics.

by

Subtitle: We’re hitting Interval Training 101. Please to indulge me as I yammer at you about something in which I entirely believe.

Hi MizFit, Im sure you get a lot of emails but I wanted to ask you a question. I started walking after your post last week and wondered what interval training is?  Can I do that with walking? would it be walking and then sometimes walking faster? is that interval?  I do  not want to run.  Thanks!!

I’ve been reading a LOT about interval training and all of the lovely weightloss benefits of including it in my workouts but… I’d love to know what actually makes an interval well, an interval…
Does that mean I get to walk for a few minutes and then run for a few minutes and then walk and then run and then jog or whatever? Do I have to be jogging and then running… does it even matter?
Thank you!

After last week’s post on National Start! Walking Day I received a flurry of emails like the above.  Many of you proclaimed that you never, ever want to run but would like to get a more vigorous workout from your walking.

A few of you wanted to begin to bridge the gap between walking and jogging & a handful wanted information on doing running speedwork (?).

Today we’re going to talk about the basics of interval training.

Id say that some day, way down that proverbial road, we’ll talk speedwork but we never will.

MizFit is to speedwork as McDonalds is to organic. (Yes, that’s your cue to write a guest post, shove it in a word doc, & email my way.)

Interval Training 101.  By MizFit

Short version? I love the IT.  Please to, if you’re not already, incorporate IT into your cardio routine.

Interval Training has been used by athletes  for ages (Hi Lance Armstrong!) and recently the rest of us discovered the myriad health benefits gained from this type of a workout, too (Look at me! Am I sounding adult today or what?!).

Interval Training is when you alternate bursts of vigorous exercise (fast walk or jog) with intervals of light activity (regular walking or, for woggers, powerwalking).

Yes, you can use this with many forms of movement (Hello MizFit on her stationary bike!), but it’s most typically used alternating walking & jogging.

Think about last Tuesday when you were so highly motivated by my fantastic post and went for a long walk.  Perhaps you started at a swift pace, were forced to slow to catch your breath, & resumed your initial speed after you felt recovered?

That’s all that interval training really is! Bursts of jogging/fast walking used to rev the intensity of your workout.

It’s during these bursts your fitness level increases & you burn more calories all while decreasing the time you spend working out (Hello happier MizFit!).

However, I cant let it go at that. (*cue collective groan*)

Before we all head out to commence interval training lets back up a bit and touch briefly upon what’s happening in our bods when we exercise.

And then we can get to it.

I promise.

We possess two forms of energy producing systems: aerobic and anaerobic.

Aerobic, meaning with oxygen, is any type of exercise where oxygen is metabolized to produce energy.

Your body’s aerobic system gets energy from oxygen and, in turn, oxygen converts carbohydrates into energy.

Confused? Just keep in mind that aerobic energy is what allows you to run, walk, bike, swim yada yada yada in a sustained effort.

Anaerobic means without oxygen.

This system takes its energy from carbohydrate stores in our muscles and makes your body capable of brief, fast bursts of energy without the use of oxygen.

It’s what we use when we’re exercising in spurts as in lifting weights or running across a busy street.

To keep our bods in optimal condition/health all exercise routines should have both aerobic and anaerobic activities.  (We already knew this, yes? If not–please to hit me up below!)

I love Interval Training because it can hit both of these systems in one workout (*cue confetti*).

How? (Thanks for asking!)

The 2 two systems can work together when you interval train because  they complement each other.

When you exercise rigorously muscles produce a waste product called lactic acid.

It’s the buildup of this acid which can cause muscle aches after intense training sessions.  Interval Training and its rest periods reduces lactic acid accumulation.

The outcome is your muscles feel better both during and after your workout.

Why do I love Interval Training?

  • It speeds up my workout.
  • The short bouts of pushing myself and the “Can I do this interval for longer than I did last time? Go ME!!” challenge makes the entire workout just FEEL faster as well.
  • It has greatly increased my stamina since during each “intensity interval” my aerobic capacity is pushed to its limits.  (and yes. it’s a great calorie burner as well).

Ready to get started? Just as with last week all you really need to do is step outside.

