Striving4Zen

There are at least six compelling reasons to add intervals to your workout, but don't go skimpy on the recovery portion. It's very important to the whole process.

Coach Jenny, over at Runner's World, likens the recovery period of intervals to sleep. You need sleep to repair your body and rest up for the next day, and you need a chill-out period for your body after pushing it through an intense interval so you can push yourself through another one.

Jenny explains it like this:

. . . the payoff comes when you invest in a proper recovery and run at the target fast pace (and not any faster), your body will adapt and you'll soon be capable of not only running faster with less effort, but the time it takes to recover will decrease as well.

When beginning interval training, use the recovery period to allow your heart rate, circulation, and breathing time to recover so you can attack the upcoming intervals with the same energy. If this means you need to walk between sets, that is fine. But as you repeat your interval training, you will notice that you don't need to run as slowly to recover, nor do you need the same amount of time. Just remember, this change doesn't happen overnight — it's a process.

Love it! Thanks Fit!

Labels: exercise, Holistic Health, interval training, running

Interval training is short bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by longer periods of lighter exercise. We called wind sprints in high school, or what the Swedes call fartlek or “speed play.” While interval training was designed for maximizing performance in professional athletes, the average person can greatly benefit from it as well.

If you're over 30 years old, you should have a complete physical exam before starting an interval training program.

Benefits of Interval Training

• Improves overall fitness level or the ability to utilize oxygen. The more oxygen we use, the more calories we burn
• Increases post-exercise fat burning, and calorie expenditure even at rest or sleep
• Lets you exercise for less time while achieving greater fitness, weight loss, and brain health benefits.
• Naturally increases levels of brain-function-enhancing chemicals in your body.
• Improves insulin function, which promotes fat burning, muscle building and optimal brain function.

Source

Labels: exercise, fartlek, interval training

The evidence continues to mount that shorter bursts of activity with rest periods in between is one of the most effective ways to exercise. This alternating technique, known as interval training or high-intensity interval training, has been around for decades but is experiencing newfound popularity as its benefits are publicized. This most recent study confirmed that interval training results in more fat burned -- even when the session was not done at an extremely high intensity -- and a study earlier this year found that it can improve your cardiovascular fitness and your body’s ability to burn fat.
During my college years, and about 15 years after that, I used to do interval training, but stopped it and just did endurance training since I haven't regularly competed for 15 years. I had no idea that the interval training had so many other benefits. Now however, as the benefits of interval training keep pouring in, I have been reawakened to the importance of short bursts of activity done at a very high intensity to reach your optimum level of fitness. Therefore, I now incorporate interval training (sprints) with endurance cardio training (running), pull-ups, dips and singles tennis (when I can find someone to join me!) You certainly don't have to run to achieve these benefits, and can receive similar effects using properly supervised weight training. I believe that incorporating interval training into your exercise routine will be a welcome relief for most, particularly those who dread hour-long cardio workouts.
Although interval training requires intense periods of exercise (more intense than you may have normally done), the session is broken up with periods of rest, so it really goes by much faster yet produces excellent results. This technique should help just about everyone who uses it; just be sure to start out at your own pace.
So remember, along with some endurance cardio training, be sure you are also incorporating interval-type training and strength training into your exercise routine. As with many things in life, when it comes to exercise, having some variety built in will help you to get the most comprehensive results for your mind and body.

Labels: burn fat, exercise, interval training, Mercola