Sprint intervals- What is your speed/ timing

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OddChoices
OddChoices Posts: 244 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I do Interval training twice a week, 2-3 days apart. I do 30 seconds at 9.6mph with 2 minute rest at 4mph for 15-20 minutes. Then I lower speed to 7-8mph but increase time to 1 minute with 1 minute rest st 4mph.

What is your speed/ rest interval?
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Replies

  • Jersey_Devil
    Jersey_Devil Posts: 4,142 Member
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    depends....i change it up. if im using no incline ill go all out for 30 seconds then take a minute "rest/walk"... but if Im doing an incline-- the incline is usually at a 5 and my speed is at about a 5-6 for one minute...then ill take 2 minutes "rest/walk/no incline"
  • OddChoices
    OddChoices Posts: 244 Member
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    BUMPING because I am looking for more interval ideas.
  • feenbean
    feenbean Posts: 4
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    totally depends on your level of fitness, but it is a brilliant way to get fitter! I set the treadmill for 20 mins, the speed at 17.0 mph, incline 1.0% and run for 8 secs then off for 12 sec. which sounds hard to work out but its not once you've done it for a couple of days. This was exercise was given to me by my local trainer at the gym I go to and it is brilliant for raising fitness levels. I would say you can start it at any speed and keep speeding up a little every week to build up - oh and be confident on the treadmill! Well done, running is great isn't it - especially once you've finished! good luck :)
  • JennedyJLD
    JennedyJLD Posts: 123 Member
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    I've only recently started interval training and have really loved the results - in the past few weeks I've set new PRs in the mile, 1k, 5k, 10k, and half-marathon, and give interval training a lot of the credit for building my speed and endurance.

    I do about 25-35 miles a week on average. Two days consist of about 3-4 miles of interval training, one short and one long.

    The first day (short day) I do 800m intervals. Basically, I run as hard as I physically can for 800 meters, and it takes as long as it takes. Usually, that's between 3:35-3:50 for me. Then I rest for the exact same amount of time it took me to run that distance. Rinse and repeat until I've finished my goal, be it a total of 3 miles or 4 miles.

    The second day of intervals works just like the first, but I'll do longer intervals (so far I'm doing 1200s, but want to build to 1600s.) Same drill - run as hard and fast as I can, then rest for that exact same amount of time before hitting it again until I'm done.
  • OddChoices
    OddChoices Posts: 244 Member
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    Thanks for the responses people. Keep them coming.
  • caseythirteen
    caseythirteen Posts: 956 Member
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    I usually only do intervals once a week but when I do it's for 21 minutes where I do 1 minute at 5.7mph and then 30 seconds at 9mph. I've noticed this has been getting a bit easier lately though so I will probably up my sprints some next time.
  • NutellaAddict
    NutellaAddict Posts: 1,258 Member
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    Treadmill - walk 4.5 (speed on treadmill) 30-45 seconds....run 7.2 (speed on treadmill) for 1 minute for 30-35 mins total. Eliptical 30 seconds normal / 1 minute "sprint" with crossramp at 10 and resistance at 7 or 8 for 30 mins.
  • cad39too
    cad39too Posts: 874 Member
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    Only started doing them last week: one minute at 6mph then one minute at 9mph - between 16 and 20 minutes.
  • triggsta
    triggsta Posts: 140
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    If you are looking for ways to change it up...

    1. Pyramid. Do like 10 seconds on, 20 seconds off, 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off, 30 seconds on, 60 seconds off to wherever you want to go and then back down to 10 seconds on, 20 seconds off.

    2. Change your ratio. 10:20 would be a 1:2 ratio (for every second on, double that off). Change it up from 1:1 to 1:3 but I wouldn't do any bigger than 1:3.

    3. Add another thing to the ratio. Do a 1:2:2 ratio, for instance. 10 seconds all-out sprint, 20 seconds jog, 20 seconds walk.

    4. Put in another exercise into your intervals. Do 30 seconds of running then drop down and do 10 push-ups or 10 sit-ups or something.

    5. I'm not sure what they're called. This is the example my trainer did: You have 10 meters. You have a minute to do it once (from one side to the other). Then you have a minute to do it twice (from one side to the other and back). Keep increasing the number of reps per minute until you can't complete the number of reps under a minute. You can adjust the distance and the time alotted. Obviously, it starts off stupidly easy and then gets progressively harder as you have less time to rest between sets.

    6. Incorporate hills. Run up a hill, walk back down.


    Most of these, I realize, are best done outside (some on a track). You can modify some to work on a treadmill. I'm not a big fan of intervals on the treadmill simply because I can change my speed quickly whereas a treadmill takes at least a few seconds to catch up to what I want the new speed to be.
  • OddChoices
    OddChoices Posts: 244 Member
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    I usually only do intervals once a week but when I do it's for 21 minutes where I do 1 minute at 5.7mph and then 30 seconds at 9mph. I've noticed this has been getting a bit easier lately though so I will probably up my sprints some next time.

    Is that you in the pic? Fab ABs!!!!
  • OddChoices
    OddChoices Posts: 244 Member
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    If you are looking for ways to change it up...

    1. Pyramid. Do like 10 seconds on, 20 seconds off, 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off, 30 seconds on, 60 seconds off to wherever you want to go and then back down to 10 seconds on, 20 seconds off.

