< Shari Maccarone Bailey is the February 2010 Client of the Month

Get Better Results with Shorter Workouts

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People frequently ask me how much cardio they need to do to lose weight and get into shape.  Truth is it's not about the amount of time but the intensity with which you train.  Whether its resistance training or cardio training upping your intensity rather than putting in more time has been proven a more effective workout.

A recent study from McMaster University in Canada shows that doing intervals of intense training for as little as 6 minutes can do more for your fitness levels than cardio workouts that last as long as 45-60 minutes.  That's not saying that your workout should be limited to "6 minutes" of training but the high intensity intervals should equal 6 minutes.

Those who did four to seven 30-second bursts of "all out" exercise, followed by four minutes of recovery time, three times a week for two weeks, significantly increased their fitness levels over those who did traditional cardio training.  Overall, 1.5 hours a week (including rest periods) of intense intervals bursts equaled the results of 4.5 hours of regular training.

Interval training can be incorporated in various ways.  One suggestions is you may use it as speed bursts intermixed with your resistance training. Try interspersing 5 minutes of spinning as hard as you can within your upper body workout.  Another idea would be to jumprope or perform jumping jacks or squat jumps for 30 seconds within your lower body workout.  For cardio training think about using time ratios or distance markers when running, walking or biking.  For example, when training outside find a marker such as a street post and sprint to the next "stop sign'.   Remember the intense interval needs to be "all out", that means by the time you reach your next marker (or time if using time intervals) you should not be able to continue at that pace. 

So get more out of your time and workout!  Incorporate interval training into your next workout.

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