Interval training to increase speed and endurance

Interval training is popular among athletes ever since the birth of fitness. They combine a short phase of intensive exercise on speed and long recovery phase, repeated during exercise. An early form of interval training - fartlek ("speed play") – was incorrect; the runner just increases and decreases the tempo at will.

Today, athletes use more structured interval training and high intensity interval training (HIIT) to increase speed and endurance. This variation of interval training and speed increase can be simple or sophisticated routine but the basics remain the same as the original fartlek training.

Interval training based on the alternation of short phases with exercises for speed high intensity with slower recovery phases throughout a single workout. Interval workouts can be highly sophisticated and structured training that is designed for athletes depending on their sport, the competition and current level of training.

Interval training can even be developed on the basis of the results of anaerobic threshold testing (at) that includes measuring the blood lactate of an athlete during intense exercise. But less formal interval training is still useful for ordinary people who are not competitive athletes.

How does it work?

Interval training works both aerobic and anaerobic system. During intense efforts, the anaerobic system uses energy stored in muscles (glycogen) for short bursts of activity. Anaerobic metabolism works without oxygen, but the byproduct is lactic acid. The accumulation of lactic acid from the athlete occurs the oxygen debt, and it is in the recovery phase the heart and lungs work together to "pay back" this oxygen debt and break the lactic acid. It is at this stage of the aerobic system uses oxygen to convert the accumulated carbohydrates into energy.

It is believed that by performing high intensity intervals that produce lactic acid during exercise, the body adapts and burns lactic acid more efficiently during exercise. This means that athletes can train with higher intensity for a longer period of time before tiredness or pain slow them down.

Advantages

Interval training adheres to the principle of adaptation. Interval training leads to many physiological changes including increase in cardiovascular efficiency (the ability to deliver oxygen to working muscles), as well as increased tolerance to lactic acid accumulation. These changes lead to improved efficiency, increased speed and endurance. Additional benefits include:

1. Interval training helps to avoid injuries associated with repetitive stress which is often found in endurance athletes.

2. Increase your training intensity without overtraining and burnout

3. This exercise is a great way to incorporate cross-training into the routine of classes

4. Interval training burns more calories

5. Interval training has proven useful for people with diseases such as COPD and metabolic syndrome

Precautions and safety tips

Keep in mind that interval training is extremely demanding on the heart, lungs and muscles, and it is important that your doctor gave approval before commencement of such training. You also need to have a solid base of General aerobic training before performing any intense workout.

1. Evaluate your current condition and set training objectives that are within your capabilities

2. Mash before

3. Start slowly. For example – walking or running for 2 minutes. Basically, a longer interval workouts give great results

4. Keep a steady, but not too easy pace during a workout

5. Practice on a smooth, flat surface

Build your interval training

Developing the right interval workout can be challenging. Elite athletes can go to a sports lab to conduct the test on the metabolism of lactate in the blood test metabolism to determine the best interval workout. But you can use the regular "fast" interval training (fartlek) time-insensitive.

You can vary your work and recovery intervals based on your needs. Four variables which you can control while developing a program of interval training include:

1. The intensity (speed)

2. The duration (time)

3. The duration of recovery (rest)

4. The number of repetitions

Types of intervals:

1. A longer recovery intervals: a longer recovery interval in combination with a shorter work interval makes full use of the working interval. For example, a 30-second sprint has teamed up with 1 min recovery.

2. Longer working intervals. You can reduce rest time and increase the work interval as you move forward. It burns more calories and increases endurance.

3. Mixed work intervals. You can vary the duration and intensity of intervals in your training, and some of them work with maximum effort, and others with moderately large effort, or can perform the working intervals of different lengths in the same workout.

4. Intervals without regard to time: As in the case of the fartlek, you just pay attention to how you feel, and accordingly set its intensity and duration.

Set the number of repetitions over time to improve, increase intensity or duration, but not both. To make any changes you need to slowly over a period of time. Beginners should start with short intervals (under 30 seconds), fewer repeats and more rest. Elite athletes can increase the intensity, time and frequency of your training. Some athletes benefit from performing interval training more than twice a week.

Aerobic interval training AIT

With aerobic interval training, you alternate between exercises of medium and high intensity with a recovery interval. Your work interval is below 85% of your maximum heart rate. Aim for restoration, which will reduce your heart rate up to 100-110 beats per minute during rest. You can use any cardio activity, like Jogging, walking, Cycling, elliptical trainer, etc. Training may take up to 10 minutes (after warming up for at least five minutes) or up to 60 minutes for athletes with great endurance. Beginners can use a shorter work intervals and longer recovery intervals. The improvement of efficiency intervals between work and recovery can be adjusted so that the working interval was longer (up to 10 minutes), and the recovery intervals - the shorter (e.g., two minutes).

Here is a typical training AIT:

1. Warm up for 5-10 minutes

2. Raise the speed or force with the ratio that the recovery was within 2-3 minutes

3. Increase the speed or complexity for 1-2 minutes, so you have more of heart rate, but do not exceed 85% of your maximum heart rate

4. Recover 2-5 minutes

5. Repeat the work intervals and rest in such an amount as required by your training

You can repeat aerobic exercise two or more times a week.

Anaerobic or high-intensity interval training

Anaerobic interval training interval your work requires all your strength, causing your heart rate reaches 85-100% of your maximum heart rate. You can use any cardio activity, like Jogging or Cycling, which can raise your heart rate to the anaerobic zone. These workouts are usually shorter because they are very intense, often only 20 minutes after a workout. The rest interval is usually twice the working interval, for example, 30 seconds sprint and one minute recovery. The warm up should be longer than less intense intervals, ranging from 10 to 15 minutes.

Due to the intensity between workouts is required 24 to 48 hours of recovery.

An example of a typical anaerobic training:

1. Mash for 5 minutes in light or moderate effort, and then go to the recovery interval for 5 minutes

2. Working interval to 30 seconds: run as fast as I can

3. The rest interval: 1 minute

4. Repeat the change of intervals from three to seven times