Interval Training Explained - Part 2

In the last installment of "Interval Training Explained" we went over the "what" and "why" of interval training. This installment will focus on the "how?"

So what do you do?

First, interval training is stressful for the body (again, a GOOD thing in the right amount) so it should only be done 1 to 3 times per week for most people. The rest of your cardio, if you so choose to do it, should be steady pace also known as "steady state." This would be the jogging, any cardio exercise at a steady pace.

Mode

Before getting into too much, you need to choose an exercise "mode." A mode is simply that actual exercise movement you perform. Some examples are running, biking, push ups, planks, swimming, you name it. 

The first consideration in selecting your mode is simplicity. You don't want to have to think too much about what you are doing. You'll have plenty to focus on with the intensity of interval training. Good examples are sprinting (NOT on a treadmill - DANGEROUS!!!!), swimming, biking, and various bodyweight exercises. A caution when swimming, do intervals in shallow water because you will get very tired and you don't want to have to tread water.

Sled pushing, don't be intimidated

The next consideration is self-limitation. You want exercises that don't involve too much form break down. When you do interval training, your muscles get tired, when your muscles get tired your form can easily breakdown increasing the risk of injury. So you wouldn't select an olympic snatch, one of the most technical lifts in weightlifting. A better example would be up hill walking or running/sprinting, sled pushing, battling ropes, any "self-limiting" exercise. 

The Olympic Weightlifting Snatch

Work-to-Rest Ratio

Now that you have your mode selected it's time to plan the rest of the workout. With interval training there is a work-to-rest ratio. The work interval could be anywhere from 10 seconds to 3 or 4 minutes. Just keep in mind the shorter the burst, the harder the effort must be. After the burst you ease back to a steady pace until you catch your breath and are ready for another burst.

There are different levels of interval training. If you are just starting out, you can use a work:rest ratio of about 1:3 or 1:4. This means if your burst is 1 minute then you go back to a steady pace for 3 or 4 minutes. By the end of the burst you should be winded to the point that you can only speak a few words  before you have to breath again. By the end of the rest period you should feel very recovered and ready for another burst.

For the more advanced, the work:rest ratio can be more around 1:2, 1:1, or even Tabata 20 seconds on and 10 seconds off for the very advanced.

Helpful Tools

Interval timers are a great tool to help. You can set the work interval time and the rest interval time. Many interval timers also allow you to set the number of rounds you want to perform. Once you get everything set, hit start and start working, when it beeps, rest, when it beeps again, start going again. Easy peasy.

Summary

As you can see interval training is a kick in the butt! However, it's great when you're short on time or want a little bit faster results. Just select your mode, choose your time intervals, set an interval timer and go! 

*Make sure you warm up properly and listen to your body! If it says "stop" then "stop!"

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Interval Training Explained - Part 1

Wouldn't it be nice if there were a way of exercising that took less time while getting you the results you want? Well, that's interval training! 

Picture a southwestern guy about 6 foot 1 inch, with an average build. Now picture him with black slacks, a big belt buckle, and bolo tie around the neck of a very colorful striped button up dress shirt. You are now picturing Dr. Len Kravitz, a famed researcher and professor. This guy knows his stuff and is VERY enthusiastic about it. 

I went to an IDEA Fit seminar in Alexandria, Virginia where I had the privilege of seeing Dr. Kravitz pace up and down the isles, through the audience as he began oozing excitement about their findings in a new study. What did they study? Interval training!

What's the "Gist"?

So what's the "gist" of interval training? Basically, instead of working up to a level you can maintain for a long period of time, say 20 minutes to 1 hour or more, you perform bursts of more intense activity mixed with less active rest periods. A common comparison is a marathon runner verses a sprinter. A marathon runner gets in a zone and just keeps running at a steady pace. A sprinter will... sprint a set distance then slow down and rest. Now both marathon runners and sprinters have very low body fat percentages but one takes a lot more time. 

Benefits

More calories burned in less time

With interval training you do bursts of high activity ("high" is relative to YOUR ability). In these bursts you burn more energy than if you were going at a steady pace. As these bursts add up over the course of a workout, you end up burning more calories in the same amount of time as a steady pace workout. Another way of looking at it is that you can burn the same amount of calories in less time. Isn't that GREAT news? You don't have to be in the gym for hours on end!

After burn

But there's more! After a workout you continue to burn calories due to what is called "EPOC" or excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption. During a workout your cells are being challenged. They are being thrown out of there "happy" state of homeostasis. Don't worry this is a GOOD thing because it triggers adaptation - the cells get better at recovering and maintaining homeostasis. Now in order to return to a state of homeostasis, work must be done. Anytime work is done, calories are burned! EPOC = more calories burn when you are done working out and going on with your day!

