Interval Training On A Treadmill
Posted: 30 Dec 2012, 21:20
Another article I wrote on interval training
Basics of Interval Training on a Treadmill
Performing interval training on a treadmill involves creating an exercise pattern which includes a short period of high intensity followed by a longer period of more moderate intensity. This is different from a normal workout on a treadmill, where the intensity is either kept consistent throughout the whole workout, or where the intensity is changed at the whim of the runner. Interval training on a treadmill involves changes in speed, but these changes are carefully timed and monitored in order to have specific effects on your body. There are several reasons why this form of exercise will provide an optimally effective workout regimen.
Interval Training on a Treadmill: Metabolic Rate
An important focus of any effective exercise program is the body's metabolism. Metabolism refers to the rate at which your body's processes are carried out—and because of this, the rate at which your body burns calories. In the stereotypical example, a person with a very high metabolic rate can eat as much as he wants and still never worry about his weight, because his body is burning up calories faster than he can put them in. Like any good workout, interval training on a treadmill is meant to change the pattern of your body's processes, and paying attention to the workout's effect on metabolism is one way to gauge the workout's effectiveness and tailor it to your specific needs. Ideally, a good exercise program will result in your body shifting gears for the long-term.
Interval training causes an increase the rate of your metabolic processes. By switching between the higher and lower intensities, you kick your body into a sustainable cycle where burning more calories becomes the norm. This benefit of interval training on a treadmill is also long-lasting: Your metabolism will remain boosted even after the workout is over, resulting in increased calorie loss throughout the course of the day. The common conception is that the most intense workout results in the greatest results, but this is a misunderstanding. In fact, interval training on a treadmill will prove more effective than simply running at full intensity for as long as you can, because the shifts involved in interval training have a more profound effect on the body's metabolism.
Raising Endurance through Interval Training on a Treadmill
In the intense component of interval training on a treadmill, the idea is to push your body's capacities to their limits. This could last for, say, a minute. Then you give your body a reprieve for a longer period of time—about four minutes. By repeating this cycle of hitting the limit and then backing off, you may eventually begin the notice that the limit seems to be moving. By getting your body used to these fluctuations, interval training on a treadmill can eventually enable you to raise your body's threshold for endurance. As you perform interval training on a treadmill over time, your body will learn the most effective ways to use its resources in order to maximize performance and minimize fatigue. Lactic acid is involved in this, for example: Your body will learn how to ration its supply in a way which is conducive to the sort of demands you're making.
The exact kind of cycle you'll want to pursue for interval training on a treadmill will depend on the kind of endurance which is most important to you. For example, if you play football, then it may be more important for you to develop the highest possible speed for a short time rather than develop a moderately high speed for a much longer time. But if you're a soccer player, then your ambitions will be much the reverse. You can calibrate your own interval training on a treadmill with these desires. For example, the football player may want to set a cycle of a short but incredibly intense phase followed by a longer but much less intense phase. On the other hand, the soccer player may want to make the cycle more moderate, with less of a difference between the two phases of the cycle. Interval training on a treadmill can accommodate these different desires, and enable you to develop exactly the kind of endurance which will be most meaningful for your own ambitions.
Interval Training on a Treadmill: Sustainability
The aspects of both metabolic rate and increased endurance both point to a larger ethos of interval training on a treadmill: This ethos is sustainability. The key to this form of workout is to gradually transform your body's definition of "normal." This can't be done overnight; in general things which can be done overnight will only traumatize the body. But by carrying out this sort of program over time, you can bring long-lasting change to your body. And this is the purpose of any real exercise program. There are several things which you can accomplish in a matter of days, but then the results will wear off just as fast. But interval training on a treadmill involves a commitment to gradual change over time, and the results won't fade away.
This is why a cycle of one minute high intensity, four minutes moderate intensity—the sort of cycle you might use for interval training on a treadmill—is far superior to something such as two minutes at high intensity, and then stopping entirely: The first kind has the potential to last for a long time, whereas the second kind just burns out right away. This goes not only for the duration of the exercise, but also for the impact of the exercise on your body. Whereas interval training on a treadmill has enduring effects on your body even after the exercise is stopped, the effects of more conventional forms of running generally wear off shortly after the exercise is finished. By maintaining a level of intensity which the body can support indefinitely, interval training on a treadmill aims to kick the body into a new gear for the long-term, not just for the moment.
