Interval Running Workouts Guide
Cardiovascular activity is a necessary part of staying in shape, and running is an excellent way to get in that kind of exercise. It needs only a small amount of items and can be done almost anywhere.
The drawback? Enduring long-distance running typically takes up a lot of time and is not usually composed of high-energy sprints.
Interval running presents the perfect solution for people who don’t have a lot of free time but are still interested in making big strides in their fitness.
Those who prefer to have more vigorous activities in their exercise plan instead of the usual steady and casual jogging find interval running attractive.
This article examines interval running as a cardiovascular exercise technique and provides the information necessary to construct a personalized interval training plan tailored to your fitness and lifestyle objectives.
Structuring your running workouts with intervals allows you to work out with more intensity and greater increases in your aerobic fitness in a shorter amount of time.
It doesn’t matter how old you are or what you’re hoping to achieve concerning your health, the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) suggest that young adults from 18-65 years of age engage in moderate-intensity aerobic activity for 30 minutes, 5 days out of the week.
You can complete vigorous aerobic exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes three days a week to meet these guidelines.
Interval running is an effective way to boost aerobic capacity while keeping the total workout time short. Adhering to the requirements from the American College of Sports Medicine, individuals should strive to accomplish a minimum of 20 minutes of strenuous aerobic activity three days a week.
Do a few minutes of easy running to get prepared before interval running. After doing the initial warm-up, most of the exercise routine tends to consist of short bursts of intense running, devolved by slower jogging, walking, or taking a break.
The interval running exercise demands a higher intensity than what can be maintained for 30 minutes, giving a break with a lighter intensity pace during the recovery stage.
The gap between high and low-intensity periods is between 10 and 60 seconds. In coaches’ terms, these are known as “duty cycles.”
The amount of time devoted to each cycle, along with the ratio of high-intensity to low-intensity time during the cycle, will be determined depending on individual fitness goals, current conditioning level, and available workout time.
The proportion of hard running to easier running is known as the work-rest ratio, and it is a fundamental factor in organizing interval running workouts. In total, interval training regimens provide much more opportunity to run intensely when compared to conventional training regimes.
The more demanding effort results in more considerable developments in your highest possible aerobic capability, and works more muscle fibres than longer, slower runs.
Interval running is when you switch between running with a lot of energy and running at a slow pace, walking or taking a break. These cycles make the exercise more intense, but they also reduce the amount of time it takes to do the overall workout.
The cornerstone of creating a successful interval running program is scheduling specific time frames, amount of breaks, and how often it is done in a week.
Constructing an appropriate program relies upon your individual training objectives and starting fitness standards.
Aerobic versus anaerobic training
Varying the rate of your running through intervals is an ideal way to concentrate on different energy outputs in your body that meet your objectives.
The two primary power systems used in the interval-level running are aerobic and anaerobic. The amount of energy that each system provides is always there, yet the exact amount of energy that each contributes varies depending on the interval chosen.
Enhanced stamina and improved efficacy of the heart’s circulation system are examples of aerobic enhancements. Enhancements that don’t require oxygen include raising the maximum velocity, expanding muscle size, and enhancing maximum power.
Throughout a four-week program, concentrate on either boosting your aerobic or anaerobic conditioning.
Begin by allocating some of your training time focusing on enhancing your aerobic abilities to form a reliable foundation and get your muscles and joints set for the strenuousness of anaerobic training.
General workout structure and tracking improvement
Before starting any interval training, it is important to jog for a minimum of 5-10 minutes to warm up the body.
For those just beginning, it is recommended to do two exercise sessions a week at a low intensity, with an increasing number of repetitions over time as physical capability increases to guard against the possibility of suffering an injury due to overexertion.
Wait until you have increased your fitness with lower-level aerobic intervals before attempting more difficult high-intensity exercises.
You can measure how much you are improving by keeping track of the amount of ground you cover when doing intense intervals, without the need to use a heart rate monitor or do the math.