So how does this relate to interval training? Well, study after study after study show that EPOC is higher after interval training than it is after a steady pace workout. It makes sense. More energy is required from the cells for interval training, which means the cells' homeostasis is further disrupted, which leads to more work needing to be done to recover. Did you catch that? Go ahead, re-read it and think it over if you need. 

The y-axis is the EPOC, the x-axis is hours

As you can see in the chart from intervaltraining.net, you only burn extra energy for about 2 - 3 hours post-exercise with steady pace cardio where as with interval training, also known as high intensity interval training (HIIT), you can keep burning calories up to 38 hours post-exercise!

Cardiovascular 

All "cardiovascular" training has heart, lung, blood vessel, and really full body benefits. When doing a cardiovascular workout, there is a higher demand for oxygen in the cells as well as a higher demand to get rid of toxins and gases such as carbon-dioxide. Blood is the highway for these gases to be exchanged, the lungs are the off ramps and on ramps, and the heart (along with skeletal muscle - that's another article) is the engine that keeps it all moving. So with a higher demands for gas exchange comes a higher demand for blood flow which means the heart pumps harder and faster. When this happens the chambers in the heart fill with more blood which stretches the heart more than usual. This triggers adaptations in the heart. After weeks and months of training, your heart can now hold more blood, and it can contract harder which means it moves more blood further with every pump. Blah, blah, blah... zzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Basically, cardio triggers adaptations that allow your heart to work more efficiently. Your resting heart rate drops and you can handle much more activity with greater ease.

Now some studies show that interval training gets these same, and even superior, results in less time! That's AWESOME!

ENERGY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When we do cardiovascular exercise, we tell our bodies, "Hey you! We're going to be doing this every week so you better get use to it!" To which our bodies reply, "if I have to...." So it does. It multiplies the number of mitochondria we have in our cells. Mitochondria are the "power houses" or "power plants" of the cells. The more you have and the more efficient they are, the more ENERGY you have! Now, both steady pace workouts and interval workouts trigger this to happen but interval training gets the job done in less time! Are you starting to see a theme here?

But doesn't steady state cardio burn a higher percentage of body fat?

Yes. Steady state or steady pace cardio has been shown to use more fat for energy verses using carbs for energy. However, in weight loss, the calorie deficit is king, right? We learned that in "What's the Key to Losing Weight?" So if the calorie deficit is king and interval training burns more calories than wouldn't we want to do interval training? In a crazy busy world, wouldn't we do more interval training because it takes less time which means more time with family and friends and getting work done? 

Steady cardio does have its place as we will learn more in "Interval Training Explained - Part 2." So if you are a bodybuilder looking to save as much muscle as possible while burning fat, yes do more steady cardio and have 1 interval workout per week. If you are overweight or obese, focus on interval training with some steady cardio on the side. 

Interval training has many more benefits that you can learn about here.

Fit Mom in a Hurry

You wake up, make breakfast for the family, and get started with the day's errands. After running around like a chicken with it's head caught off you go to make dinner before picking the kids up from school. Along the way you realize you haven't even gone shopping for the groceries to make dinner and the laundry's not going to fold itself. How in the world are you ever going to fit in a workout to get that toned body you want?

Don't fear, the amazing full body circuit is here!

This is a quick, simple full body resistance circuit that will help tone muscle, burn fat, and maybe keep you sane!

I know you maybe in a hurry so let's get to it! Each exercise is performed for 1 minute. In that 1 minute, perform as many QUALITY repetitions as possible and move on to the next exercise with as little rest as possible. You should be breathing heavily after the first few exercises.

     1.) Squat - Stand in front of a chair or sofa with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Sit BACK onto the chair or sofa making sure your knees don't go in front of your toes. You should feel the pressure in your heels. Stay nice and tall. If done correctly, you will probably fall back into the sofa or chair so be prepared and don't worry. You are on the right track to saving your knees from undue stress. Now stand, making sure your knees do NOT buckle in. Great job! That is repetition number 1! This will work your legs and butt.

     2.) Push Up - This does not have to be done from the floor. You can start with your hands on a wall placed slightly wider than shoulder width apart. Keeping abs and butt cheeks TIGHT descend until you feel you can go no lower without losing form and squirming. Now, keep the upper arms at about 45 degrees to the torso (to save the shoulder from undue stress) push the wall away from you. Once this is easy you can move down to a sturdy piece of furniture like the back of a heavy sofa and keep working at it until you are doing kneeling push ups on the floor and eventually from the toes. This will work your chest, shoulders, triceps, and abs. Every time you push back up is 1 rep.