Begin by walking at a brisk pace for one minute. Next, increase your speed to a slow jog for a minute and repeat this alternating routine for a long as possible.

During your recovery period you should be able to speak easily (yet still be somewhat winded) & in your bursts of speed you should be capable of talking, not want to, and feel as though you can only maintain the pace for a brief period of time.

Is all that already too easy?
Take this same practice to a hillier, more challenging terrain.

Try moving up to alternating thirty seconds of jogging with thirty seconds of running.

Always remember the recovery times  are merely a starting point. If you find one minute of walking after jogging isn’t enough time to recover—keep walking!

Listen to your body, extend either time period as needed, and be sure to rehydrate afterward with plenty of water!

Ok, that’s it, People.

And at the same time Im confident it’s not.

Wanna add your .02?
Did I raise more questions for you than Ive answered?

Please to hit us all up in the comments….


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Comments

  1. Goodmorning Miz!
    Whoa! My favorite topic.

    I started exercising regularly only after I found interval training because I enjoy it. “Enjoy” is putting it mildly, I crave running now (yes I use Cardiocoach almost exclusively for this). Steady state has its place, but I simply could not motivate myself to do it. I interval train (mostly running), sometimes elliptical, occasionally stationary bike. On a side note, I wonder if there are good recumbent bikes for petite people, I mean really petite. 5 feet. I find it hard to sprint on a recumbent without leaning forward and gripping the handle bars.

    OK. off to my work now. Have a lovely day!

  2. So, quick question.

    How do we know when we’re training anaerobically? Because my anaerobic isn’t your anaerobic.

    What are the signs, symptoms and so on of anaerobic activity?

  4. great post. i love me some intervals on the stationary bike tooo!!!

    i like to take it one step further with pyramids and sometimes fartlek if i am feeling particularly loosey goosey!

    have a great day!

  5. Grreeat basic topic on interval training.
    You shoulda mentioned the SUPERB fat-burning benefits at half the time!
    You can burn the same if not more calories doing interval training as opposed to your standard cardio.. all the while increasing your muscular endurance and improving your cardiovascular capacity!
    WOOT WOOT.

  6. peeking in as my day is offlikeashot.

    Great question christine & I’ll be back to answer.

    Rupal? I’d love a fartlek guest post if you’d wanna!

    And bthenextstep?
    You’re right! I did say its a great cal burner but nary the word fat in the post.

    Good catch!

  8. YES! Huge fan of the IT! One of the classes I teach, Body Attack relies a good deal on interval training and even has an interval specific track!

    Hope you are having a good week- hows the weather down there?

  9. I do this, Hillary, with my walking.

    I am not the emailer who said she did not want to run but I am the same way!

    I look silly I am sure but I do walking and fast power walking pumping my arms like mad!

  10. When I got married, bought a house, and adopted two puppies all in one year, I no longer had time for hours and hours of running. I started doing a lot more interval training. I followed Bill Phillips advice and did his 20 minute cardio workout to the treadmill and then did Tabata Intervals in the stationary bike. Wow, doing both of those several times a week got me in better shape than my running ever did! Haven’t done any intervals in month. 60-90 minutes of yoga in a 100 degree room seems like enough to me these days. 🙂

  11. I love love love how you read my mind. I was just thinking that I need to get back running tomorrow, and was wondering if/what/how to incorporate IT. Will just try the medium -> faster approach and see how I go…
    Thanks Miz.. 🙂

  12. I need to get to the gym.
    I did interval training awhile back on the treadmill and liked it alot. It kept me from being bored (does anyone else get bored on the machine?) and I felt great afterwards.

  13. I have Christines question, too.
    Maybe another post?
    I’d also love a facetime on this 🙂

  14. I do this frequently on the spinning bikes (not a class).

    I am the guy you see sweating profusely and cursing as he does his intervals.

    Have a good day!

  16. I have a love/hate relationship with interval training. Love the results, hate working that hard.

    But i can FEEL my body running on hyperdrive for the rest of the day, after even a very short interval workout.