An approximate calculation from running laps could demonstrate definite enhancements.
To gain an exact assessment of your performance, you need to use a heart rate monitor or calculate your pulse completely and compare the results to how far you have gone and how intense the effort has felt.
It can be difficult to keep up with the challenging training regimen when you don’t have a coach or someone to work out with.
Checking your resting heart rate first thing in the morning is the simplest way to monitor the improvement in cardio fitness for people who want to gain aerobic advantages but aren’t competitive athletes.
A decreased resting heart rate is an indication that your cardio system is improving in efficiency.
To keep from overworking yourself, do two 20-minute sessions of light jogging in the week after you finish each stage of the program before starting the next one.
This introductory program will set you off on the right foot with your aerobic interval exercise. Do a five-minute light jog for your warmup and then increase to near your peak effort for 30 seconds.
After the intense interval, take some time to move quickly but not too strenuously for another 30 seconds and do the same process three times. Perform twice per week for 4 weeks.
Add a duty cycle each week. For the 4th week, you should do 2 exercise sessions in which you will have to do a total of six intervals. At week 4, the overall length of your workout with the warmup included should be close to 11 minutes.
Beginner interval running workout:
- Complete 5 minutes of a light jogging warmup
- Run 30 seconds at 75% intensity followed by 30 seconds at 25% intensity
- Repeat for 3 cycles on week 1
- Perform the workout twice per week, adding a cycle every week for 4 weeks
After you complete the 4-week starter program, you should be able to add an exercise session. The mid-level program involves having three meetings per week and increasing the repetitions every week.
To start off this program, you will do 3 repetitions, pausing for a single minute, and then completing the group twice more. Do each exercise 3 times a week for 4 weeks. Each week add a cycle to each cluster.
In the fourth week, you will engage in three sets of six intervals. This adds up to 18 sections in the workout and about 25 minutes of activity.
Intermediate interval running program:
- Complete 5 minutes of a light jogging warmup
- Run for 30 seconds at 75% intensity followed by 30 seconds at 25% intensity
- Repeat for 3 cycles followed by a 1-minute rest — this is 1 cluster
- Perform 2 additional clusters per workout in week 1. Over the week, there will be a total of 9 cycles broken into 3 clusters.
- Perform the workout 3 times per week, adding an interval cycle to each cluster per week.
Interval running workout
A typical interval workout is made up of four distinct parts: the warm-up, the periods of intense activity, the periods of rest, and the cool-down. It is possible to have different lengths and intensities of exercise periods as well as rest periods during a single interval workout.
The warm-up
The goal of the warm-up is to get your body ready for more rigorous running. The warm-up will bring more blood to the muscles which will be in use. The pre-workout usually consists of 10-20 minutes of very light jogging.
The slower, the better! It is a frequent blunder to hasten excessively during the warm-up which can leave you drained before beginning work.
Start at a shuffle if needed. At the finish, do 2-4 quick strides lasting 15-20 seconds to prepare the neurological and muscular system for faster running.
Work intervals
The portions of an interval run wherein you move at a faster pace are known as the work intervals. They may be defined by time or distance. For instance, when a workout tells you to “do 5 sets of 3 minutes”, that means you should do 3 minutes of exercise five times.
Ordinarily, the beginning period could appear to be “steeper” or “slower”, as your metabolic rate adjusts to a greater input of glycolytic energy production and the fast-twitch muscle fibres are put to use.
Begin with a gentle start on the first repetition, and understand that once these strategies have taken effect, you will start to feel better as you move through the other reps. Put your attention all the way through the exercise session (unless told differently).
If you are feeling energized, the last stretch may be a bit faster (but you should not push yourself to exhaustion unless instructed to do so).
Remember: faster is not better! Every interval workout has a specific purpose. Racing your intervals can counteract the desired physiological adaptations.
For interval workouts, it is generally recommended that you stop one or two repetitions before your maximum capacity; if the situation requires it, you can do one additional rep.