    2. Change your ratio. 10:20 would be a 1:2 ratio (for every second on, double that off). Change it up from 1:1 to 1:3 but I wouldn't do any bigger than 1:3.

    3. Add another thing to the ratio. Do a 1:2:2 ratio, for instance. 10 seconds all-out sprint, 20 seconds jog, 20 seconds walk.

    4. Put in another exercise into your intervals. Do 30 seconds of running then drop down and do 10 push-ups or 10 sit-ups or something.

    5. I'm not sure what they're called. This is the example my trainer did: You have 10 meters. You have a minute to do it once (from one side to the other). Then you have a minute to do it twice (from one side to the other and back). Keep increasing the number of reps per minute until you can't complete the number of reps under a minute. You can adjust the distance and the time alotted. Obviously, it starts off stupidly easy and then gets progressively harder as you have less time to rest between sets.

    6. Incorporate hills. Run up a hill, walk back down.


    Most of these, I realize, are best done outside (some on a track). You can modify some to work on a treadmill. I'm not a big fan of intervals on the treadmill simply because I can change my speed quickly whereas a treadmill takes at least a few seconds to catch up to what I want the new speed to be.

    Thanks. Great post.
  • jackaroo21
    jackaroo21 Posts: 127 Member
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    Bump
  • farmgirlsuz
    farmgirlsuz Posts: 351 Member
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    totally depends on your level of fitness, but it is a brilliant way to get fitter! I set the treadmill for 20 mins, the speed at 17.0 mph, incline 1.0% and run for 8 secs then off for 12 sec. which sounds hard to work out but its not once you've done it for a couple of days. This was exercise was given to me by my local trainer at the gym I go to and it is brilliant for raising fitness levels. I would say you can start it at any speed and keep speeding up a little every week to build up - oh and be confident on the treadmill! Well done, running is great isn't it - especially once you've finished! good luck :)

    17mph REALLY? No way this old lady is doing that!
  • Jersey_Devil
    Jersey_Devil Posts: 4,142 Member
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    totally depends on your level of fitness, but it is a brilliant way to get fitter! I set the treadmill for 20 mins, the speed at 17.0 mph, incline 1.0% and run for 8 secs then off for 12 sec. which sounds hard to work out but its not once you've done it for a couple of days. This was exercise was given to me by my local trainer at the gym I go to and it is brilliant for raising fitness levels. I would say you can start it at any speed and keep speeding up a little every week to build up - oh and be confident on the treadmill! Well done, running is great isn't it - especially once you've finished! good luck :)

    17mph REALLY? No way this old lady is doing that!

    pretend the zombies are chasing you
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    totally depends on your level of fitness, but it is a brilliant way to get fitter! I set the treadmill for 20 mins, the speed at 17.0 mph, incline 1.0% and run for 8 secs then off for 12 sec. which sounds hard to work out but its not once you've done it for a couple of days. This was exercise was given to me by my local trainer at the gym I go to and it is brilliant for raising fitness levels. I would say you can start it at any speed and keep speeding up a little every week to build up - oh and be confident on the treadmill! Well done, running is great isn't it - especially once you've finished! good luck :)

    17mph REALLY? No way this old lady is doing that!

    I've never seen one go over 12.4 MPH. Considering a football player running a 4.2 40 yard dash at the combine is running about 19MPH.....I don't know if she's hanging side by side with some of the fastest players in the NFL.
  • HypersonicFitNess
    HypersonicFitNess Posts: 1,219 Member
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    Not sure of my "speed" as I do this outside on a track or on a road but my time is ~ 7:30/mile or a little faster for the speed intervals - I generally only do speed work 1x per week every other week. The off week I do Lactic Threshold (VO2 Max) training @ ~ 7:45/mile

    The speed work is usually 8x100 meters and the VO2 Max is 3x1600 meters; I do around 3 to 3.11 miles during this training
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    I don't do the same "HIIT" that everyone else seems to to here as I believe jumping off the treadmill is dangerous and doesn't help my training as I don't know how many times I sprint to a dead stop.....either way.

    3 Min at 6.5 MPH, 30 Sec at 7, 30 Sec at 8, 15 sec at 9, 15 sec at 10, 15 sec at 11, 15 sec at 12.

    3 Min at 6.5 MPH, 30 sec at 2 incline, 3o sec at 3, 30 sec at 4, 30 sec at 5

    Repeat for 40-50 minutes.

    In a couple weeks here when it warms up I have a nice routine of sprints, plyos, and shuttles I've created using the lines in the gym parking lot.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
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    It changes every few weeks with my current program. Today it was 20 min warmup, then 5 x 1000 meters at 6:20/mi, 9.5 mph,with a 3 minute recovery walk, then 20 minutes cooldown for a total of 8.6 mi.
  • fruitloop2
    fruitloop2 Posts: 437 Member
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    My intervals look like this...1-1.5% incline always for running...max speed about 8.5mph and slowest is about 3.5-4mph. I do this for about 20 -25 min. I do intervals once or twice a week.
  • Dlacenere
    Dlacenere Posts: 198 Member
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    I usually run at 5.0 for 1-2 mins then go up to anywhere between 8.0 and 10.0 for 45 seconds to 1 minute, then back to 5.0 for a total of 20-30 mins 2-3 times per week. I try to do1-2 sprints within each 5 minute interval.

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