    My own personal formula–I don’t worry about how long recovery is. The next interval happens when I’m good and ready. I vary the length and intensity of the intervals but they’re generally shortish, from 30-90 seconds. And I only do 6-8. I basically sprint uphill on a treadmill until I’m ready to die, or sometimes I run on a hilly trail and let the hills determine my interval & recovery lengths.

    I always dread it, and it’s never as bad as i think it’s going to be and I’m buzzin’ for the rest of the day.

    Great post, MizFit, and it’s awesome you’re encouraging people to take up this excellent form of torture, er, exercise.

  17. NERD ALERT!

    All this talk motivated my ass, err, glutes & I just did 22 min of intervals on my bike.

    You?

  18. I’d like to point out that you don’t have to stick to walking/jogging. You could walk a bit then drop down and do a few burpees. Or walk a bit then do a set of standing lunges. Or walk a bit and….anything else you’d like to throw in there that gets you breathing hard.
    TOTALLY!! for some reason I tend to think of this as CIRCUIT training, Thanks DMamma!

  20. I haven’t tried intervals yet (I always think they wouldnt be enough of a workout. Too short) & I wonder if I could trust myself to re-sprint?

    I think I need to try with a stop watch or something so I know when I have to GO!! again or I’d keep slow jogging 😉

  21. Great breakdown, Miz! Also a great reminder that I need to incorporate more fartleks into my running.

    Intervals are great if you just want to squeeze more calories out of your workout, but they’re also great if you want to improve your speed and endurance. Hence the reason so many training plans for races (either walking or running) incorporate speedwork (which is really just intervals) a couple of days each week.

    I must say, though, that despite their benefits, I hate intervals. I’m a slow and steady person, not a fast a furious!

  22. Nope, you covered it perfectly! Great explanation! I love how you kept it simple – no mention of incline or resistance levels which are all relative anyhow. Just go slow, then fast, then slow again. You’re great!

  23. Thank you for not over complicating this.

    I am one of your emailers and just wanted the basics.

    This is perfect!!

  25. I use the elliptical. I’m so excited as I’m either going to increase the time again (to 30 minutes) or increase the hardness level (to 8) in the next week or so.

    And all I ever do for cardio is intervals. I loathe cardio, and it’s the only kind I can stand (jumping rope = welts on my arms and I don’t have the equipment needed to beat up a giant pad).

  26. I love interval training… it definitely makes the workout seem faster! Actually have one on the schedule for today, although it’s probably more like speedwork. Too bad you won’t talk about that 🙂

  27. Interval training has done more for me in the past couple years than I can even put into words! I am 51 now & did not even add this in until my late 40’s!!! I kind of make up my own interval routine & don’t do the “standard definition” of it but that is me in every way with my workouts. I never do the standard! At 51, and since adding interval training, I have lost body fat & a few pounds & a clothes size which is pretty darn hard to do when you are going thru perimenopause & your body wants to hold on to every ounce of weight & then add some too! It is advanced so be careful but I can’t say enough about this type of training along with plyometrics along as you have no injuries or joint issues.

    As for how/when/what to do… you can do interval training on any piece of gym cardio equipment along with your outside walks/jogs/bicycle riding/rollerblading. The process can be used with any cardio program based on MizFit’s post explanation!

    Hey, if you are healthy, no joint or medical issues that stop you from doing interval training, I urge you all to do it! It blasts fat, calories & really, my butt gets a great workout just from the bursts of speed. Think those tight buns of track stars (not long distance but those shorter & fast sprints!) Go for it & you will see the results!

  28. Hubby and I have been training for a 5K and have kept our focus on steady state running. After this post, I am going to have to look into adding at least 1 interval workout to our routine. Thanks Miz, as always a great post!

  29. love interval training 🙂 and it struck me how the questions seemed like there was one answer. gotta do what works for you, gets you out there, and gets you ENJOYING it. have fun! when i do intervals running, I walk in between b/c of my asthma, but i still get faster;-) try to squeeze some in there occasionally when i’m swimming, too, so i don’t get bored!

