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Pick up any magazine in the grocery store check-out line, and you’ll be reminded of just how much activity we should be fitting into our already hectic lives. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and two or more days of muscle-strengthening activities each week. This averages out to almost an hour of aerobics three days a week, plus additional days of strength training – and this is just the minimum!
If this seems a little overwhelming to your already packed schedule, there is hope. According to the March 2010 issue of Parents magazine, The International Journal of Obesity reports that women who did three 20-minute sessions of interval training a week lost three times more weight over a four month period than those who worked out at a steady rate for twice as long.
Interval training combines short, intense bursts of exercise with longer, lower intensity recovery periods. Along with the physical benefits, it helps add some variety to your standard workout when it starts to get stale.
Interested in adding a little interval training spice to your workout? Ingrid Marcum, championship bodybuilder and member of the US bobsled team says, “The easiest way that I tell people to do it is to start off at a good pace for 5 minutes. Then take up the intensity on the machine and go as hard and as fast as you possibly can for a minute and then bring it back down for a minute or two — however long it takes for you to recover enough to do it again. Another easy way to introduce yourself to this kind of cardio without killing yourself right off the bat is simply to keep changing your speed and intensity level every two minutes or so — go up and down — challenge yourself.”
Maybe hitting the gym three times a week isn’t for you. Here are a few examples of moderate and vigorous exercises, as categorized by the CDC:
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Next time you go out for your morning walk, add several intervals of jogging to help boost your heart rate and challenge your body. If you already jog or ride a bike, add a few hills or sprints to your route for a harder workout. If your weekends include mowing the lawn, pause periodically for a little one-on-one basketball with your kids.
Whatever you choose to do, the key isn’t working out longer, it’s working out smarter. It’s taking the time you carve out for physical activity and making it both more efficient and more effective.
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You should also check out the “Couch to 5K” plan if you are interested in interval training. It only takes 9 weeks to complete with a 3 day a week set up. Interval training is the ONLY thing I have found that works for me in the fitness department!
I have done interval training and it does work the best!
I was using the “couch to fridge” plan but it was not very helpful. The “couch to 5k” plan sounds great. I am going to start it next week….maybe;)
Speaking of “Couch to 5K”, there’s a great FREE podcast on iTunes by Robert Ullrey that helps you follow the “Couch to 5K” program. You can download the podcast for each week of the program and listen to it on your iPod while you run. It’s set to music, and he starts with the warm up, and then tells you when to walk and when to start running. I loved it because I didn’t have to keep looking at my watch, and the music was a good tempo. It made the whole thing pretty simple.
Check it out, and see what you think!