Intervals: The TRUE Fat Burning Cardio
It’s time to make cardio work FOR you – not against You.
If you are a "cardio queen" (or king)….love cardio machines and spend endless amounts of time with the hopes of losing body more fat, going up to 60 minutes or longer ….you are in for a shocking surprise - what you have been doing is completely ineffective. Not only does it prevent you from losing body fat, it is a huge waste of your time! When it comes to cardio, the solution for fat loss lies in shorter, more-intense sessions. You will burn more overall calories and preserve muscle, which will make you look tight and lean. In addition, the shorter, more intense sessions will have a more profound effect on the calories you continue to burn 24 hours after completing your interval session. What are Intervals? They are simply brief, high intensity periods of exercise (where you work out as intensely as you can) “high”, alternated with active recovery periods, where you slow down just long enough to catch your breath, “low”.
See below for a complete description on how to perform intervals.
Short Burst Interval Exercises
Intervals can be performed on days between your Bootcamp workouts. The following are
examples of exercises you can choose to perform for intervals.
Walk/Run treadmill
Stationary bike
Eliptical
Sprints
Jump Rope
Burpees
Jumping Jacks
Body Weight Squats
Squat Press (Please see me for demonstration/instruction.)
How to “Do” Intervals:
EX: Walking on the Treadmill
Start with a 2 to 5 minute warm-up. After your warm up, you will do your first interval, 30
seconds of brisk walking at an intensity you consider to be a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. At the
end of 30 seconds, you should be winded and ready to slow down. As you slow back down,
this will be your active recovery period – a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10 - and you will stay here for
the next 2 minutes. This pattern will continue for as long as it takes to complete 4 to 8
complete interval cycles. Number of intervals depends on your fitness level. Always finish
with a 3 to 5 minute cool down.
If you are new to this style of cardio, you will find that a mere 8 minutes feels quite long and
intense. You are actually working harder for longer, but in a shorter overall period of time.
That’s when you know you’ll never have to go back to long, tedious, time-wasting cardio
again.
EX: Body Weight Intervals - Squats
Beginner:
20-30 seconds of “work” – performing the squats
60 to 90 sec of “rest”
Repeat 4 to 6 times
Advanced:
20-30 sec of “work” – performing the squats
10-20 sec of “rest”
Repeat 6 to 8 times
Interval Progressions.
To reap maximum benefits from your interval workouts, it is necessary to exercise within a
recommended intensity range. One of the easiest ways to monitor your exercise intensity is
the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE). Perceived exertion is assessed using a 0-to-10 chart to
rate the feelings caused by your “exertion” or simply how hard you are working.
During your intervals, you want your recovery period - “low” to be around a 4-6 and your
intensity blasts - “high” to be around 7-9.
Rate of Perceived Exertion
1 I'm laying on the couch, watching TV
2 Walking Comfortably, could maintain all day long
3 I'm still comfortable, but am breathing a bit harder
4 I'm sweating, but feel good and can carry on a conversation effortlessly
5 I'm just above comfortable, sweating more but can still talk
6 I can talk, but am slightly breathless
7 I can talk, but I don't really want to, sweating like a pig
8 I can grunt instead of talk and can only keep this pace for a short time period
9 I am probably going to die
10 I am dying!
If your intervals seem too difficult or too easy, adjust the levels accordingly. Make changes to
your Interval workout by adjusting one variable at a time.
□ Intensity (speed) of interval
□ Duration (distance or time) of interval
□ Duration of recovery period
□ Number of repetitions of each interval (4-8)
Interval Intensity:
Interval Workout A
• Warm-up for 5 minutes getting progressively more intense with time.
• Perform an interval by exercising for 30 seconds at a very hard pace (at a subjective 9/10 level of effort).
• Follow that with “active rest” for 90 seconds by exercising at a slow pace (at a subjective 3/10 level of effort).
• Repeat for a total of 6 intervals.
• Finish with 5 minutes of very low intensity (3/10) exercise for a cool-down.
Minute by Minute | Type | Intensity Level | ||
1 | Warm up | 3 out of 10 | ||
2 | Warm up | 4 out of 10 | ||
3 | Warm up | 4 out of 10 | ||
4 | Warm up | 5 out of 10 | ||
5 | Warm up | 5 out of 10 | ||
6 (30 seconds) | Hard | 9 out of 10 | ||
7 (90 seconds) | Easy | 3 out of 10 | ||
8 (30 seconds) | Hard | 9 out of 10 | ||
9 (90 seconds) | Easy | 3 out of 10 | ||
10 (30 seconds) | Hard | 9 out of 10 | ||
11 (90 seconds) | Easy | 3 out of 10 | ||
12 (30 seconds) | Hard | 9 out of 10 | ||
13 (90 seconds) | Easy | 3 out of 10 | ||
14 (30 seconds) | Hard | 9 out of 10 | ||
15 (90 seconds) | Easy | 3 out of 10 | ||
16 (30 seconds) | Hard | 9 out of 10 | ||
17 | Cool Down | 3 out of 10 | ||
18 | Cool Down | 3 out of 10 | ||
19 | Cool Down | 3 out of 10 | ||
20 | Cool Down | 3 out of 10 | ||
20 minutes total | ||||
Interval Workout B
• Warm-up for 5 minutes.
• Perform an interval by exercising for 60 seconds at a very hard pace (at a subjective 8/10 level of effort).
• Follow that with “active rest” for 60 seconds by exercising at a slow pace (at a subjective 3/10 level of effort).
• Repeat for a total of 6 intervals.
• Finish with 5 minutes of very low intensity (3/10) exercise for a cool-down.
Minute by Minute | Type | Intensity Level | ||
| 1 | Warm up | 3 out of 10 | ||
2 | Warm up | 4 out of 10 | ||
3 | Warm up | 4 out of 10 | ||
4 | Warm up | 5 out of 10 | ||
5 | Warm up | 5 out of 10 | ||
6 | Hard | 8 out of 10 | ||
7 | Easy | 3 out of 10 | ||
8 | Hard | 8 out of 10 | ||
9 | Easy | 3 out of 10 | ||
10 | Hard | 8 out of 10 | ||
11 | Easy | 3 out of 10 | ||
12 | Hard | 8 out of 10 | ||
13 | Easy | 3 out of 10 | ||
14 | Hard | 8 out of 10 | ||
15 | Easy | 3 out of 10 | ||
16 | Hard | 8 out of 10 | ||
17 | Cool Down | 3 out of 10 | ||
18 | Cool Down | 3 out of 10 | ||
19 | Cool Down | 3 out of 10 | ||
20 | Cool Down | 3 out of 10 | ||
20 minutes total | ||||
