Suggestions for Interval training?

Question

I've been doing regular cardio for a while...walking, jogging, running and so on trying to burn off some fat, but now I'm down to my last bit of belly fat and thought about trying interval training. I've read its alot more effective at burning fat, as well as other benfits over regular cardio. So I decided to try it out recently, and I feel kinda wierd cutting myself down from 45-60 mins of cardio to 20-25 mins of interval training and only 3 times a week. On the days I'm not doing interval training, which is the rest days, I do light cardio such as walking. Now the thing is, I don't know if I'm doing it correctly or not, but I guess its just that I feel wierd doing so much less than regular cardio. So I guess my question is, am I doing it correctly? This is my interval training:

Sprint for 45secs, walk for 90secs, repeat this for 25+mins with a cooldown (usually walking) for 10mins.

I'm not in the best of shape but I can sprint and when I do, I sprint as hard as I can, and of course during the workout it becomes harder and harder to to do so. So anyway, have I been doing interval training correctly? Should I sprint more, rest less, or anything? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Yes, you're doing it correctly.  You probably feel that you should switch back because you don't think you could be doing better by doing cardio for such a short period of time, but there is no way you could keep up maximum intensity for 45 minutes.  

That's the way interval training works, it is done for a shorter duration of time only 3 times a week, non-consecutively, and yet, it is much, much more effective than any other cardio sustained for over 45 minutes.  Also, you're probably not going to like this, but it is usually suggested that you do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) for even shorter durations than 25 minutes.  It is usually only done for 12-15 minutes.

This would be a good HIIT workout:

Minutes 1-4 (Warm-Up)

Jog at about 50% effort

Minute 5 (Workout Interval 1)

Sprint 30 seconds at maximum effort Jog/Walk 30 seconds

Minute 6 (Workout Interval 2)

Sprint 30 seconds at maximum effort

Jog/Walk 30 seconds

Minute 7 (Workout Interval 3)

Sprint 30 seconds at maximum effort

Jog/Walk 30 seconds

Minute 8 (Workout Interval 4)

Sprint 30 seconds at maximum effort

Jog/Walk 30 seconds

Minutes 9-12 (Cool-Down)

Jog at about 50% effort

Best of luck!

Answer 2

yes you are doing everything right.. once you get in really good shape and that is no longer hard trying adding resistance to it. our hockey team tied a tire to a rope and old back pack ( as a harness) and you really see the difference

Answer 3

You're on the right track but I agree with the first poster that you need to cut back your time on your sprints.  You should sprint for no more than 200m (150m is probably better) and that should be ~30s.  Then jog back to where you started and repeat this 10-12 times.  That's all you need.  Mix it up with jogging every once in a while so your body doesn't get used to it.  Then obviously you need to do resistance training (i.e. lift weights) on the other days.

Different people hold fat in different places and that last little bit of fat is usually the hardest to lose. Here are some things I have found useful

- Do sprint repeats. It's warm enough to do these outside so that's good. Jog to warm up (~1/2 mile). Then do 8 sets of repeat sprints (start with ~100m and gradually move up to ~200m as you get in better shape). Basically you sprint all out, then slow jog (really slow) back. Repeat 8 times. The first one you want to go only ~3/4 speed since your body will still be warming up. Make sure you stretch afterwards as your hamstrings will be sore the next day (especially after the first time).

- Resistance training: go for more reps (less weight), try drop sets, try circuit training. All of these are useful for getting more lean and ripped (and as a result will burn fat off your abs). Remember the more muscle you build, the more fat you'll burn (muscle burns fat).

- Ab ball: do a lot of exercises using one of those ab balls...they work your core in every exercise. You can also do actual ab target exercises (twists, crunches, etc.). Get a trainer at a gym to show you some (usually you can get one complimentary session). Or you can get the CoreSecrets (ball/video) for ~$10-$20 online (just google it)

- Oblique exercises (twisting). Do a lot of these using the ab ball: sit on the ball hold a 10 lb weight and walk your feet forward. 'Lay down' and with the weigh above you twist to one side-up-pause-twist to the other side. Ensure you're using your obliques to do the work.

- Lower abs. Do leg lifts (hold weights in your feet, or lay on ball and do them). Leg raises (where you hang in the air and rotate your knees to your chest). Get with a trainer at a gym to show you some new funky ab exercises

- Improve your nutrition to mostly eat low fat protein (chicken, fish, lean turkey, etc.) and veggies (i.e. broccoli). Mix a little fruit in there for some sweetness. You can also buy whey protein and make whey protein smoothies (2 scoops protein, ice, skim milk - blend - little peanut butter, ripe banana, more ice - blend again: tastes great). Cut out any junk food (especially soda, anything loaded with high fructose corn syrup, all sweets, etc.). You wanna eat 5-6 small 'meals' per day as this will keep you from being hungry all the time and 'pigging' out and will keep your metabolism up.

- Start taking some active energy multivitamins.

Work hard, have fun...you should see start to see those abs and arns in a month or so. I've been doing something similar to lean out for every summer for the past few years and it works.