I don’t know about you, but I hate cardio. That is, the kind of cardio that I was doing before I grew a brain. I’m talking about the long, slow, boring cardio that most people do in the gym. It’s amazing to me just how many people still think that walking on the treadmill for an hour at a time is helping them reach their goals. Granted, I realize there are certain demographics that this type of cardiovascular work is appropriate for, it is NOT the answer for everyone. If you are healthy and able and your goal is to be in the best shape you can be in, you should be doing interval training.
What is interval training? It’s simply alternating short bursts of high(er) intensity work with low(er) intensity work. A very simple example on the treadmill would be:
- 2 minute warm-up
- 30 second high intensity interval (brisk walking for the deconditioned individual)
- 90 second low intensity interval (slow walking) where you catch your breath and let your heart rate slow somewhat
- Perform 6 repetitions (12 minutes of total work)
- 2-3 minute cool-down
If 6 repetitions are too much, simply perform them until you can’t do any more. As you become more conditioned, you can switch up the variables (speed, incline, increase time of the intervals, etc.). There are lots of different ways to do intervals as well, you just have to think outside of the box.
Intervals are much better for fat-burning than simple long, slow distance cardio. There’s also an “afterburn effect,” meaning that you will burn fat even after you’ve completed the session. In addition, you get done with your cardio tons faster than you would have if you stayed on a machine for hours at a time. The key to intervals, though, is to really push it on the high intensity part (when you’re ready). You also don’t want to do intervals every time you do cardio – still add in some steady state cardio. Switch things up and you’ll see great gains in body composition and your overall conditioning.
Here’s a good video of an “outside the box” cardio routine…
Art of Strength – Ropes Gone Wild
Great stuff. Now get out there and burn some adipose (that’s the technical term for fat…)!