This technique guarantees you will not exhaust all your energy on one exercise. Exercising is not about a single session; it involves assembling multiple types of activities and allowing for sufficient recuperation afterwards.
Recovery intervals
These are the rests in between intervals. The point of taking rest periods is to give your body a breather so that you can maintain the same level of effort for the entire exercise session.
During the recovery intervals, your body clears fatigue-causing metabolites. The metabolites that were measured were indicated by the presence of lactate, but lactate itself is actually a form of energy.
From our current understanding, fatigue is caused by hydrogen ions, inorganic phosphate, and reactive oxygen species. The gap in between also causes the heart rate and oxygen usage rate to decrease.
You could stay upright, stroll, or jog at a leisurely pace; the activity may specify accurately which one. This blog post explores if it is better to stand or jog during breaks in between intervals.
The type of muscle fibre you have could affect the way you cope with recovery. People made to run long distances can typically recuperate by running as it is easy for them to engage their slow twitch fibres, while those made to go fast will need to go for walks if they want to give their fast twitch muscles a rest.
The greatest blunder committed by runners is that they rush these too much as they desperately seek to achieve an impressive time on Strava or simply due to lack of knowledge. Shuffle these slowly if you can; the more slowly, the better.
The cooldown
Once you have completed your interval training, have a period of relaxed running to bring your body back to a normal state. The objective of the cooldown is to gently move from exertion to rest.
If you discontinue your activity right away after a vigorous exercise session, you may be a bit ill at ease, but you won’t harm yourself. Nevertheless, it is generally preferable for runners to take a period to slowly decrease their heart rate, rather than suddenly stopping.
Go as slow as you need! Take a break following a tough interval run and keep it light with an easy effort – this could mean slowing down your speed. If your legs are too tired to perform with proper technique, end the workout after 5-10 minutes.
Types of interval workouts
The main objective of interval training for long-distance runners is to increase their aerobic capacity rather than to boost their anaerobic power.
Hill repeats
This type of exercise routine includes sprinting at high intensity on an incline. Training runs up hills can either be on gently sloping inclines or steeper areas, depending on what physical responses you want to evoke, and whether it is logistically feasible.
You can vary the intensity of the runs, with a lessening of duration as the intensity increases. The recoveries involve a gradual and relaxed decrease in pace, returning to the original starting point of the intervals.
VO2Max intervals
The capability for high oxygen consumption, known as VO2max, is typically in proportion to that of a 10 to 15-minute event for runners; in particular, elite athletes would apply such energy during a 5K whereas a lower experienced runner would use it in a 3K effort. This intensity still has an as significant aerobic contribution. The speed of the 800-meter race may reach a maximum of 65% aerobic.
It might seem difficult, but don’t exhaust yourself at the end of every cycle. When discussing interval running, it is typically associated with VO2 max. VO2 max is not the only element that has an effect on a runner’s ability to perform in long-distance races.
Intervals can be beneficial while training, but it’s important to make sure they are done at a suitable speed. These pauses or breaks typically last for an amount of time that is half or double the amount of time the work period lasts.
Critical speed intervals
Sometimes, these can be called threshold intervals. Exercise science and training theory may seem confusing, but essentially critical speed is recognized as the exertion level for a race lasting 20 to 60 minutes, in which anaerobic energy sources become increasingly relied upon. This type of training can be seen as “hard” in certain models, while others consider it to be of “moderate” intensity. During the intervals, it is likely to feel moderately challenging.
Imagine critical speed as the same as a “30-40 minute race effort” that would be described by coaches such as Tom Schwartz and David and Megan Roche. These are challenging, but you are not ending up exhausted.
Threshold intervals
Threshold intervals are typically paced at the hour-race effort. In certain structures, these intervals are situated on the same scale as essential speed. This concept, called “lactate threshold” in running literature, is referred to here as “threshold”. However, if you find other meanings of “threshold” in exercise physiology, don’t be confused.
