Why interval training helps you get fitter, healthier, faster
Get fitter, healthier, faster. High intensity interval training or low intensity interval exercise offers benefits traditional exercise can’t.
Whatever your exercise inclinations, consider adding interval training to you week for maximum fitness benefits.
Whether high intensity interval training or lower intensity intervals, “burst training” can help almost anyone reach health & fitness levels, in a short time, that traditional exercise can’t.
What is interval training?
Interval training is a strategy that alternates intense bursts of activity with periods of less intensity or rest.
This is in contrast to much of the traditional aerobic exercise which mainly consists of steady activity over 20 to 60 minutes.
With high intensity interval training, what the particular exercise you choose, how long & intense the bursts are, & what & how long the less intense periods are, depends on individual preference, goals & fitness level.
Most people should simply choose the appropriate intensity of each interval by rating exertions on a scale of 0 (rest) to 10 (almost maximum effort). Less fit persons should alternate between 2 or 3 (low – moderate effort) & 5 or 6 (between strong – very strong).
However, if you are very heavy & out of shape, interval may consist of a few minutes of walking & rest, for 10 to 30 minutes.
But if you are very fit, you might be able to alternate fast runs with jogs. The jogs would constitute the easy parts of your workout.
By the way, one reason why playing sports is so healthy is that many of them are vehicles within which you are doing interval activity.
For example, many sports demand bursts of activity followed by relative or absolute rest. Take basketball, for instance. Players might sprint, rest, jog, rest, jump, rest, sprint, etc. So the whole game is a series of hard/soft intervals.
The special benefits of interval training
But what are the specific physical benefits of interval exercise, especially high intensity interval training?
- The body learns to use new muscle fibers. These new fibers become available to burn fuel even during easy workouts. The new fibers help improve performance in all physical activity & sports. Drive that golf ball longer or touch the rim for the first time in 20 years.
- High intensity interval training changes mitochondria, where fuel is turned to energy. That causes them to burn fat first increasing endurance in ways that traditional aerobics can’t.
- The above suggest that interval workouts may lower risk of heart disease & protect against Type 2 diabetes in ways that traditional exercise can’t.
- One of the benefits of exercise is increased lung power but interval training, especially high intensity interval training, can greatly increase lung power to levels that steady aerobics cannot.
- While most aerobic exercise decreases bad cholesterol, intense exercise, like interval training, increases good cholesterol. Moderate exercise doesn’t affect good cholesterol.
- Metabolic syndrome includes the combination of obesity, insulin resistance, high cholesterol and high triglycerides that increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Interval training could potentially lower the risk of metabolic syndrome or reverse this resistant disorder much better than traditional exercise.
- This potential to burn more fat may be especially helpful to those who are having trouble losing weight despite following good health principles.
- A few short spurts of exercise throughout the day may clear the bloodstream of artery-clogging fat better than a single longer workout..
- Traditional exercise improves general cardiovascular health but interval training can do so quicker & more dramatically.
- High intensity interval training helps glands respond to extreme demands. This is vital because the performance of your glands during intense activity & stress depends on the proper functioning of your glands like the adrenal glands.
- Used properly, interval training may help you handle periods of stress throughout the day. Your body is training for the stress during the interval sessions. When stress occurs outside of training, your glands, cardiovascular system & eliminatory system, work in concert to respond to the stress in an effective way.
More benefits of interval training
There are also many important social & psychological benefits of interval exercise.
- It’s great for all levels of physical fitness. Even the less fit can alternate fast – slow, hard – soft. It’s just that the less fit will need to make the fast rather mild like walking & the soft could be a short rest.
- Sessions can be short. So if you can’t afford the time it takes to travel to a particular locale, long leisurely strolls or jogs, intervals would be quite helpful.
- Do a half hour walk (or jog, if you’re in better shape). At 10 minute intervals, pause & do enough squats to get out of breath & cause muscle burn. Adapt time, intensity, activity to your needs.
- You can be done with a really good workout in as little as 15 minutes, the time it takes some aerobicizers to warm up.
- Benefits become evident in a matter of weeks.
- Good prep for many sports. Many sports are really vehicles for interval workouts so interval workouts can be especially helpful for sports requiring bursts of activity alternated with pauses.
- It adds variety to your exercise routine. The endless possibilities of interval training gets out of the rut that many exercisers face.
- Combats boredom – with your focus on the intensities & exertions, you wont notice much else like the time.
- Achievement! Hard workouts increase the feeling of achievement. What could be more motivating? Charting workouts can be a real boost to motivation. See the progress & accomplishments right on paper.
Many of the benefits of exercise that interval training results in, mirror those that traditional, steady exercise confer.
However, each has distinct advantages.
Doing interval training right - Ideally, it is best to combine the two approaches. Do interval training 1 – 2 times weekly & steady training 2 – 4 times weekly.
- Combine some high intensity interval training with the master exercise, WALKING.
- Try cycling, swimming, one of the aerobic apparatuses that are on the market (stationary bike, elliptical trainer, etc.) & simply adapt interval training to the particular activity.
- In addition to doing several standard workouts per week, just participating in some sport that involves bursts of activity constitutes interval exercise.
- Examples include basketball, tennis, volleyball, martial arts. You could just stop during a walk or jog to do push-ups or step-ups which your heart to race & muscles to burn.
Cautions for high intensity interval training
- Warm up before the first interval to help prevent injury.
- A cool-down time at the end should be included.
- You should not do interval work on consecutive days.
- If you are pregnant, have an illness or other health condition, or just haven’t exercised in years, check with your doctor before starting an exercise routine.
- Pushing your heart rate up very high with intensive interval training can put a strain on the cardiovascular system. People with heart & lung conditions need to get medical clearance before trying interval training.
Use common sense. Don’t start doing intervals on the first hot day of the summer. Delay the next interval session if you are very sore from the previous one.
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