Interval Training for Beginners. Hutton Health

Interval Training for Beginners

19th May 2023

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  1. What is interval training?
  2. Why should you include interval training in your exercise programme?
  3. How do you include interval training in your exercise programme?
  4. How long should your intervals be?
  5. How often should you include interval training in your exercise programme?
  6. Tips for interval training for beginners

 

Weight gain is a common challenge for women as they age. Juggling the pressures of work, family and life can leave women short on time in their midlife to prioritise their fitness, health and nutrition.

Many women search for the best way to lose weight in middle age when the time to attend a tradition gym in limited. Including interval training and strength training in an exercise programme helps to keep us looking and feeling our best despite age related changes to our body.

Interval training is a great way to combat weight gain and improve your fitness and health in an efficient manner. Interval training is an effective form of exercise for beginners as well as more experienced women who are looking to step up their exercise programme.

Interval training combines periods of work, where you push yourself out of your comfort zone with periods of rest. Exercising for short periods of time at a level of higher intensity helps you build endurance more quickly and helps you burn more calories, which is great for burning calories and weight loss.

What is interval training?

Interval training is a type of cardiovascular exercise that combines higher intensity intervals with lower intensity intervals. The mix of high and low intensity intervals can vary and will depend on your current fitness levels, your goals and the type of exercise that you are doing.

The length of time of each interval can be a set period of time or it can vary.

What is interval training?

Why should you include interval training in your exercise programme?

There are a number of benefits for including interval training in your exercise programme. Some of the benefits of interval training include:

  • Increased intensity intervals help you to burn more calories than lower intensity training which can help with weight loss.
  • Interval training helps to improve your cardiovascular fitness.
  • Interval training and including higher intensity intervals shortens the time needed to get a quality workout in.
  • Interval training can make workouts more interesting as you are continually changing your speed and intensity through your workout
  • Interval training helps to increase your endurance to allow you to complete longer workouts at a higher intensity as your fitness improves.

Not all fitness, health and weight loss goals are created equal. 

Download Hutton Health’s free Goal Setting Workbook to ensure you are setting effective health and fitness goals to help keep you motivated and on track with your exercise programme.
Why should you include interval training in your exercise programme?

Why should you include interval training in your exercise programme?

There are a number of benefits for including interval training in your exercise programme. Some of the benefits of interval training include:

  • Increased intensity intervals help you to burn more calories than lower intensity training which can help with weight loss.
  • Interval training helps to improve your cardiovascular fitness.
  • Interval training and including higher intensity intervals shortens the time needed to get a quality workout in.
  • Interval training can make workouts more interesting as you are continually changing your speed and intensity through your workout
  • Interval training helps to increase your endurance to allow you to complete longer workouts at a higher intensity as your fitness improves.
Why should you include interval training in your exercise programme?

How do you include interval training in your exercise programme?

There are numerous ways that you can include interval training in your exercise programme. Here are some examples of interval training:

  • Adding running intervals with your walking. This is a common way to increase the length of time you can run and is a great way to return to running after an injury.

Couch to 5 Kilometre running programmes progress through a series of running and walking intervals as you build your endurance to running 5K.

  • Mixing the speed of your walking or running to include faster intervals with slower rest/recovery intervals.
  • Including hill training in your workout, whether it is a bike ride, walk or run. Including hill repeats encourages you to do higher intensity intervals on the way up the hill with lower intensity intervals on the way down.
  • HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) involves high intensity work intervals in your workout

Working with an experienced coach allows you to include high intensity workouts in your exercise programme from the comfort of your home.

Hutton Health offers a monthly membership that includes strength, cardio, and stretching workouts delivered through the Hutton Health app as well as live online workouts.
How do you include interval training in your exercise programme?

How long should your intervals be?

The length of your intervals will vary depending on your current fitness level and your goals.

If you are a beginner, then a starting with a 30 second to one minute medium to high intensity interval with a 2-3 minute recovery is a good option.

As your fitness increases, you can make your interval training workout more challenging by:

  • Increasing the intensity of your work period.
  • Increasing the length of time of your high intensity interval.
  • Decreasing the rest period.
How long should your intervals be?

How often should you include interval training in your exercise programme?

An effective exercise programme allows rest days between interval training workouts. Consider including lower intensity workouts on days that follow a tough interval session.

You do not need to have a gym membership or attend a group fitness class to improve your strength. With limited equipment, you can effectively include strength training in your exercise programme to improve your fitness and increase your strength at home.

Hutton Health offers a structured programme and online workouts that allow you to strength train from the comfort of your home with the guidance of an experienced coach.
How often should you include interval training in your exercise programme?

Tips for interval training for beginners

  1. Make sure to warm up and cool down before and after any interval training
  2. Consult your physician to ensure you are physically ready to start an exercise programme that includes interval training
  3. Start slowly to avoid injury
  4. Take care with high impact movements and exercises
  5. Keep your high intensity interval time short – ideally between 20 to 60 seconds to allow you to work as hard as you can
Tips for interval training for beginners
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