Girlfriend's Fit Club | Benefits of Interval Training
Girlfriends Fitclub is a women's gym in West Michigan. Located in Holland, MI, we offer a variety of health and fitness facilities to service all women.
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Benefits of Interval Training

My name is Kelly Thompson, GFFC Personal Trainer. Many times throughout my career I run into people who say they have no time to exercise.  I always thought that was such a terrible excuse, until I found myself, subconsciously, using it.  I’ve been a trainer for 9 years now.  The misconception is that just because I’m in the gym a lot, does not mean I always have time to get my workout done while I’m there.  I’m usually working the hours I have available to be there. The issue I run into is once I leave the gym I have 2 toddlers to tend to and a household to run.  If I have my kids at the gym for three hours while I work I feel the “mom guilt” kicking in once we get home, if I make them give me more time to get my workout done.  Then, by the time my husband gets home it’s making dinner and then trying to have a little bit of family time.  You see how the excuses keep racking up?  It can become a vicious cycle and you can ALWAYS find an excuse not to workout.
 
My response to those who say there is no time is, “do you have 15 minutes?”  The answer is always “yes.” So, give it all you’ve got for 15 minutes doing whatever type of workout you prefer.  On days you have more than 15 minutes, do more!  
I started taking my own advice.  If I had an extra 15 minutes at the gym, I would hop on the treadmill and do interval training.  Soon, I started to “make” time for my workouts because in doing just one or two 15 minute bursts of exercise I started to feel so much better mentally, which plays a huge part in feeling better physically. 
Never use time as an excuse anymore.  I suggest doing interval training for the amount of time you have to give to working out, no matter how much time that is.  Let me break down interval training quickly:
 
Interval Training: training in which someone alternates between two activities, typically requiring different rates of speed, degrees of effort, etc.

 

The benefits of Interval Training:

 

  1. Most beneficial form of cardio in terms of getting the most out of your workout in a shorter amount of time
  2. More calories are burned in a 24 hour period doing interval training as opposed to slow steady state cardio
  3. You can increase speed and endurance
  4. Extremely beneficial to heart health
 

Examples of Interval Training on Cardio Equipment:

 

Treadmill: Increase speed every 30 seconds until you reach your limit, then decrease speed every 30 seconds and repeat until your time is up. (This can be walking/jogging or walking/jogging/sprinting)
 
Elliptical and Bike: 30 seconds regular pace and 30 second sprint, then repeat OR increase your resistance every 30 seconds until you reach a resistance that is very difficult and then decrease every 30 seconds.
In good health,
Kelly Thompson