A quick chat about interval training

This week I have started doing some HIIT cardio training.

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and I started it this week because I designed an information board for the gym on this subject, and some of the research was very interesting.

According to studies, you can lose 2% body fat in eight weeks, or up to six times more body fat than if you stuck to a steady-state cardio regime, and burn 100 more calories over the following 24 hours.

So I'm doing intervals to test it out! If you fancy joining me, I'm using a stationary bike. I can usually cycle for 30 minutes at level 12 (on our make of bike - 25 is the maximum level). So I chose levels 10 and 14 - you will need to change the levels to suit your circumstances.

Make sure you warm up! And - disclaimer - if you feel sick or dizzy or faint, please slow down, stop and take a drink! You may need to build up to the speeds and intensities I've suggested. If you don't do too much exercise at the moment, only increase the level by 2 for the intense sets.

• Cycle for one minute at level 10 at a pretty easy speed- ie. 65 rpm
• Then 1 minute at level 14, 75-80 rpm
• Then 1 further minute at level 14, trying to hit 95-100 rpm
• Repeat 6 times, taking 21 minutes altogether

I don't have any expectations, I just thought it would be an interesting experiment, and I had nothing else to post today!

I'll let you know how I get on!

The Tabata 'Miracle'

It's a miracle. You can get fit in 4 minutes a day with this brand new way to exercise. It was on BBC Breakfast yesterday. It's in the Daily Mail today! It's brilliant. It's fantastic. Who-hoo!

Except... (because there's always an except) it's not new. It's been around for a long time. High Intensity Interval Training was studied by Professor Izumi Tabata in 1996 and this method grew up around that study, based around ultra-intense exercise for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and repeated 8 times.

Except... ultra-intense means absolute maximal effort for each and every interval. Have you ever worked out so hard your legs have given way beneath you as you left the gym? Have you ever been unable to get off the bike through sheer exhaustion? Have you ever felt like you've wanted to vomit a little bit? That's the kind of effort you need to put in. Still interested?

I'm not completely against this type of training - but it's about balance, and knowing why you're working out the way you are. It's about going to a gym/running outside/doing an exercise video and working your hardest. People who go to a gym and cycle at 60 rpm for an hour are in a rut and never going to achieve their goals - they are barely working out, they can talk happily to their friend on the next machine, wear flawless make-up, not sweat. These are the people who tabata will most appeal to (4 minutes, is that all?), but they are the least likely to be able to carry it out.

If you go back and read my second sentence you'll see it said  you can get fit in 4 minutes a day. Fitness is highly subjective. For me, fitness means being strong, being able to run away from danger, and being able to run around for an hour with my kids without keeling over. It means that I know I want to lift heavy weights, and I need to do at least 30 minutes of cardio.

For you, fitness might mean speed and explosive power - in which case tabata would work well. For the Daily Mail article above, it appears to be about losing weight, as that's really the only comparable statistic that's mentioned.

The most important thing that seems to be missing from all the current band-wagon articles is that it shouldn't be the only method for exercise. Mix up your programme. Tabata twice a week, 20-30 minute endurance cardiao work, circuit training, strength training...

There are plenty of articles on the internet, discussing this topic much better than I can, because I don't have the facts and figures that other people have studied.

Try this: Google 'Tabata' and 'Tabata Myth'

and make your own mind up.

Motivating Amy Part 2

In Part 1, I talked about how to stay motivated, in response to a comment by Amy. If you didn't read that post, have a quick look now... It's okay, I'll wait for you...

2) PROGRESSION
I love going to the gym, but I understand that for lots of people it's not an option, through cost or availability or sheer opposition to working out in a crowded, air-conditioned gym when there are hundreds of other things to do. For some of these people, exercising at home is the perfect solution... and yes, it can be. But only if you do it right.

Progression is something that happens naturally in a gym. When one level on the bike or cross trainer gets easy, you move up. If you're lifting an easy weight, you choose a heavier one next time. But some home exercise equipment doesn't have that option, or they only have a couple of settings. Or people who like to run always take the same 4 mile route and never deviate or speed up. Can you see the problem?

When you start a new exercise programme, especially if you've been previously inactive, your body is shocked into making huge changes: it has to get fitter very quickly, the lungs and heart have to become stronger to keep the air and blood circulating. Your body requires more fuel, so as long as you're not eating more you start to lose weight.

But when your body reaches the perfect state where it can efficiently match your requirement, using less fuel and muscle power because it's figured out the easiest way to do it, you simply ask it to do the same thing again and again.

Your body will respond (get fitter, lose weight) if you keep pushing it. Here are some great ways to progress:

For runners:

• Interval training - find a slope/hill, sprint up it, walk down it x 10 (or 20, depending on length of slope)
• Run your normal route the other way around
• Lengthen your run
• Shorten your run, but run faster

For people with exercise bikes/cross trainers:

• If you listen to music, try speeding up a little when each new song starts until you can't go any faster, then slow back down to your original speed and start again
• If you watch soaps, sprint at the start of a new scene, then slow down at the start of the next, and repeat
• If you always cycle for 20 minutes, do one session a week that's twice as long
• If you're short of time, sprint for 10 minutes

For people who do exercise DVDs:

• Buy a new one!
• Take the moves you've learnt from the DVDs and make up your own circuit - time yourself for 30 seconds each station with 10 seconds recovery time:
• Jog on the spot
• Squat
• Star jumps
• Lunges
• etc...

Hopefully that's given you a few ideas. Don't forget Part 3 in a couple of days' time.
I'll be talking about how to build muscle and why it's important.