For a healthy heart, the American Heart Association recommends 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days per week and the American College of Sports Medicine recommends even more to lose excess weight. So what do you do with all that time? New research is showing us that short bursts of exercise – like sprinting – with alternating rest periods can have the same positive effect on our hearts as a long, steady workout.
But that’s not the only benefit of a fast-paced routine, sprinting adds variety to your workout, can improve your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, EPOC, (read: burn more calories when you’re done working out), and regulate your fat burning hormones.
Here’s a suggestion from Life Fitness for sprint and recovery intervals you can try on a treadmill, bike or elliptical cross-trainer. Now get out there and pick up the pace!
- Warm up: Begin with a five-minute warm-up by walking or jogging slowly.
- Find your baseline pace on the machine: Walk, run or spin at a comfortable pace you can maintain for an extended period of time. Spend two minutes working at that level.
- Sprint: Increase speed to a sprinting pace for 30 seconds to 1 minute. The sprint pace should push your body outside of the comfort zone and bring your heart rate up to 80 percent of its maximum.
- Recover: Bring the pace back down to your baseline for 2 minutes.
- Repeat: Alternate between the sprint and recover cycle for 20 to 30 minutes. And end with a cool-down for five to ten minutes.
Life Fitness recommends being in average shape before adding intense sprint intervals to your workout. Better yet, connect with a certified personal trainer to create a custom workout based on your needs and abilities.
 BACK TO LIST OF ARTICLES |
|
