So anybody who cycles or runs or does any kind of sport that requires rapid acceleration on your part will have encountered drills/exercises called intervals. Nobody likes doing them, but inevitably if you do them properly, regularly and for a decent enough period of time.... you WILL get faster. Not to mention the fact that it's kinda like an internal WIN when you don't feel bagged after doing the same distance, or going faster for the same distance, or going longer at the same pace.
1. Benefits
2. Things to watch out for
3. How to do them (Cycling and Running)
Benefits:
So what benefits does interval training afford you other than being able to go faster? Well you actually burn more fat overall, so if you're looking to bring down your overall fat composition it's good for that. Your metabolic rate is also increased from high intensity workouts which means you burn more fat after you're done all of your running. You usually feel like the king of the world (Before the king of pain rightfully reclaims his throne) because of all of the endorphins running around your body.
Medically speaking aside from all the other benefits that are specific to your sport, interval training has been shown to lower your cholesterol which is a good thing. You increase your stroke volume (the amount your heart pumps in a single beat) which means your heart pumps less which is also a good thing. You're usually for the most part healthier, not just from interval training but high intensity will build up your immune system which is why you see elites getting sick far less often.
But lets get into the more sports specific benefits. Climbing hills whether you're on a bike or on your own two feet will suddenly become a lot easier. There's nothing more shattering when somebody just breezes past you on a climb looking like they're running effortlessly. Vice versa it's a huge confidence boost to be able to do this. You're able to deliver more oxygen to your muscles which means you can run faster, farther and longer. You build up endurance in any sport that you do be it cycling, swimming running, xc skiing etc. Oh did I mention you get faster?
Things to watch out for:
Listen to your body, if it's telling you that you're pushing too hard or anything like that, back off a bit and give it a rest. Interval training really does stress your body quite a bit, so don't get overboard and do too much of it.
Make sure you're giving yourself enough time to rest in between them. You can usually feel if you're ready to go and do another interval based on how you feel. A better way is looking at your heart rate and waiting for it to get back down to some pre-determined level where you feel good again.
Start off slow if it's your first time doing them. Make sure you have a good warm up so you don't do anything crappy with cold muscles and make sure you have a good cool down
Only add length or increase intensity, don't do both at the same time, really good way to kill yourself.
Make sure that they're challenging. So if you're still feeling fresh as a daisy, push harder, if you're gasping for breath half way through, you're going too hard.
How to do them:
For running, it's pretty easy. You just look at what kind of distances you're running. For example a runner who does a 5k may do an interval of 800m, thats on the high side. But slowly build them up. So what kind of speed is it? Well it's one that's slightly quicker than your lactate threshold pace. So you can feel it building and you can't keep this pace up for a very long time without having to slow down and take a bit of a rest. If you don't know what pace that is, it's one that leaves you out of breath, not quite an all out attempt, but close to there.
For example today I have 5x1000m.
I'll probably do a 1-2 mile easy running warmup (around 6 - 7 mph)
I'll then run 1 interval (probably somewhere around 8-9 mph)
I'll have a rest of close to 3 min (or however long it takes to not feel dead)
And I'll repeat till I've done my five intervals
Nice slow cool down
For cycling, I have to admit that I probably never did enough of this, and was thus never particularly quick. There's a lot of different ones, but it essentially targets the same idea of building cardio capacity.
Micro Intervals
After the usual good warmup, you'll alternate between 15 seconds of maximal effort and 15 seconds of soft pedalling, you repeat for 15 minutes or till exhaustion. This helps to build anabolic responses, and improve the strength and muscular co-ordination used for fast powerful pedalling.
3 minute Intervals
Warm up, and then you run five sets of three minute intervals. Three minutes flat out at VO2 max and three minutes of recovery. Try to regain control of the ragged breathing.....repeat. These are your classic type of exercises to kick your body into shape. You'll increase cardiac performance, stroke volume, flat out speed, VO2 max, anaerobic and aerobic capacity and economy.
30/30 Intervals
After warming up, alternate between 30 seconds flat out and 30 seconds 50% of flat out. Repeat till exhaustion. It improves your VO2 max, your aerobic capacity or lactate threshold, and your cycling economy mid-season. These are probably good for those new to intervals because it's a way of getting into it, but not making it too difficult.
And with that, it's time to go do my intervals, have a good one guys.
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