  30. Great post. Interval training is great, I too love the fact that you can handle anything in small spurts. It switches the workout routine up, pushes you, and makes it go much faster. I do this with my running. I jog at 5.5. for 2 minutes and slowly work my way up and then back down at 2 minute spurts before you know it 3 miles done. Have a great day!

  31. ok if you aren’t already interval training how can you NOT after Jody’s enthusiastic comment!

  33. I’m loving IT lately. I’ve been running intervals recently and they are (slowly) starting to get easier! I like to shake up the distance that I run fast. My recovery is usually a jog/fast walk for 400m.

    Yay for intervals!

  35. While running in a secluded area of Carmel one early morning, I came across a Scottish man in kilts! As I ran past, he said in his wonderful brogue, “it feels so good to run and stretch your muscles in the morning!” True that!!

  36. I was doing this so that I could discover the joy of jogging. But, gave it up for school. lol. Wait, that was a lie…I gave it up for laziness. I have a problem with coming back to things if I need more than a day off. I am taking it back up this week though. YAY me! 😀

  38. This was a great reminder of something I know I should be doing. Don’t intervals also help if you are trying to lose weight?

  39. Dave palumbo is now hostiing heavy muscle radio on rxmuscle.com The love of his live colette nelson has a show there dealing with female fitness,figure and bodybuilding. Thanks for visiting my site!!!
    Jeff

  40. I’m just wondering if interval training will help me with learning to running longer distances without being so winded? Now I jog for 4 minutes and walk 1, but want to work towards running a whole 5K, or maybe you have other ideas of how to accomplish that.


  41. Yes
    Yes
    Yes Rose 😉

    Awesome fat and calorie burner in less time than most of us typically *think* we need to spend in a workout, errr, PLAYout.

  43. HIIT makes workouts much more fun. Not only that, but they are much better for cutting fat than regular cardio.

  44. Love intervals! I’d always been skeptical (a short workout? Must be a ploy, hmmm?) but when I started to do Jillian Michael’s 30 day Shred, I could DEFINITELY see what all the hype was about. And also it keeps things interesting!

  46. You know, I’m not exactly sure I know what the diff. between interval training & speedwork is? I count my intervals as a type of speedwork. Even when I hate ’em I appreciate that they make the easy portion of the workout feel easier!

  47. I like intervals! I especially like that you can do 20 minutes with intervals and get a great workout.
    For walking, I prefer hills to speeding up and slowing down, but I’ll take what I can get. I prefer either the stationary bike or kickboxing for HIIT, though.

  48. I liked the interval training that I did at boot camp. And I force myself to do interval training by leaving the house a little bit late on purpose (what? sleep in? no no, I’d never do that), and then I alternate between walking and running to get to work/class on time.

    On normal days I usually run every time I cross a street, so I get the benefits of interval training with the added bonus of not getting hit by cars!

  49. You know, I’m not exactly sure I know what the diff. between interval training & speedwork is?

    runners?
    In my experience it always seems as though the running world uses the terms interchangeably.

    But it is all running and faster running unlike our first emailer who wanted to do walking and power walking…

  50. Well what do you know! I do this at my workouts, although they call it “hills and valleys” and “tabatas” and other crazy names that I can’t remember. It is intense, but it’s nice because you know you will get a break quickly. And then it’s back to being intense. Thanks for posting about this – now I feel even better about what I’ve been doing!

  51. MizFit asked me to weigh in on fartleks, so here goes:

    Fartleks are not what you think they are. This juvenilely amusing word actually means speed play in Swedish. Fartleks were designed to give you an intense aerobic workout without completely breaking you down or making you want to throw up. Typical fartleks sessions will last anywhere from 40 to 60 minutes. You should start with a nice warm up jog of 5-10 minutes to get your systems up and running and finish with a cool down jog of similar timeframe. In the middle is when you play.

    Once you are ready to go, you can pretty much make up your own workout and try to have some fun, or play with it. Do a sprint for 20-30 seconds (or you can pick a distance of 50-100 meters, whatever you feel comfortable with) then fall back into a comfortable pace until you feel recovered, then go into a sprint of different time or distance. Rinse, lather, repeat.

