Making The Decision To Give Interval Training A Try – What You Need To Know

If you’ve recently made the decision that you’d like to get started with interval training, there are a few things that you should know before you begin.

One mistake some people make is quickly rushing into this form of training and then paying the price because of it. It isn’t an easy form of cardio to be doing so unless you are very prepared for it, you could be in for some trouble down the road.

Let’s look at a few of the main factors to consider when it comes to giving interval training a try. Make sure that you take these into account before you begin.

Do You Have A Good Cardio Base?

Whether you plan to do your interval training on a treadmill or elliptical trainer, one thing that you must have under your belt first before you begin is a good cardiovascular base. If you don’t have a cardio base built up, it’s going to be difficult to exercise at the intensity levels required for performing interval training.

Before you start in on this training, make sure that you can easily do 30-45 minutes of continuous moderate intensity training on your own first.

This will help prepare you for the sessions to come.

What’s Your Weight Lifting Schedule?

Next, also have a look at your weight lifting schedule. If you’re very focused on building lean muscle mass and are in the gym four times per week, realize this will limit your recovery capacity quite significantly. As such, you’re going to need to watch how many interval training sessions you perform.

Try just adding one first and seeing how it goes. Then if you feel ready beyond that, you can add a second session throughout the week.

Just remember that recovery must be prioritized, so if at any point you feel like you aren’t recovering, back off from some variation of intense training.

Do You Have A Good Grasp On Heart Rate Zones?

Finally, last but not least, also consider whether you have a good enough grasp over heart rate zones. This is also going to be very important for success.

In order to see the full benefits of working out at the various levels, you need to understand the difference between each one. It’s vital that you’re performing in the higher intensity zone at some periods when doing the intervals and then back off to the lower intensity zone during the rest intervals.

This will be critical to your success.

If you aren’t quite aware of how intense you’re working at various points throughout the workout, consider investing in a heart rate monitor. This will help make things far more clear for you.

So there you have the facts to know about preparing yourself for interval training. Make sure that you aren’t overlooking any of these points so that you can get started safely.

For help choosing a treadmill to purchase to do your interval training with, please see this guide.