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How to Get Started with Interval Training as a Complete Beginner
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Interval training is an excellent way to improve your fitness level whether you’re already fit or you’re a beginner who’s just starting to work on improving their health and fitness.
If you’re a beginner you may feel overwhelmed and unsure of how to begin using interval training.
You may feel like interval training is just for people who are already fit or you may worry that you won’t be able to complete an interval workout, but interval training can be an excellent training tool for beginners.
As a beginner, you will need to use interval training differently than someone who is already fit, but in time your stamina and overall health will improve.
The good thing about interval training is that it can be modified for many different fitness levels. If you’re a beginner you’re in the right place to learn how to get started with interval training.
Before beginning any exercise program, you’ll want to see a doctor so that you can be cleared to exercise.
This is especially true if you’re overweight or obese, or you’ve been sedentary for a long period of time.
The reason you want to begin using intervals is to become more healthy and fit, so you will want to make sure you can safely start your exercise program without having more health setbacks or injuries.
Once you have medical clearance you can begin using interval training to improve your health and fitness.
Interval training simply means alternating periods of performing exercise and periods of rest during a workout. You can use one exercise for the complete workout, or you can alternate between different exercises.
As long as you’re switching between exercise and rest you’re doing interval training.
Many people think of HIIT or High-intensity Interval Exercise when they think of interval training, but not all interval training has to be high-intensity.
If you’re a beginner, it’s a good idea to start out slow and build up to high-intensity training.
A good way to get started with interval training is to choose one exercise to try intervals with at first. It doesn’t matter what exercise you choose whether it’s a bodyweight exercise or weighted exercise, just pick something you’re familiar with or something you are interested in at first.
To start off with, you can do the intervals by the way you feel rather than timing them.
If you use running in place as an example, you’d run in place until you need a rest, then you’d take a bit to catch your breath and rest, then you’d begin running in place again.
You would repeat this until your exercise sets became difficult to do or your rest sets have to last for several minutes.
Once you’ve learned how to do intervals, you can do them in a variety of ways.
You can choose one exercise and do multiple intervals with just that one exercise. You can choose two exercises and alternate them. You can choose a different exercise for each interval and have a varied workout.
The great thing about interval training is that it can be what you want it to be and what you need it to be.
As your fitness level improves, your intervals will become higher intensity. You will gradually switch up and do longer, more intense exercise periods and your rest periods will become shorter.
At this point, you may want to try HIIT, or you may want to experiment with timed intervals.
Interval training is an excellent way for beginners to start getting more fit.
At first, your work sets will be shorter and your rest sets will be longer, but that will change as you improve your fitness level.
Take your time, explore different exercises, and have fun with your new workout method.
5 Reasons Why You Should Try Interval Training
Many people think that exercise is all about going to the gym and lifting some heavy weights or running for a solid hour on the treadmill.
However, this is definitely not what getting fit is all about (thankfully!).
One of the most effective types of exercise is interval training, which involves varying the intensity of your exercise between high and low in order to burn the most calories.
Here are some of the reasons you should try interval training.
1) You can do it with any exercise
Interval training is basically all about working harder for a given period of time and then allowing yourself some time to relax and cool down.
Therefore, it’s possible to change any form of exercise into interval training – simply run faster and then slower, lift heavier or more repetitions and then lift lighter with less repetitions.
2) Interval training burns more calories
It’s one of the most effective ways to burn calories, so why wouldn’t you want to try interval training?
If you can burn almost double the calories in the same one-hour gym session, you’ll save yourself plenty of time and frustration.
3) You can do interval training no matter what your fitness levels
No matter whether you’ve only just started exercising or you’ve been into fitness for years, you can still do interval training and make the most of it.
Interval training might seem daunting at first, but it’s as simple as working harder and then giving yourself time to relax.
You can work as hard as your fitness levels will allow.
4) You don’t have to spend as much time in the gym
An hour after work is a lot of time to have to dedicate to exercise, but with interval training you can get the most out of your workout without having to stay in the gym for hours.
Even if you have a quick 20-30 minutes before work in the morning, you can get a quick workout in 3-4 times a week.
5) It encourages you to reach your potential
If you only ever run at one pace, you won’t try to run any faster because you’ll be worried about burning yourself out too quickly.
With interval training, you can run faster and then give yourself time to relax and get your breath back, and the next week you’ll be able to go even faster.