    Fartleks are most fun when done with a group of several runners. You should all run single file behind each other with a gap of 5-10 meters. The person in the back will then sprint as fast as they can to the front of the line then they become the leader and settle back into a normal pace. The new person in the back repeats the process.

    The benefits come from getting a lot of sprinting work done without overloading your systems. You will gain aerobic and anaerobic capacity by doing these workouts.

  52. I am a huge fan of the interval. In fact, I ran three half-marathons alternating running with short bursts of walking. It’s amazing how much farther you can go when you incorporate some intervals.

  53. From that link:

    “This training method is so simple, yet so incredibly difficult, that athletes tend to try it once, acknowledge its greatness, and then vow to never speak its name again.”

    So very true! We did this today and during one set I though I would vomit. But I didn’t. Go me?

    Great article!

  54. I have a love/hate relationship with IT. I hate it while I’m actually doing it, but I love it the rest of the week.

    I normally do my IT on a treadmill.. walking at 3.5 MPH and running -me? RUNNING?!!? – at 6.0 MPH+. When I’m feeling lazy, it stays at 6.0; when I’m feeling feisty, I bump the speed up .1 each interval.

    When I began, I could not complete 5 intervals at the 6.0 setting. Physically impossibly. Now I can end a session at 6.5 or so.. dying .. but I do it.

    Intervals. They are a very good thing.

  55. I love interval training because it makes my shorter runs a lot more interesting.

    Does interval training count if you are running hard, stop to go to the bathroom, run hard, stop to chase the toddler back into the house, run hard, stop to go get the preschooler a snack, run hard, stop to retrieve your iPod that flew off the treadmill, run hard? If so, I do interval training more often than I would like.

  56. YES, Sarah, it definitely does.

    Please to make yerself a tee which reads:

    My life is one big session of IT.

  57. Love interval training! Speedwork is interval work at sprint speed with focus on foot placement and form, often done at the end of a run so that your body gets accustomed to running fast and hard even when fatigued. Lots of info on runnersworld.com.
    My fav interval work is with a jumprope…jump fast and furiously, then walk, then jump, then walk. Really great to do with your kids.
    Basketball and tennis are both full of intervals, too. THANKS. That makes total sense as does the foot placement issue. I have many friends who are marathon runners and they all lament the fact they tend to get injured when working on speed and arent *really* careful. I ALSO love the jump rope intervals. And vigorous hula hooping 🙂

  59. Miz, I think you read my mind with this today! I was thinking about this the last couple of days, and about the fact that I don’t LIKE IT on the treadmill (and I don’t like much other “normal” cardio).

    But I’ve been doing some soul-searching (navel-gazing?) lately about the KIND of person I want to be, and exercise has figured into that. I was thinking about how much I like Tae Kwon Do and how much I loved dancing (and how much I miss it now).

    And it occurred to me that IT doesn’t HAVE to be “normal” workouts. Dance classes and martial arts classes are IT almost by definition. In a dance class you’re likely to learn a combination, dance it full out across the floor in small groups, line up on the other side and repeat back the other way. Then you learn a new combo (that’s your recovery period, because the time you’re waiting to go back across the floor isn’t usually very long). Jumping combinations are even more intense.

    Interval training. Who knew? But when I realized that, I realized that it gives me a lot more freedom to do what I WANT to do, as well as doing what I “SHOULD” do.

    Having said that, I will say that if you’ve never taken any sort of dance, it might not be as effective as IT. Since you’re just starting out, you’ll move slower, getting more of a steady-state workout (though if you have a good teacher, you’ll find that you’re still working hard and sweating). Martial arts, OTOH, will give you a pretty good interval workout from the get-go.

  60. I love intervals! I used to just do walking intervals on the treadmill, or intervals on the elliptical, but I wanted to start running, so I decided to try a program called Couch to 5k, which turns people who have never run into people who can run a 5k. It combines walking with jogging, and it’s been so amazing for me because I never thought I could be a runner, and I’m turning into one! It started out with really short running intervals (60 seconds), and then builds each week, so it gets progressively more challenging and also stays interesting. I hope that when I finish 3 weeks from now, that I can start doing solely running intervals.

