Interval training
Discussion
I`ve started the gym again and have been doing what I thought was interval training, but then I`ve read this
http://www.brinkzone.com/exercise-performance/near... and now I`m thinking am I doing it wrong??
After a weights session I do 20 mins on the elliptical cross trainer 3mins warm up on level 12 then 1 min on level 25 (max) as fast as I can then back down to level 12-15 depending on how much energy I have.I repeat this for 15 mins until 2 mins left to warm down, totally 20 mins.
This guy is saying 10 secs then 5 secs intervals! Is it back to the drawing board?
http://www.brinkzone.com/exercise-performance/near... and now I`m thinking am I doing it wrong??
After a weights session I do 20 mins on the elliptical cross trainer 3mins warm up on level 12 then 1 min on level 25 (max) as fast as I can then back down to level 12-15 depending on how much energy I have.I repeat this for 15 mins until 2 mins left to warm down, totally 20 mins.
This guy is saying 10 secs then 5 secs intervals! Is it back to the drawing board?
goldblum said:
No he's a tit.
Agreed! Just look at his beard for starters!Intervals can be done in 2 ways. Either by distance or time, but as said above, the main thing is to get your heart rate up, then recover, then up again.
I was told I should aim for 190 then let it drop to 140, then start another rep.
It's best to just find times/distances you are comfortable with to start with. I think shorter times/distances are better for fat loss, I use to do longer distances, but that was intervals specifically for running training and not fat loss.
It's sometimes easier just to sprint for 0.2 of a mile then recover for 0.1 of a mile and so on.
The interval in interval training is the recovery time you take not the distance or time you put your max efforts into.
You heart rate recovery needs only to get to 70% then you should go again, so don't let it drop to low to maintain your training effect.
Lot of science behind HIIT and tabata so worth Google ing that and trying it out.
There are some good training Sprint grids you can use Google that as well should come up with some into.
Can't open your link but like the fact everyone thinks he's a tit, made me chuckle.
You heart rate recovery needs only to get to 70% then you should go again, so don't let it drop to low to maintain your training effect.
Lot of science behind HIIT and tabata so worth Google ing that and trying it out.
There are some good training Sprint grids you can use Google that as well should come up with some into.
Can't open your link but like the fact everyone thinks he's a tit, made me chuckle.
There are lots of ways you can do interval training, but 10 seconds rest and 5 seconds working is not a way I would do it.
You can work with lots of different rest:work ratios depending on what you want to achieve. Classic interval training will have quite a big rest:work ratio, maybe 5:1, but I see people doing anything from 10:1, to 1:2 in favour of work.
Also, the cross trainer is the worst machine to do interval traininh. Bike, rower or treadmill are much much better for this kind of training. Cross trainers are okay for weight loss as they allow you to go for a long time, and burn a lot of calories but they're no good for fitness as you can't work your heart like you can when running, cycling or rowing.
You can work with lots of different rest:work ratios depending on what you want to achieve. Classic interval training will have quite a big rest:work ratio, maybe 5:1, but I see people doing anything from 10:1, to 1:2 in favour of work.
Also, the cross trainer is the worst machine to do interval traininh. Bike, rower or treadmill are much much better for this kind of training. Cross trainers are okay for weight loss as they allow you to go for a long time, and burn a lot of calories but they're no good for fitness as you can't work your heart like you can when running, cycling or rowing.
Personally I'd use runner or rower, or get outside and use a running track or street signs on a running route as Sprint markers.
Cross trainer next as you ll increase your heart rate more than you will on a static bike, although spin bikes work well, also watch your posture on the bike set it up right.
Cross trainer next as you ll increase your heart rate more than you will on a static bike, although spin bikes work well, also watch your posture on the bike set it up right.
996 sps said:
Personally I'd use runner or rower, or get outside and use a running track or street signs on a running route as Sprint markers.
Cross trainer next as you ll increase your heart rate more than you will on a static bike, although spin bikes work well, also watch your posture on the bike set it up right.
Can`t run at all. I had a bad smash racing karts in Aug 10 nearly lost my ankle. Just started exercising again due to getting osteoporosis from being immobile.Cross trainer next as you ll increase your heart rate more than you will on a static bike, although spin bikes work well, also watch your posture on the bike set it up right.
I`ll keep on cross trainer if you think my heart rate will be higher as I quite like it.
cerberaperv said:
Can`t run at all. I had a bad smash racing karts in Aug 10 nearly lost my ankle. Just started exercising again due to getting osteoporosis from being immobile.
I`ll keep on cross trainer if you think my heart rate will be higher as I quite like it.
Well if you enjoy it stick to it, the only reason I say you increase your heart rate is you use arms and legs, so I take it you don't just hold onto the bars.I`ll keep on cross trainer if you think my heart rate will be higher as I quite like it.
I Google ed interval training on cross trainer and seemed some decent enough stuff to keep you interested.
Don't forget interval training in the swimming pool either, that will get the ankle joint mobile as well.
996 sps said:
Personally I'd use runner or rower, or get outside and use a running track or street signs on a running route as Sprint markers.
Cross trainer next as you ll increase your heart rate more than you will on a static bike, although spin bikes work well, also watch your posture on the bike set it up right.
Cross trainer next as you ll increase your heart rate more than you will on a static bike, although spin bikes work well, also watch your posture on the bike set it up right.
I'd disagree. I find cross trainers keep heart rate low when training, compared to bike which IMO are much better for interval training. You only have to train someone on both, and try talking to them and you can see how much harder they're working on a bike.
I do interval training at 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off. I can only manage 4-5 cycles. Although I am quite unfit at the moment.
That being said, if you are able to max out for 1 minute at a time for 7 times then you are probably not working hard enough! But obviously if you are only coming back to it, take it easy to start with.
