An Idiot’s Guide to Interval Training

As summer is around the corner and people have beach holidays to get into shape for, now is the time to get started if you haven't already. The best way to burn fat and tone up is to make the heart work hard... This is where intervals are shown to be the best way to get your ticker working hard! Plain running is boring unless you're out and about so limiting the amount of gym running intervals is your best option. As with any treadmill running, having a slight incline of around 2% -3% can help to prevent any damage to your knees and ankle joints. I am going to lay out 2 workouts for you one treadmill- 15 minutes and 30 minutes as well as a 30 minute treadmill and body weight circuit to really burn some fat. Steady cardio for 45 minutes to an hour will burn calories but for a real fat burning session, intervals are the way to go.  

Round 1 for Interval Training

15 minute blast: Squats, lunges, press ups, star jumps to warm up. Do 10 of each exercise. Treadmill intervals:

• 3% incline 10 mph for 1 minute
• 5% incline 10 mph for 1 minute
• 1 minute rest between
• 7% incline 10 mph for 1 minute
• 3% incline 10 mph for 1 minute
• 3% incline 14 mph for 20 seconds
• 20 seconds rest and repeat increasing both the incline and the speed by 2. Do this for 5 minutes in total.

Treadmill dry runs - Leave the treadmill on a 5% incline and turn it off, hold onto the heart rate monitors, run as fast as you can for 30 seconds and then rest 30 seconds. Repeat this for 5 rounds of each. 15 minute blast: When doing the 30 minute one complete each round twice with a rest period in between Treadmill and bodyweight circuit: Squats, lunges, press ups, star jumps to warm up do 10 of each exercises  

Round 2

• 5% incline 10mph for 1 minute 3%incline 14mph for 1 minute 1 minute rest 5% incline 10mph for 1 minute 3% incline 12mph for 1 minute

• Squat jumps Star jumps Jumping lunges Mountain climbers Burpees

1 minute on each then 1 minute rest

Dry runs

5% incline on the treadmill then 20 seconds on 10 seconds rest. Do 10 rounds as fast as possible.

• Lying leg raises Knee tucks Crunches Plank step out

1 minute on each ab exercise  

Final round

3% incline 15mph 30 seconds sprint with 30 seconds rest Each round increase each by 1 until you reach your top speed. Do 8 rounds on the treadmill Always use a treadmill on an incline to lessen the impact it has on your knees and increasing the incline will increase the workload on your body without increasing the speed Treadmill dry runs are a new piece of training I have picked up from a colleague at work and something I love. They burn like mad and the power is coming from you so everyone goes as fast as they can.   Remember to ask the experts at GoNutrition for any advice when it comes to training and Nutrition.