Interval Running

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jennycully
jennycully Posts: 35 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
G'day all,

Just started interval running on the treadmill to kick start the fitness and metabolism (starting back at Tae Kwon Do after a 4 month break), I've done a bit of running before but not interval / sprint stuff. So far I'm doing 2 min jog, 1 min sprints for half an hour which seems to work well. Keen to hear what other interval runners are doing & what works well for you.

Merry Christmas to you all and blessings to your family.

Jenny

Replies

  • Jacson53
    Jacson53 Posts: 62 Member
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    Mine is similar on the elliptical.
    Though the intervals are equal (2.5 minutes).

    If I could run, your plan would make sense.
  • jennycully
    jennycully Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks Jacson53, just tried 1.5 minute jog to a 1 minute sprint - seemed to work well and I got in a couple more sprints, felt great afterwards, may keep doing this and just increase the length I run for.
  • soldiergrl_101
    soldiergrl_101 Posts: 2,205 Member
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    I run intervals on the treadmill every other day. I started with 30 minutes now I am up to 60 minutes. I alternate walking for a minute and sprinting for a minute at 6.0 mph
  • chatty826
    chatty826 Posts: 47
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    You should really alternate the sprinting with walking not jogging. Look up the Super 8 program it has great success.
  • sydneybeachgirl
    sydneybeachgirl Posts: 209
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    when I started even 60seconds were difficult for me...I can now do 4-5minutes comfortably (at speed 7.6 or 7.7) followed by 90seconds walk (at 4.7) and then jog-run again....I never thought I would be able to do this so I am over the moon :) Interval running works!
  • derkin2005
    derkin2005 Posts: 282 Member
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    I am new to this as well 107 pounds ago running was not an option, I currently run 35 to 45 seconds then walk 1 minute 15 seconds. Has worked well for me. Best of luck
  • KhorneDeth
    KhorneDeth Posts: 3 Member
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    Typically 2-3x a week, I'll do treadmill sprint intervals as well. Love them! 2.5% incline, then 1 min of walking with 1 min of sprinting.

    6.0mph
    6.5mph
    7.5mph
    9.0mph (10x)
    7.5mph
    6.5mph
    6.0mph

    That's 32 mins total, 16 sprints/16 walks. Back when I started, my worksets were only at 7.0mph for 8 rds -- I'm slowly building up to where eventually I wanna be able to do a full 10.0mph workout!

    I also find that any interval over a minute really isn't a "sprint" anymore, and even a minute is pushing it. I'd love to be able to do 30sec/30sec intervals, but that's such an annoying pain in the *kitten* when dealing with treadmill speed up and slowdowns.
  • jennycully
    jennycully Posts: 35 Member
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    Thanks for the feedback guys & gals, very interesting. Shall try a few changes and see how it goes - really enjoying the interval running but always good to have a few options to change things up.

    Merry Christmas to you all :)
  • sydneybeachgirl
    sydneybeachgirl Posts: 209
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    think about getting a couch/to/5K app. I paid about 2.99 for mine and it works like magic...it uses intervals (surprise surprise) and you can pick your speed etc..the focus is on running/jogging through the time set (e.g I am currenty working on getting from 5mins to 6ms..only 60secondsdifference but feels like an eternity)..I usually skip the warmup and cooldown and do weights (leg curl, leg press, chest press) during that time so I got a bit of HIIT out of the whole session as well....
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    There is no such thing as a "1 minute sprint". If it's lasting longer than 20 secons, you're not sprinting.

    And that can be fine, there's nothing wrong with run-faster/run-slower intervals - unless you're actually after the physiological changes that come from actual sprinting.
  • jennycully
    jennycully Posts: 35 Member
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    @Mr_Knight, I think you're right, was running a very fast run for 1 min which is great but not a full sprint because this morning I changed things up a bit, 1.5 - 2 min walk to a 30 second sprint (much faster and burning lungs, legs etc) by the time the treadmill reached max speed I would say it was about a 20 second sprint. Definitely got the heart rate going.

    This will help with sparring for Tae Kwon Do, we do 1 minute rounds, sometimes 3 fights in a row, it doesn't sound like a long time but during a fight it feels like forever and I struggle towards the end so I think the sprints will help with with this.

    Appreciate the input for you all.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    There is no such thing as a "1 minute sprint". If it's lasting longer than 20 secons, you're not sprinting.

    exactly. even usain bolt, the best male sprinter in the world can't do 1 minute sprint.:laugh:

    for medium intensity intervals i currently do 2 workouts

    1. set treadmill at 6.5 speed and 2.5 incline. i do 15 sec runs and 15 sec rest with the feet on the treadmill. 30 min but working up to 45 and then will increase the speed/incline

    2. 2 min walk at 4.0/1 min run at 6.0.

    When I do HIIT I do it on the track where i sprint for 100m and recover for 300m. currently doing 4 good sprints but want to work my way up to 6 and then increasing to 200m. current 100m time is 28 sec but i'll be working hard to get that down to 25 secs bt feb

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