Is Interval Training the Key to Fast Weight Loss?

When you’re trying to lose weight, any exercise you do is good for you.  Unfortunately, some may not help you lose the weight fast.  If your exercise routine doesn’t seem to be giving you the results you want, you may want to add in some interval training to the mix.  Interval training is alternating short bursts of intense activity with longer periods of light to moderate activity.  This type of exercising burns much more calories than long periods of steady paced cardio.  You’ll really be amazed at your results when you add in interval training.

There are several benefits to interval training.  The first is obviously fast weight loss.  You’ll burn tons of calories exercising this way.  You’ll also increase your cardiovascular fitness, meaning you’ll be able to workout for longer periods of time or at a higher intensity.  This means that your heart and lungs will be improving.  Another benefit to interval training is that it adds variety to your workout, so you’re less likely to get bored and quit.  Luckily, you don’t have to adopt a new routine with interval training.  You can just add it in to whatever exercise you normally do.

There are different levels of interval training.  The first is probably the easiest level.  If you aren’t in the best shape or you’ve just started exercise, this is the one you should start out with.  With this level, there is no structure to the intervals.  You get to decide how long the bursts of high intensity activity lasts, how often you repeat them, and how long you need to rest in between.  You can change each one depending on how you feel at the time.  For instance if you’re jogging, you could decide to run to the nearest tree and then go back to jogging.  Whenever you feel like you can run again, you can start running until you need to go back to jogging.  Once your fitness increases, you can increase the speed and duration of your intervals.

The second level is more disciplined than the first.  Your intervals will be more structured and will be based on your fitness level and target heart rate.  With this type of interval training you’ll have a set number of intervals to complete.  You’ll also set the length of the interval and your rest period.  To continue the previous example, if you plan to jog for 30 minutes, you may set intervals of running for 1 minute and resting for 2 minutes.  You’ll be able to complete 10 sets like this.  This is just an example though.  As mentioned earlier, your intervals will be based on your personal target heart rate and fitness level.

The last type of interval training is really in a class of its own.  It’s called High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT.  It’s the most intense of the levels.  HIIT is actually a specific training strategy that involves short training sessions of only 15-20 minutes each.  Usually these sessions are alternated on opposite days with long steady paced aerobic workouts.  You should only do 3-4 HIIT sessions per week and never on consecutive days.  As with the second level of interval training, your intervals will be structured.   While you can do HIIT with a variety of exercises, there are a few that work really well with this type of training.  They are jumping rope, spinning, and sprinting.  These are just suggestions.  You can use any exercise you feel comfortable with.

With any type of exercise, especially interval training, you want to start out slowly.  Don’t try too much too soon, or you could end up with a painful injury.  If you’re just starting out, you may want to try just one or two intervals and then work your way up to doing more.  There really are so many benefits of interval training.  If you add it in to your exercise routine, you’ll really start to see fast weight loss.