Interval Training for Fat Loss

“Interval Training” is quite the buzz word in the fitness industry lately.  In case you have been living under a rock (and I’m not saying I have something against people living under a rock.  If you enjoy living under a rock, that’s perfectly OK with me), you have heard that interval training is superior over “steady-state” cardio for fat loss.  Good news and bad news…. Good news: interval training takes less time than stead-state cardio, and you get better benefits.  Bad news: Most people don’t quite understand the concept of interval training and are not getting the maximum benefit.  There is more good news.  I have decided to put up a random picture in a random spot in this post.  Check it out:

 

Alright, here’s the deal.

• The #1 rule before doing intervals (especially for running) is that you MUST warm-up before doing intervals.  This is to prepare the body for the intervals, as well as prevent injury.  It’s for your own good, so don’t give me that look.
• You must cool-down after intervals

Let’s use a scale of 1 to 10 and pretend we’re outside running.  1 is walking ridiculously slow, and 10 is running for your life. Got it?  Good.  But I understand that everybody is different, and that is OK.  So, to help “shed some light”, let’s say you’re a beginner.  A 9/10 intensity for you might be walking briskly.  An advanced athlete will find a 9/10 intensity as sprinting with 90% effort.  Simply use the scale based on YOUR fitness level.

For the following example, let’s use a 3/10 intensity for your recovery, and a 9/10 for your intervals.  That means your recovery period should be a comfortable pace (about a warm-up pace).

20 seconds (9/10) interval
40 seconds (3/10) recovery

Do the above interval and recovery periods 6 – 8 times.  That means this interval workout will only last around 16-18 minutes including a warm-up and cool-down.  Pretty cool, huh?  What’s not cool is if I messed up the math and my wife sees this and gets upset because she’s a math teacher.

Let’s say you want to change things up and running, biking, and using an elliptical is not your thing.  That’s cool.  You can do intervals with body-weight movements, too.  Here is an example:

30 seconds of Mountain Climbers, followed by 30 seconds of rest

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Part 2 Can Be Seen Here => Part 2 Interval Training