About a year ago, I wanted to drop a few pounds. I began eating healthier and working out daily. My workouts included short strength training series and daily three-mile runs. There was no interval training. I didn’t know what it was.
Then, I decided to get crazy once I learned about workouts like Insanity, which use interval training to completely transform your body. After one month of interval training, I dropped about 10 pounds. I felt healthy and toned.
Now, I continue to incorporate some intervals into my everyday workout routine. I’ll tell you more and see if it’s a fit for you, too!
What is interval training?
Interval training is the process in which you do short bursts of intense exercise followed by a slightly longer recovery time. A great example of this is sprinting for 30 seconds and then jogging for 60 seconds.
How does it work?
This type of exercise works because your body is doing intense work during those 30 seconds, making your heart beat faster and burning more calories. Anyone trying to lose the last few pounds or tone up for that bikini in a few months wants to shape up as quickly as possible. Interval training may be the answer for you!
These types of interval workouts help your body to burn more calories at rest, too! This occurs because during the spurts of energy, your body can’t get enough oxygen to the muscles. This is recovered during the slow periods of exercise.
The fat is effectively burned because of the height of your heart rate during the exercise, making your metabolism work faster, too.
Not only is interval training great to lose weight, it’s also a great exercise to help agility and speed during running and other sports.
More calories, meaning more fat, are burned when exercising in high intensity spurts. This increases your body’s ability to work harder.
Interval training doesn’t only occur during running, but with strength circuit workouts as well. Incorporating these workouts into your weekly routine allows your body to become “confused.” This works different muscles, allowing your body to burn extra calories.
How long do these interval workouts last?
Typically, interval training lasts about 20 minutes or less. This makes it an awesome workout to fit in before work in the morning, or in between errands while the kids are at school.
These workouts are good for endurance athletes, too. It may seem strange, since interval training isn’t an endurance exercise, but the fact that your body is able to work harder for longer because of interval training allows your endurance to become stronger.
We all know that muscle burns more calories than fat does. Interval training increases muscle in the body. You connect the dots!
Author Alyssa Miller is a health and fitness enthusiast, runner, and yogi. She blogs about all of this on her site FunFitFash.com, while training for her next big race and living life to the fullest. Follower her @FunFitFash.