Saturday Workout - Interval Training

Today is interval training day!!  This is one of our favorite ways to train the cardiovascular system as it really pushes you into working hard, but it seems easier because you get breaks!

Interval training involves high bursts of intensity followed by slower, recovery periods.  You can walk with bursts of jogging, jog with bursts of sprinting, bicycle with sprint bursts, walking with bursts of incline...you get the drift.  

Kick the intensity up for 30 secs - 1 min (whatever you can handle!) and follow with at least an equal if not longer recovery time.  A good rule of thumb is if you are still breathing rapidly, rest a little more and then resume high intensity.  This is a great way to get increase your cardiovascular shape, burn a ton of calories, and keep you out of a boredom rut! 

Make sure you start with a 5 minute warm up before starting!  Check out one of our many workouts for a warm up.

Here are some more examples (you can sub any activity for the activities below):
- walk 1 minute, sprint 1 minute (repeat for 20 minutes)
- walk for 30 secs, jog for 30 secs, sprint for 30 secs (repeat for 20 minutes)
- pyramid the intervals and do 30 secs intense, 30 secs easy, 45 sec intense, 45 sec easy, 60 secs intense, 60 sec easy, then work your way back down to 30 and keep going up and down for 20 minutes

Make sure you bring your heart rate back down to near resting with a cool down walk or some other kind of light activity.  It is important to always bring the heart rate down so we safely return blood flow back to normal (prevents pooling of blood in extremities).