8 Benefits of Interval Training
What are the benefits of interval training? Why would I switch from doing my traditional cardio routine? Does it really work if I am not working hard for at least an hour? These are a couple of questions that I hear all the time with clients and injured athletes that I work with. Here are the top 8 benefits of an interval training workout routine.
1. Interval training is similar to everyday activities. Most of us are not trying to work at a moderate to high intensity for a long period of time throughout the day. We naturally take breaks and actively rest in between intense activities. Interval training prepares us for the sudden bursts of intense activity or stress that we experience.
2. Interval training improves the body’s ability to utilize oxygen. It won’t matter how efficient your lungs are at getting oxygen to the working muscles if the muscles are not able to pull it out of the blood stream. This is referred to as oxidative capacity. The measure of oxidative capacity is referred to as VO2max (the maximum amount of oxygen that your muscles can extract from the blood and use). Interval training workouts have been shown to significantly increase a person’s ability to utilize oxygen. One study showed a 100% increase.
3. Interval training workouts are fast. You won’t need to spend hours in the gym running at the same speed for 1-2 hours. In fact, You can get the same or better benefits by doing an interval training workout that lasts a total of 4 minutes (Tabata workout) as you would with a 1 hour run at about 65% of your maximum.
4. Improve your fat burning ability. Interval training nearly exhausts your muscles carbohydrate reserves known as glycogen. It would seem sort of backwards that interval training could improve fat burning if it uses carbohydrates as a primary fuel source. However, those glycogen stores have to be replaced somehow. What fuel source is left to take care of that? Fat! Fat! And more fat! During the hours after your workout your body uses fat to replace the glycogen that you depleted.
5. Train for any sport with interval training. If you notice, there are workouts available to train for just about anything from short sprints to marathons. By changing the amount of time you rest versus the amount of time you are working at near maximum effort, you can train different energy systems that dominate your specific sport.
6. Human growth hormone (HGH) production increases with interval training. HGH is necessary for repair of tissue damage as well as building new tissue like muscle. This has even been shown to increase in older populations. HGH will help you recover more quickly and be prepared for your next workout.
7. Interval training improves the efficiency of the heart. There are two ways to improve how much blood is pumped through your body. First is the volume of blood that the heart expels. Second is the rate at which the heart pumps the blood (heart rate). Have you ever wondered why a fit person has a lower heart rate than average Joe? Interval training strengthens the heart. In doing so the heart is able to pump more volume and therefore won’t have to pump as many times. Imagine how much blood can be circulated when your heart rate increases and the volume that the blood pumps increase together. Some studies suggest that interval training type workouts are beneficial for those with heart disease.
8. Interval training reduces the body’s dependence on insulin. Insulin is essential for transporting sugar, in the form of glucose, into a cell for energy. Just ask any one who is diabetic. During high intensity exercise your body produces lactate. The truth is that lactate production is a good thing. Lactate can be transported into a cell much more easily than glucose and without the need of insulin. Lactate can then be converted easily into pyruvate which is a major chemical used to produce fast energy. This is good news for diabetics and non-diabetics.
There you have it: 8 benefits of interval training workouts. I’m sure we could find many more reasons to do interval training workouts rather than traditional cardio.
