Interval Training

Since my marathon I have been progressively neglecting my cardio. I have been doing about 30-45 minutes on the bike about 3 times a week and I am in a rut. I dread doing cardio now because I find it boring since I have narrowed it down to one form of cardio. I seriously pitch an internal hissy fit with noticeable pouting when I am done with my strength training and I know I have to do cardio next. I know that running would be more challenging cardiovascularly but with my foot giving me problems and the anti runnning stance I always seem to embrace for months after races I havent been able to bring myself to climb on the dreadmill very much. The ellpitical is an option too but it is not as effecient at burning calories and I feel silly on those things anyway (for some reason in mind I am thinking "weee! Look at me go!" which is distracting).

I have done versions of interval training before and have found them to be challenging since you are constantly varying your speed and effort. Time seems to go by more quickly which is excellent when some ass clown changes the tv to Fox News and then blasts it so he can hear it from the back where he is doing the elliptical. I so gave that guy the death stare the rest of my workout. So anyway I did a little more research into interval training and there are many different varieties of interval workouts you can do (sweet!)but they all basically offer the same benefits.

Workouts that alternate high-intensity levels with lower intensity levels help you burn calories long after you have stopped workoing out (much like strength training does). It seems the more you shake up your body during the workout, the more energy your body expends getting your body back to normal after the workout. Longer sessions of a moderate and consistent pace do not challenge your body like bouts of high intensity work will. Your body will become very effecient at doing this type of exercise and effeciency in exercise is actually a really bad thing because it means you will burn less calories.

Also interval training works regardless of fitness level and, by increasing your intensity for short periods of time, you teach your body how to work harder without killing yourself. These workouts can last a minimum of 20 minutes and burn more fat than longer slower workouts can so it saves time, woo hoo! In addition you can do intervals with any type of cardiovascualr exercise -- running, cycling, swimming, stair master, elliptical, hell even roller blading if you feel like channeling your inner 90's child. This works well because you can vary what type of cardio you do and since you will only be doing it for a condensed amount of time you are less likely to become bored.

As I said before these type of workouts can be done in any variety of different ways too. When I was training for the marathon I would run at a 6.0 for 4 minutes, 6.5 for 2 minutes, 7.0 for 2 minutes back down to a 65 for 2 more minutes and repeat for 7 miles. It helps to focus on 2 to 4 minutes at a time then to think about in terms of the total amount of time you are running. It can also be as simple as 1 minutes moderate pace followed by 1 minute high intensity pace and repeat for the specified amount of time. Be sure to warm up for 4-5minutes before you start any high burts of intensity. They usually reccomend cooling down too but to be honest I usually skip that and use that time to stretch a little more. Also it is best to do interval workouts only 1 or 2 times per week or you might burn yourself out and have a higher chance of injury.

I am going to try to Great Pyramids Interval myself and see how that goes. This pyramid structure allows you to start with short bursts of speed, and then you’ll peak at the longest surge of energy in the middle of your workout before coming back down.

3 to 5 minutes warmup

30 seconds high intensity

1 minute low intensity

45 seconds high intensity

1 minute low intensity

1 minute high intensity

1 minute low intensity

90 seconds high intensity

1 minute low intensity

1 minute high intensity

1 minute low intensity

45 seconds high intensity

1 minute low intensity

30 seconds high intensity

3 to 5 minutes cooldown

If you are looking for a more effecient, less boring, less time consuming and aren't afraid of getting sweaty then ou should try interval training. Just don't neglect your weight training!