Interval Training Workouts for Beginners

By Karen Asp

Why do interval training? "You burn more calories in a shorter period of time," says Jessica R. Smith, a certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor and wellness coach in Miami and creator of 'Train for Your Body Type' DVD. That's because during those harder periods, you're challenging your body, making your heart beat faster and consequently, boosting the calorie burn. Sprinkle several of those intervals into one 30-minute workout, and you'll crunch more calories than if you just walked at a normal pace for 30 minutes.

Interval training can also help you push past any plateaus and bring you to the next level of fitness. After all, if you always do the same workout, your body gets so comfortable that it's not challenged anymore, which may explain why you're not seeing results. With interval training, though, you wake your body up, challenging it to work again.

You can do interval training with any mode of activity, including walking, running, cycling and swimming. Even if you're on a cardio machine at the gym, you can do interval training. And you don't have to be super fit to do this, so beginners are welcome! "Anybody can do this," Smith says, adding that you should aim to do interval training one or two times a week.

To do an interval training workout, spend five or 10 minutes warming up as you would for any workout. Once you're warm, begin the intervals. Of course, you have to make some decisions about how you're going to structure this workout. For starters, are you going to use hills or speed to get the intensity up? Even if you're not outside, you can still do hills on cardiovascular machines.

Then decide how you're going to determine when to speed up or slow down. If you're outside, you can use landmarks like mailboxes, fence posts or trees to determine this.

You can also use timed intervals. Smith likes to set up intervals in three to one ratios, one being the high intensity work. For instance, you might do moderate intensity work for three minutes and then do one minute of high intensity work. Or you could do 90 seconds of moderate intensity work followed by 30 seconds of high intensity work.

So just how hard should you work during those more challenging periods? "Imagine that you're running to catch a bus," Smith says. Your breathing should feel labored, and your heart rate should increase. If, though, you feel like you're going to pass out, you're working too hard.

Make sure to allow your body to fully recover before you do each period of hard work. If you're still trying to catch your breath and don't feel like you're ready to go again, even though your watch or the landscape might tell you otherwise, give yourself extra time. When your breathing's recovered, push hard again.

And remember to have fun with interval training! As Smith says, "Interval training helps prevent boredom and keeps your mind and body excited about exercise."

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