Intervals | Time to Sprint

Is your goal to burn fat?  Then you better make intervals a key part of your program.  I discussed the benefits of Tabatas earlier this week, but what if you are a runner?  Can any runner make intervals a part of their routine?  You bet!  Speed work and sprints are not only going to help you burn more fat, but they will also make you stronger in certain points of a race, especially when trying to cross the finish line with nothing left!

There is a certain magic to doing intervals that they have an ability to continue burning fat and calories event after you leave the gym.  Here's the real science, your body is not able to bring in enough Oxygen during periods of hard work and you start to accumulate a "debt" of oxygen that must be repaid post workout.  Your body must help you recover and bring you back to your normal.  This leaves your metabolism revved for hours after you leave the gym.  This is what we like to call excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC.  

Intervals should be made into a regular part of your routine for the best results.  You can always start with slower intervals with more rest to work.  As you improve, shorten the amount of rest you take or make the interval faster.  Ideally, interval training is best when you complete it a couple times a week.  Make sure to have at least one rest day in between.

On to the next point, how do they make you stronger/faster?  Intense intervals stimulate muscle building hormones, which help you to build lean mass.  You will also be developing your cardiovascular system at the same time.  This will increase your cardio ability and strengthen the heart.  Not only will you be able to push harder and harder the more you improve, but you will be able to recover faster and faster!

Here is a treadmill sprint workout for an intermediate to advanced athlete:

1 minute Sprint

90 second Recovery

1 minute Sprint at 3% incline

90 second Recovery

1 minute Sprint at 6% incline

90 second Recovery

1 minute Sprint at 9% incline

90 second Recovery

1 minute Sprint at 12% incline

2-3 minutes Complete Rest

Repeat three to six times depending on level of conditioning.  Recovery should be light walking while complete rest means to stop.  Do this by jumping your feet to the sideboards of the treadmill.

Be sure to include at least 5 minutes of warm-up and a good walking cool down with light stretching.  Post number of sets to comments.

Good Luck! Em

Tabatas

There are many different types of exercise and there is not always a right answer to which one is going to work best for you.  One particular workout program that many people do not know a lot about is the Tabata.  It provides similar health benefits to that of cardio workouts but has a bit more pizzazz.  Not only can they be completed in just 4 minutes, but they are a lot more fun!  They fall under the category of HIIT or high intensity interval training.

The Tabata was founded by a scientist, Izumi Tabata and fellow colleagues at the department of physiology in Japan when they conducted a study to compare moderate intensity training to HIIT.  He conducted tests on 2 groups of athletes, Group 1 used moderate intensity interval training (1 hour sessions at 70% intensity, 5 days/week, 6 weeks) and Group 2 used HIIT (4 minute sessions, at 20 second intervals of 100% intensity and 10 seconds of rest, 4 days/week, 6 weeks).

Here are the direct results of the test:

• Group 1 had a significant increase in the aerobic system (cardiovascular system) with little or no gains in the anaerobic system (muscles)
• Group 2 showed much improvement in all their athletes.  Their aerobic systems increased much more than Group 1 and their anaerobic systems increased by 28%.
• HIIT had a bigger impact on the aerobic systems and the anaerobic system as well.

Although you can incorporate any exercise into Tabata training, here is the basic outline of the Tabata training method:

• 4 minutes long (whole session)
• 20 seconds of intense training
• 10 seconds of rest
• total of 8 sessions or rounds
• You may do more than one tabata in a workout to make it a total body routine

Check out this online Tabata Timer if you don't have a stopwatch handy.

You can use almost any exercise in a Tabata so choose ones that will help you reach your specific goals.  Tabatas should not replace all of your workouts, but could be done 2-3 times per week.  Try starting out slow and working up to more.  Also, make sure to warm up your muscles before and complete a cool-down after.  

If you find your workout is still too easy, you may not be working at full intensity... so push yourself harder!

Here is an example of a Tabata Workout:

Tabata 1:

Push-ups - 20 seconds hard/10 seconds rest

Squats - 20 seconds hard/10 seconds rest

*Repeat for 4 minutes

Tabata 2:

Speedskaters - 20 seconds hard/10 seconds rest

Reverse Lunges 20 seconds hard/10 seconds rest

*Repeat for 4 minutes

Tabata 3:

Kettlebell Thrusters - 20 seconds hard/10 seconds rest

Mountain Climbers - 20 seconds hard/10 seconds rest

*Repeat for 4 minutes

Good luck!

oxox, Em