Creating Your Own Interval Training Plan

Yuri Elkaim, BPHE, CK, RHN
myTreadmillTrainer.com

You wake up.  It’s 8 am. (Or maybe the other side of noon.)  You roll out of bed, get dressed, and lace up your running shoes. The weather outside is clear, sunny, and dry - in other words, perfect running weather. 

As you head outside, you are pumped about getting out there and losing weight. Except for one thing.

You’re not exactly sure what you should do next.

No matter if you are a brand-spanking-new beginner or a hardcore veteran, everyone can benefit from a bit of running education.  Especially if you want to get your body fat percentage down there around Lance Armstrong levels.

Why Make an Interval Training Plan?

For those of you who haven’t really ever heard of interval training before, I’ll fill you in.  Interval training is hands down the most efficient way to burn fat while running, short of playing professional basketball.  During one running session of 30-45 minutes (an hour if youíre into punishment), you alternate running around 50% of your maximum speed to 75-85%.

Sounds hard? It actually goes by pretty quick, at least for me - a lot faster than a 4-5 mile run. Interval training can be done by beginners and experts alike.  It is simple and effective, and lets you get in a great workout without spending an hour or two hitting the trails.

Your Own Interval Training Plan

To create your own interval training plan, you have to first figure out your baseline.  This is a combination of your goals for your health ñ like how many pounds you want to lose - and where you are right now. 

For example, your baseline could be that you want to lose 20 pounds of fat, but right now you can barely run a mile.

That’s okay.  Here is the formula for your own interval training plan:

1. Run a mile. Record how long it takes you to finish. If you can’t go a mile, you can run a half-mile.

2. Cut your run time in half.  Then, cut that into thirds.  If you ran a mile in 10 minutes, you’ll cut 5 minutes into thirds of 100 seconds. 

3. For the first two-thirds, run 200 seconds - 3 minutes, 20 seconds ñ at a pace around 50-55% of your normal rate (i.e. you breathe heavy but feel good).

4. For the last third (100 seconds), run faster ñ up to 75-85% of what you can do.  You should definitely feel like you’re putting forth a pretty good effort.

5. This counts as one cycle.  Run these cycles for 30-45 minutes, with a 3-5 minute break in between.  As you progress, you can drop that 3-minute minimum down to 1.

There you go.  Now you have your very own interval training plan.  I expect to see you on the roads, laced up, tomorrow morning at 8 am sharp.

Or maybe a little bit after noon.

=> CLICK HERE to get started with the Treadmill Trainer running workouts!