Steady Or Intervals For Cardiovascular Training?

They say slow and steady wins the race but when it comes to cardio training you want to be fast and fierce. The key to burning large amounts of fat while performing cardiovascular training is to alternate between high, low, medium and extreme intensity levels otherwise known as interval training. By following this methodology you create the scenario where your body continues to burn calories well after your session is over which assists in the creation of a leaner and healthier you. Interval training also gives you the advantage of mimicking stop and go sports such as soccer, football, and hockey. Many sports require various intensity levels such as jogging, running, sprinting, and everything in between all within a matter of minutes if not seconds. Interval training can be adapted to almost any activity such as running, cycling, swimming or elliptical trainers.

The key to interval training is to switch the intensity level on a per minute basis. For example let’s use the treadmill as a basis of this discussion. When you first start out on the treadmill let’s say minute 1 you walk at a speed of 3. The key here is to increase the speed every minute until you get to speed of 7 or 8 for example. If you start / warm-up at speed level 3 then surely speed level 7 or 8 should be challenging. Remember you only spend 1 minute at each speed so as every minute goes buy you dial the speed up or down on a consistent basis until you complete your session. A typical session for most of you will be 20 to 30 minutes and I would not recommend longer than 30 minutes unless you have been training for a while and are confident you have the stamina and endurance to complete an extended duration.

For convenience sake here is a minute by minute chart that outlines the speed:

Note: cardiovascular training sessions should be a minimum of 20 minutes