Interval training enables you to optimize your workout without any complicated extras. During your aerobic exercise, you can use interval training to maximize the results of your workout. No matter what level of fitness you might currently be at, interval training can help you get better results in less time.

Olumia Life looks at the complete picture of your health and how to help you get the best return on your effort possible. This means taking advantage of any opportunity that’s scientifically proven to improve your health and fitness. Numerous studies have found that aerobic exercise is an essential part of cardiovascular health/staying active and that interval training is able to boost calories burned in any aerobic workout.

What will interval training do exactly?

Why it helps and the numerous benefits of aerobic exercise are well-documented, so let’s focus on how interval training boosts them.

• Increased Calorie Burning: Interval training causes you to burn more calories than standard exercise. More than that, it actually leads to burning more calories for a period of time after your workout as well!
• Fat Loss and Weight Loss: While these two benefits go hand-in-hand with burning more calories, it’s worth noting that interval training burns more fat and leads to greater weight loss than normal aerobic exercise.
• Engagement: Keeping interest in what you’re doing is perhaps the most important part of any exercise. It’s a lot harder to stick to a workout schedule when it’s boring. Because interval training keeps you paying attention to what you’re doing, it improves how long you’re likely to keep doing it.
• Keep Down the Cost of Working Out: You don’t need anything extra to buy to engage in interval training. No new straps, clothes, or equipment.
• Boost Your Aerobic Capacity: If you’ve been sticking to a regular aerobic/cardio exercise schedule, you may notice diminishing returns over time, i.e., a fitness plateau. Whether you’ve hit one or not, interval training is able to advance you further than standard exercise would otherwise be able to.

What is interval training?

Rather than requiring any new equipment or a special class, interval training is a simple way of performing the aerobic exercises you already enjoy.

Let’s say you usually like to run on a treadmill for 20 minutes at a constant speed. As the name implies, interval training means splitting those 20 minutes of running into numerous intervals of varying length and intensity. Don’t worry! You don’t need a spreadsheet to keep track of exactly what you should do. Keeping yourself (and thus your body) guessing actually helps you burn more calories.

There are lots of patterns. You can try jumping from a moderate intensity to a high intensity for a few minutes, for example.

In fact, you can do more than just switch intensities; you can switch exercises. Instead of 20 minutes on the treadmill, you can switch over to an exercise bike for a few minutes, then to an elliptical, then back to the treadmill. A couple laps in the swimming pool? Sure! Aerobic exercise includes a great range of possible activities, and you can flip between any one of them for your interval training.