Max Interval Training

Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in a group max interval work out.  Interval training has gotten a bunch of hype within the past 5 years because of the return on time investment, 20-30 minutes of exercise for the same calorie burn as most hour to hour and a half workouts.

With interval training you can burn a high number of calories in a short time because you are ramping up your intensity between 90-100% exertion for short periods of time, then resting for longer periods and then repeating.

The concept of max interval training is to push yourself on an exercise to the max or as close to it for a minute or longer, then rest for 30 seconds to a minute (or no rest at all) and go to the next exercise.  This is similar to circuit training done with resistance/weight.

Usually the exercises are more aerobically inclined or cardiovascularly challenging when termed interval training.  Hyperfitness and Insanity are two popular versions of this type of training.  Below is a list of a sample to try if you’ve never done max interval training.

A) Burpees for 1 minute

B) Alternating Reverse Plyometric lunges for 1 minute

C) Jumping Jack push ups for 1 minute

Repeat 2 times and rest for 3 minutes