Day 18 The benefits of interval training

Interval training gives you the biggest bang for your fitness minutes!

 Day 18 Interval Training ... I Love It!

Last night we were working out on the track near us with the Walk On Strong  power walking group. We were working on intervals to build strength, speed and overall fitness.  As a fitness professional for many years I have long been convinced that interval training is the best way to get the most from your fitness minutes.  You have to begin slowly with this type of training and start with short intervals of high intensity activity ( for us that is power walking as fast as we can ).  You can begin with a 15 to 30 second intervals of fast walking and then recover for 1 to 2 minutes of steady strong walking.  As you get stronger you will lengthen the high intensity intervals and always recover for a longer period of lower intensity so that your heart rate goes down and you are fully recovered and ready to go again. 
You can get a super workout with a 30 minute interval walking session.  If done properly with sufficient recovery it is a safe way to strengthen your heart and build your breath support.  When we are training people we encourage them to build toward going as fast as they can during the high intensity intervals ... the great thing is that everyone's fitness level is different and so one person's fastest pace is probably not the same as the person next to you ... and that is okay. 
 If we are doing intervals as a group we suggest that at the end of the HI ( high intensity ) interval the faster walkers just walk back to those who are a little further behind as they recover ... keeping the group together.  If we are working on a track then we might just encourage individuals to focus on their own workout and keep going.
The most important thing to remember is that you need to recover and that is the power of interval training.  Many people think that more and harder non-stop training is the way to faster results ... we see this all the time in fitness classes. Giving your body recovery time insures that you have the energy to put all your effort into your next HI interval. 
For more information regarding interval training check out this fabulous article on Understanding interval training. There is an audio there to go with the article and well illustrated poster format ... very cool and informative.  The Greatist website is an amazing resource for all things health related ... highly recommended!

Everyone is busy and we all want to be more healthy and fit and interval training is the answer ... no matter what your fitness level as long as you take it one step at a time! 
If you are walking30 every day all you need to do is to change 2 or 3 of your workouts to interval training workouts and you will notice a difference in your overall health and strength.
I am heading out to do some intervals today!
Walk On Strong!
Sue