Basics of Interval Training on a Treadmill
Performing interval training on a treadmill involves creating an exercise pattern which includes a short period of high intensity followed by a longer period of more moderate intensity. This is different from a normal workout on a treadmill, where the intensity is either kept consistent throughout the whole workout, or where the intensity is changed at the whim of the runner. Interval training on a treadmill involves changes in speed, but these changes are carefully timed and monitored in order to have specific effects on your body. There are several reasons why this form of exercise will provide an optimally effective workout regimen.
Interval Training on a Treadmill: Metabolic Rate
An important focus of any effective exercise program is the body's metabolism. Metabolism refers to the rate at which your body's processes are carried out—and because of this, the rate at which your body burns calories. In the stereotypical example, a person with a very high metabolic rate can eat as much as he wants and still never worry about his weight, because his body is burning up calories faster than he can put them in. Like any good workout, interval training on a treadmill is meant to change the pattern of your body's processes, and paying attention to the workout's effect on metabolism is one way to gauge the workout's effectiveness and tailor it to your specific needs. Ideally, a good exercise program will result in your body shifting gears for the long-term.
Interval training causes an increase the rate of your metabolic processes. By switching between the higher and lower intensities, you kick your body into a sustainable cycle where burning more calories becomes the norm. This benefit of interval training on a treadmill is also long-lasting: Your metabolism will remain boosted even after the workout is over, resulting in increased calorie loss throughout the course of the day. The common conception is that the most intense workout results in the greatest results, but this is a misunderstanding. In fact, interval training on a treadmill will prove more effective than simply running at full intensity for as long as you can, because the shifts involved in interval training have a more profound effect on the body's metabolism.
Raising Endurance through Interval Training on a Treadmill
In the intense component of interval training on a treadmill, the idea is to push your body's capacities to their limits. This could last for, say, a minute. Then you give your body a reprieve for a longer period of time—about four minutes. By repeating this cycle of hitting the limit and then backing off, you may eventually begin the notice that the limit seems to be moving. By getting your body used to these fluctuations, interval training on a treadmill can eventually enable you to raise your body's threshold for endurance. As you perform interval training on a treadmill over time, your body will learn the most effective ways to use its resources in order to maximize performance and minimize fatigue. Lactic acid is involved in this, for example: Your body will learn how to ration its supply in a way which is conducive to the sort of demands you're making.
The exact kind of cycle you'll want to pursue for interval training on a treadmill will depend on the kind of endurance which is most important to you. For example, if you play football, then it may be more important for you to develop the highest possible speed for a short time rather than develop a moderately high speed for a much longer time. But if you're a soccer player, then your ambitions will be much the reverse. You can calibrate your own interval training on a treadmill with these desires. For example, the football player may want to set a cycle of a short but incredibly intense phase followed by a longer but much less intense phase. On the other hand, the soccer player may want to make the cycle more moderate, with less of a difference between the two phases of the cycle. Interval training on a treadmill can accommodate these different desires, and enable you to develop exactly the kind of endurance which will be most meaningful for your own ambitions.
Interval Training on a Treadmill: Sustainability
The aspects of both metabolic rate and increased endurance both point to a larger ethos of interval training on a treadmill: This ethos is sustainability. The key to this form of workout is to gradually transform your body's definition of "normal." This can't be done overnight; in general things which can be done overnight will only traumatize the body. But by carrying out this sort of program over time, you can bring long-lasting change to your body. And this is the purpose of any real exercise program. There are several things which you can accomplish in a matter of days, but then the results will wear off just as fast. But interval training on a treadmill involves a commitment to gradual change over time, and the results won't fade away.
This is why a cycle of one minute high intensity, four minutes moderate intensity—the sort of cycle you might use for interval training on a treadmill—is far superior to something such as two minutes at high intensity, and then stopping entirely: The first kind has the potential to last for a long time, whereas the second kind just burns out right away. This goes not only for the duration of the exercise, but also for the impact of the exercise on your body. Whereas interval training on a treadmill has enduring effects on your body even after the exercise is stopped, the effects of more conventional forms of running generally wear off shortly after the exercise is finished. By maintaining a level of intensity which the body can support indefinitely, interval training on a treadmill aims to kick the body into a new gear for the long-term, not just for the moment.