     3.) Band Pull Apart - You'll need a resistance band or tubing for this one. Grip the band with a shoulder width grip so the band is straight; not tight but not hanging. Hold the band out in front of you at chest level. Now, with arms straight, spread the band apart, moving your arms out to the side until the band is almost touching your chest. By now the band should be quite tight. Slowly bring your arms back in front of you but don't let the band hang. This will work the back of the shoulders and your triceps. Every time you pull the band apart is 1 rep.

     4.) Low Back Floor Presses - Even though this is called a "back press" it actually works your abs. Start by lying on your back with your legs bent to 90 degrees and feet flat on the floor. Now press your low back into the floor as hard as you can. Your entire back should be in contact with the floor with the exception of the base of your neck. Hold for 5 seconds and relax. This will teach you how to PROPERLY flex your abs. Once these become easier you can progress to leg raises, planks, and other exercises. Every 5 second hold is 1 rep.

Again, perform each exercise for as many quality repetitions as possible. Perform each exercise after the other with as little rest as possible. One round should take 4-5 minutes. You can either do a warm-up of your choice or you can do the first round as technique practice and warm-up (not pushing too hard). Perform 2-3 rounds or just 1 round if you're REALLY in a hurry. Some exercise is usually better than none. Rest 1 minute between rounds. Afterwards, take 5 minutes or so to stretch at least your hamstrings, quads, chest, and shoulders. Feel free to stretch more. You can include a glute (butt) stretch, calf stretch, and so on. Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds.

All-in-all this should take anywhere from 10 - 30 minutes depending on how much you rest and how many rounds you are performing. This circuit should be done 2-3 times per week with about 24-48 hours of rest between workouts so the muscles can recover. Track how many repetitions you can get in 1 minute and watch your strength and endurance improve.

Cheers to your health and God bless,

Chris

Get Fit Playing Cards! Seriously!

Believe it or not, you CAN get fit playing cards even if you don't have much time! These aren't your typical card games but they are ways to make your workout a little more interesting. It should also be noted that these a once-in-awhile thing. If you do it all the time it will probably get old.

1.) Card Cardio

     This is one of my favorites. With this game you use the cards to determine which cardio exercise you will do. To play, choose four cardio exercises that you can do for 1 minute non-stop. Each exercise gets its own suit. Shuffle the deck and lay out some cards FACE DOWN. If you want a 10 minute workout, put 10 cards out. If you want 20 minutes, put 20 out.

Here's what a workout may look like:

          Clubs - Jumping Jacks

          Spades - Mountain Climbers

          Hearts - High Knees

          Diamonds - Shadow Boxing

          Joker - optional 1 minute rest

The number on the card doesn't matter for this one. The first card you flip is a 4 of clubs so you do 1 minute of jumping jacks. You flip over the next card to reveal an ace of diamonds so you shadow box your imaginary opponent - bobbing, weaving, and jabbing for the next minute. And so on.

If you are really short on time or just want a harder workout you can do Interval Card Cardio. The only difference, go as hard a fast as you can for 30 seconds then rest for 30 seconds and flip the next card. You can also choose harder exercises to really burn some calories! :) Make sure you monitor yourself with this one though! You can push pretty hard but if you get dizzy or light-headed, ease up a little and let your heart rate come back down.

2.) Card Resistance Training

Same as the Card Cardio, only you select a resistance exercise for each suit and you will perform repetitions instead of doing a minute straight of each exercise. Here's an example:

          Clubs - Squats

          Spades - Push Ups

          Hearts - Band Pulls 

          Diamonds - Lying Leg Raises

It probably wouldn't be too wise to perform each for 1 minute. It would be pretty tough if you flipped 2 or 3 spades in a row. That would mean 2 or 3 minutes of push ups! Instead, perform repetitions to match the number on the card. Say you flip a 5 of clubs you perform 5 repetitions of squats, then an 8 of hearts means you perform 8 reps of band pulls next. Ace and face cards are 10 reps. 

3.) FitDeck

As I was coming up with ideas for this article I came across Fit Deck. They are special decks of cards with exercises and explanations on each. They even have different decks for different interests. Basketball Fit Deck, Soccer Fit Deck, Yoga Fit Deck, even a nutrition Fit Deck!

Shuffle up and have some fun!