  61. It was without a doubt interval training that took my oversized body to a much more livable size. : ) The amount of energy released from this type of exercise makes a person just feel well.

  64. This is what I have been doing while trying to increase the feeble time I spend on the treadmill and cross-trainer. Ha, interval training and I wasn’t aware of it!

    Great post and most informative, I will be trying out the walking one soon.

  65. I loved Cranky’s take on IT: she called hers S.H.I.I.T. (Somewhat High Intensity Interval Training). I’ve been trying to do it when I work out on the treadmill or elliptical, and it seems to work! Even if you only do a little bit more intensity.

  66. I didn’t do the Couch to 5K program, precisely, but I used intervals similarly to get into running and train for a 5K. I started with a half hour of walking 4.5 minutes, jogging .5 minute and upped the interval of running each week. After a couple of months, I could run the full half hour; by 5K day, I was good to go! I tend to to a variety of exercise now, but I really ought to do more fartleks when I run. (Heh. I wrote “fartlek.” Heh heh heh heh.)

  68. I love interval training! Which is what I guess what couch-to-5k is all about. I just started it a few weeks ago and finding it so do-able and great.

  70. I love love love IT (and speedwork, though I am nowhere near an expert, so I’ll leave that guest post to someone else….). I get soooo bored with steady state stuff so much that I find it’s hard for me to stay at one pace for too long even if I’m comfortable there. I’ll get going, get bored, go faster, get used to it, go faster, get outta breath, go a little slower, then speed up again when I recover.

    Though my favorite interval is the 400 meter sprints (followed by 400m recovery jog, rinse and repeat) on the track. I feel like I’m back in junior high because I used to run that event. 🙂

  71. Thank you for this!
    I kind of understood what I thought intervals were and this helped a lot.

    Pretty easy stuff to do!

  72. Sarah (#56)? I thought of you all day as we sprinted from one activity (and then slowed a tad) to the next.

    all interval training all day.

  76. I’m really glad I caught this blog before going to bed. I’ve started running about a month ago trying to build up endurance first established by biking. I would job for as long as I can (usually a mile or so at a stretch) before walking. However, I’ve been focusing more on the length of time as opposed to switching out levels of intensity (aerobic/anaerobic). I never really pushed myself to run real fast because I wanted to pace myself. End result? It gets a little boring going a steady, moderate pace for extended periods. I didn’t really give myself a chance to test the limits of my endurance and push the intensity. I like this idea and can’t wait to try it tomorrow morning!

  78. Great post Miz. I started doing tabata style a month or two ago and I love it. Gives me structure, and lord knows I need the structure 😉

  79. Thanks for your comment on my Muscle Confusion post, Miz Fit. Question…is muscle confusion different from interval training (since you are alternating cardio with quick burst of weight reps) or is IT just considered cardio with bursts of more intense activity? I do both of them, just curious as to what to call them when talking with my fellow peeps.

  84. Yes, definitely doable with just walking for us non-runners. I’m one of the never evers on the running thing. 🙂 Prevention Magazine has frequent articles on interval training with walking only. That’s where I learned about it. I’m currently doing a 2 week turnaround they have listed in the May issue. You alternate an interval walking workout with a powerwalk the next day. Plus 2 different strength training workouts (that have my muscles screaming!)

  85. Hi there,
    Great post on interval training. I LOVE LOVE LOVE interval training as it means I can get out there and train for longer without totally exhausting myself. Walk/jogging what I used to learn how to run and now I am able to run long distances without walking (now I do jogging with spurts of fast running!! How’s that for progress?!!)

    The Swedish call it “Fartlek” I think… charming huh?? It means “speed play”.. cool HUH?!

  87. I switched to interval training when I was getting bored with my regular runs. It helped to spice things up and shake me out of my boredom. And BOY did it HURT!!!! I was sore afterwards!

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  2. […] Interval train! Studies show 20-25 minutes of interval training can be just as effective as an HOUR of moderate intensity cardio (*cue confetti shaped like little hearts!*).  Less time working out with the same benefit? Im in! […]

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