Due to injury I also do it on a cross trainer and it works well enough. I do *not* use the handles - because I use the cross trainer as an alternative to running on a treadmill - holding the handles actually restricts how fast you can move and get your heart rate up.
Can't imagine cycle being able to raise the heart rate to the levels of the cross trainer - but perhaps a spinning bike can as they spin more freely.
That being said, if you are able to max out for 1 minute at a time for 7 times then you are probably not working hard enough! But obviously if you are only coming back to it, take it easy to start with.
Due to injury I also do it on a cross trainer and it works well enough. I do *not* use the handles - because I use the cross trainer as an alternative to running on a treadmill - holding the handles actually restricts how fast you can move and get your heart rate up.
Can't imagine cycle being able to raise the heart rate to the levels of the cross trainer - but perhaps a spinning bike can as they spin more freely.
balders118 said:
I'd disagree. I find cross trainers keep heart rate low when training, compared to bike which IMO are much better for interval training. You only have to train someone on both, and try talking to them and you can see how much harder they're working on a bike.
Go fast as possible or set it to high resistance?
balders118 said:
I'd disagree. I find cross trainers keep heart rate low when training, You only have to train someone on both, and try talking to them and you can see how much harder they're working on a bike.
Mojooo said:
balders118 said:
I'd disagree. I find cross trainers keep heart rate low when training, compared to bike which IMO are much better for interval training. You only have to train someone on both, and try talking to them and you can see how much harder they're working on a bike.
Go fast as possible or set it to high resistance?
Mojooo said:
Due to injury I also do it on a cross trainer and it works well enough. I do *not* use the handles - because I use the cross trainer as an alternative to running on a treadmill - holding the handles actually restricts how fast you can move and get your heart rate up.
Can't imagine cycle being able to raise the heart rate to the levels of the cross trainer - but perhaps a spinning bike can as they spin more freely.
Holding the handles will increase your heart rate more as you are putting more stress on your heart by moving more limbs.Can't imagine cycle being able to raise the heart rate to the levels of the cross trainer - but perhaps a spinning bike can as they spin more freely.
When I'm comparing x trainer to bikes I am on about the bog standard life fitness or technogym bikes in which case I would recommend a cross trainer.
However if your gym has WATT bikes then enough said if the British Olympic cycling association use them you know its a good bit of kit, 6 sec power peak challenges are a lung bleeder let alone a structured interval session.
I found holding the handles doesnt make much difference to making the mahcine 'go' - using the handles leads to muscle fatigue quicker but what I really want is maxmimum heart rate for a prolonged period.
Anhow, went down to the gym and tried the spin pie. It does spin so much smoother than a normal bike but a bit of a downside is that you have no heart rate monitor and cannot (very) quickly adjust the resistance like you can on a normal bike because its a manual knob.
As to whetehr I got my heart rate up as quickly as I could on a cross trainer - don't think so, but will have another go tomorrow as I think I didnt put the resistance up high enough today.
I should add, I am going for HIIT training rather than interval trainign so my goals are slightly different to the OPs.
Anhow, went down to the gym and tried the spin pie. It does spin so much smoother than a normal bike but a bit of a downside is that you have no heart rate monitor and cannot (very) quickly adjust the resistance like you can on a normal bike because its a manual knob.
As to whetehr I got my heart rate up as quickly as I could on a cross trainer - don't think so, but will have another go tomorrow as I think I didnt put the resistance up high enough today.
I should add, I am going for HIIT training rather than interval trainign so my goals are slightly different to the OPs.
Ok, tried bike and cross trainer and cross trainer won for getting my heart bouncing out of my chest!
I did intervals of 1min on 1min off at levels 7/17 then after 10 mins went to 1min rest @ 7 to 30secs blast @ 17. Didn`t use handles on the blast and ran my legs off till near puking!
Great workout! lasted 25mins (inc 2mns warm up & 3mins warm down) my aim is to increase the blast part to 1min from the 30secs for the full 20mins.
Makes you look a t**t though when your going mental and everyone else is trotting along next to you.
I did intervals of 1min on 1min off at levels 7/17 then after 10 mins went to 1min rest @ 7 to 30secs blast @ 17. Didn`t use handles on the blast and ran my legs off till near puking!
Great workout! lasted 25mins (inc 2mns warm up & 3mins warm down) my aim is to increase the blast part to 1min from the 30secs for the full 20mins.
Makes you look a t**t though when your going mental and everyone else is trotting along next to you.
cerberaperv said:
Ok, tried bike and cross trainer and cross trainer won for getting my heart bouncing out of my chest!
I did intervals of 1min on 1min off at levels 7/17 then after 10 mins went to 1min rest @ 7 to 30secs blast @ 17. Didn`t use handles on the blast and ran my legs off till near puking!
Great workout! lasted 25mins (inc 2mns warm up & 3mins warm down) my aim is to increase the blast part to 1min from the 30secs for the full 20mins.
Makes you look a t**t though when your going mental and everyone else is trotting along next to you.
Yep cross trainer does the job ref heart rate, you would get it even higher by using the handles but its working for you which is the main thing.I did intervals of 1min on 1min off at levels 7/17 then after 10 mins went to 1min rest @ 7 to 30secs blast @ 17. Didn`t use handles on the blast and ran my legs off till near puking!
Great workout! lasted 25mins (inc 2mns warm up & 3mins warm down) my aim is to increase the blast part to 1min from the 30secs for the full 20mins.
Makes you look a t**t though when your going mental and everyone else is trotting along next to you.
If you can just rest until your heart rate is down to your 70% then crack on again.
A spin bike or WATT bike would be a good change if the x trainer gets a tad repetitive.
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