What is interval training?
Interval training workouts, alternate high intensity exercise with low to moderate intensity exercise, giving bursts of hard work then allowing time to recover before another burst of high intensity exercise. For example continuously sprinting for one minute and then jogging for a minute.
How do UpFit classes incorporate interval training?
In UpFit classes we alternate periods of high intensity activity with low to moderate intensity or active recovery phases of exercise. Intensity can be varied relative to your own individual fitness levels.
How does this help me to get fitter quicker?
By alternating periods of high intensity ‘work’ and lower intensity active recovery, interval training makes it possible for you to exercise at higher levels in a manageable way and trains your body to tolerate these higher levels. This means fitness improves faster & more dramatically. When working at high intensity the body produces a lot of the chemical catecholamine which triggers fat burning processes in the body. More calories are burnt in a shorter period of time and the body carries on burning extra calories 16-24hrs after you have finished exercising!
Really? I burn more calories even after I’ve finished working out? How?
Rather than steady state (constant pace) workouts e.g. Jogging at a constant pace, interval training works the body both aerobically (with oxygen) and also anaerobically (without oxygen). Put simply this means your body isn’t able to bring in enough oxygen during the periods of hard work. You therefore accumulate a debt of oxygen that must be repaid post workout in order to get you back to normal. The result – your metabolism is revved for hours after you finish exercising.
Trainers refer to this phenomena as Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption or EPOC.