I hate doing cardio training and that’s why I love interval training. You can get the same benefits of conventional cardio if not better results by doing interval training as it can promote muscle building and allow you to train at new superior levels intensity.
The idea behind interval training is work as hard as you can for a small duration of time usually between 10 seconds and 2 minutes and then allow your heart rate to come down before repeating.
Really high intensity training in my experience should not last longer than 20 minutes, each burst of work should not be longer than 45 seconds, (if your not breathing like never before your not working hard enough) and you must allow your heart rate to almost come back to its baseline before starting the next set for it to be truly effective.
Think Usain Bolt sprinting, he doesn’t set off knackered from his last race, and he doesn’t give any half efforts. It needs to be a full out sprint with sufficient recovery time to be able to give your best efforts.
Here is an example high intensity interval training workout on a bike.
1) Perform 20 seconds as fast as possible.
2) Have 2-3 minutes rest.
3) Repeat for a total of 5 sets.
If your not feeling ready to go home, completely exhausted, slightly dizzy or a little sick if new to high intensity training then your not working hard enough.
You are aiming to get in and out and work as hard as possible in the least amount of time possible. This type of training is perfect for busy working professionals as you can easily go to the gym, workout, have a shower and be back to the office in less than an hour.
If you live in Manchester and want a proper introduction into the most effective forms of high intensity training for building muscle, losing fat and getting super fit, fill in my contact form and message me “book a interval training introduction”.