Interval Training.....anyone tried it?

  Wow, thank alot Dr. Evil.  I will  definalty try your suggestions.  My main goal is to lose bodyfat.  I think I am already in pretty good shape.  I lift weights 4 times a week and was doing elliptical at 60% of my hearrate for about 30 mintutes in addition to lifting.



The main problem was I hit 29 and it seems like my metablolism really crashed and Ive packed on some pounds.  I am trying to find something to burn the fat off and also switch up my routine, and this article touted interval training as  a way to burn fat off extremely fast, as well as build up great endurance.  It just takes alot to get to 90% of my max heart rate, and i wanted to make sure I wasnt doing something wrong.

 Weighted vests are awsome however I would not recommend using more then about 10% of bodyweight if you are running hard. This goes double if you are doing any agility work with the vest.



TAKU

 Mask,



my program is free and has been around for a number of years. It works well. try it. You can find it at www.hybridfitness.tv



TAKU

Mask,
Thanks for the props. If the goal is to lose body fat than you can manipulate your workouts to effectively target that.
In order to lose 1 lb of body fat you need to burn 3500 cals. if you workout 5 days per week , then each workout should be targeted for 700 cals.

Altering eating habits will also aid in this factor. As well as changing your weight training program every 4 to 8 weeks depending on how quickly your body adapts.

Also with regard to heart rate, you may want to check your upper and lower training zones. There is a simple formula that ACSM uses, The Karvonen formula to calculate target HR.
But here is an example that I learn from Vern Gambeta years ago
that we will still use and change around a little to date.
day 1 30 seconds of exercise ( 20 to 30 reps with control) and 15 seconds rest. 30 exercises
day 2 45 seconds( 40 to 45 reps with control) 15 seconds rest and 1minute of cardio between every third exercise

day 3 this one sucks
45 seconds of an exercise 15 seconds off and 45 seconds of cardio betwenn each exercise.

Here's a sample
1. pushups/ med ball twists/ bodywt squats
2. chin ups/ wood choppers/ lunges
3. curl to press/ diagonal wood chops/ alternating 6" step ups
4. Chest press db/ dumbbell rows/ lateral bounds
5. one legged reaches/ rotational shoulder press/ high step ups
6. dumbbell uppercuts/ band smack downs/ overhead squats with med ball
7. med ball chest pass/ stability ball shoulder roll outs/ lateral step overs
8. overhead med ball tosses/ med ball big circles/ double tap lateral step overs
9. lateral push ups/ med ball kayaks/ split jumps
10. band punching/ rotational push ups/ shadow to sprawl

then pick whatever cardio activity you want to insert. My personal fav is jump rope.
All the best. Dr. Evil

HIITMAN here i do deep water sprint and stat bike when not at pool i hear a lot of elliptical mac use anyone try that

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-263--5536-2-1-2,00.html

intervals are good for those who compete in timed rounds.

intervals also good for those who have better things to do btw any1 try maxOT int? is it basically hiit i might try on recumbant statbike at GOLDS

 Its gotten better over the past three weeks or so with my endurance.  Its been great, Ive really started to lose my gut when nothing else was working

In the 80's and 90's as a swimmer and rower, I did not know there was any other way to train.

Are magazines trying to make this sound new?

its more of a hiit zeitgeist with proven research when most people thought they had to go for a run when all they had to do was hiit for 10min

 Great post.  Thanks for all the info  and the expertise from Taku and Mr Evil...

FWIW I have an interval story.

I was recently putting on weight (on purpose, BBers call it 'bulking') and then got grounded by a month long sickness followed by 2 weeks of really bad eating while on vacation. My wife took a picture of me walking back from the beach with my shirt off and was laughing at me because I actually had a little belly.

Well, that wouldn't stand. Although I'm far from horribly out of shape compared to most of the US I hold myself to a little higher standard. Its funny that the OP mentions that men's health (the gay victoria's secret) article because I happened to pick up the same copy for the flight back to the states.

I used to be a hell of a mountain bike rider when I lived in tahoe but again recent events had left me with weak climbing ability. I actually hadn't done more than an hour ride in the last 3 years.

I tore out that article, its a 6 week, 3 day a week program using 5 sets of 2 minute intervals with 1 minute rest. Varies from 90% of theorectical MHR on up to 115%. Thats actually perfect for mountain biking where the tough climbs are usually short but intense.

I faithfully followed it on my spin bike at home, getting up at 6am before work. Note that a 2 minute interval is long and very hard if the heart rate is kept at the prescribed levels. On the harder days I had to REALLY crank up resistance to get my heart rate that high and I never did reach much over 100%. We're talking standing up hammering with the resistance so high if you stop pedaling the cranks immediately stop.

Anyway, the results were exactly what I had been hoping for. I tested myself on a local intermediate/advanced trail that starts with two very tough climbs. This trail had previous kicked my ass and embarrassed me when I went with some guys on downhill rigs. (Very heavy bikes, where I was on a light cross country bike and couldn't keep up) I now hammered up them with no problems.

Now I do 1.5 hour fun rides and am not winded. I did a 4 hour epic ride last weekend which was pretty tough but do-able. I'm going to enter my first race in september, and obviously intervals will be part of the training.

I've used intervals before but never in this disciplined a manner. I can't say enough about the results. I also don't get the energy drain/mental fatigue another poster talked about. Like I said, I do them in the morning before work and feel energized. My work involves lots of concentration and thinking, I can't really have a fuzzy brain.

 Thanks for sharing that story.  It was REALLY worked great for me too.  I have always been in good shape, but this has gotten me into GREAT shape, and I keep on losing weight.



Im still not where I want to be, but this type training has really been the change that my body needed.  Its also good to know that Im not the only guy who couldnt get his heart rate up over 100%.  Its hard as hell

Yeah, I think that 115% heart rate is for people that are out of shape and are well below their true MHR. (Men's health readers, LOL!) I don't see any normal human able to sustain that kind of work rate for 2 minutes.

b_s ftw! the article is online at menshealth on recent articles its prolly my fav cardio hiit with recumbant statbike,deepwater sprint,but i havent tried this on elliptical

you are ugly

BurnWithKearns

You have said that the more close to an elite athlete you are, the more difficult to achieve your max HR. But for example, if you are use to train intervals with olympic weighlifting, sprints and so on .. dont you think that only adding more weight or doing sprints faster, for example, makes your HR come sooner? is only a question i have experimented.

Another question Burn. What do you think about CrossFit exercises? high intense circuit workouts. I mean, the idea behind it, not the exercises particulary. Logically if we are talking about workouts for fighters, i agree that this workouts should be modified for specific purposes.

thanks in advance

 He wont answer your questions unless he thinks you are famous.  Sorry brother.



On another note, I am just doing the same program about 3-4 days a week.  I run until my heart rate gets up to about 170 and try to keep it there 2 minutes, rest 2 minutes then do it again 4-5 times.  Im building up until I can do it with less rest.  But dude, I have dropped about 10lbs in a month of doing this when NOTHING else worked.  Its incredible

i'm kinda crunched for time with the lifting and muay thai but would like to cut off some of my gut. but i was thinking, aren't timed rounds in muay thai training much like interval training? 3 minutes on 1 minute off? i train with a trainer and we are using focus mits, thai paids, kick shields, belly shields etc...that should be as effective?

just wondering if i really need to add this to the workout or not
thanks

Yes, focus mitt work is interval training.