Interval training is a good way to improve your overall fitness level and athletic performance. It forces your cardiovascular system to work much harder than it does during a steadily paced workout, resulting in a higher number of calories burned. Whether you run, walk, swim or cycle, you can use interval training to get more from your workouts in the same amount of time.
Identification
Interval training is a physical strategy for burning more calories and increasing your fitness level. According to MayoClinic.com, it's simply a matter of alternating periods of faster activity with periods of slower activity during your workout. Interval training is most often used with cardio activities. Runners, cyclists and swimmers can sprint while walkers can increase their pace to a jog.
Theory
According to Thomas Hyde and Marianne Gengenbach in "Conservative Management of Sports Injuries," the idea behind interval training is that your cardiovascular fitness improves the most during a recovery period following intensive exercise. Track coaches first used this strategy in the 1930s to improve their athletes' endurance. The authors report that this repeated increase and decrease in heart rate taxes your cardiovascular system and increases your heart's "stroke volume." Stroke volume, or the amount of blood your heart pumps with each beat, is the key to improving fitness level. The more blood that travels through your body, the faster oxygen gets delivered to your organs and muscles.
Target Heart Rates
In the 1930s, Hyde and Gengenbach note, coaches wanted athletes to achieve a heart rate between 170 and 180 beats per minute during each interval. During the recovery period, they wanted athletes to achieve a rate between 120 and 140 beats per minute. The authors recommend these rates for athletes between 20 and 39. The older you are, they write, the lower your target heart rate should be. Athletes 40 to 59, for example, should aim for a training rate of 150 to 160 beats per minute, with a recovery rate of 105 to 115 beats per minute. When you reach the desired recovery heart rate, you can then begin a second interval.
Method
Hyde and Gengenbach describe four variables necessary in any interval training program: the distance for each interval; the intensity; the length of the interval along with its recovery period and the number of intervals per workout. For beginners, MayoClinic.com suggests intense intervals of 30 seconds. Once you feel comfortable with the pattern, you can increase your interval length to as long as three minutes. If you're working out at a gym, ask a personal trainer to help you design an interval training program.
Considerations
Talk to your doctor before beginning any interval training workout. Walter R. Thompson, an exercise science professor at Atlanta's Georgia State University, tells the New York Times that achieving very high heart rates during interval training can put too great a strain on some people's cardiovascular systems. This strain can lead to heart attack or stroke. If you have heart disease or high blood pressure, don't attempt to raise your heart rate this high without your doctor's approval.
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