Transcription
Interval training is a common strategy used among endurance athletes, and the basics are pretty simple. You just alternate periods of high intensity work with periods of low effort recovery.
And those recovery periods allow you to accumulate more total time training at a high intensity, more than you otherwise would if you were just trying to constantly sustain the same effort and output. The bits of recovery embedded in there let you do more total work at a higher effort.
But intervals aren't exclusively reserved for endurance sports. If you're using bodyweight exercise to improve your conditioning, structuring them as an interval is a super effective way to manage fatigue while increasing the conditioning stimulus. And the simplest way to do this is to perform your conditioning exercise for multiple sets with short recovery periods.
Now, to be clear, I'm not talking about strength training here. I'm talking about conditioning. So, squats, lunges with or without a weight vest are great choices for most people. Kettlebell swings or burpees would also be great choices.
And unlike strength training, we don't want full recovery between the sets. We want short rests that allow for incomplete recovery. We just want a little bit of recovery to make the later sets doable, but not super easy.
And this is going to allow for more total work to be performed at higher levels of muscular fatigue, higher levels of metabolic stress, and at a higher heart rate. The physiological states that are going to drive improvements in conditioning.
So, if you're brand new to training, you might start with something like a bodyweight squat for five sets of 10 reps with a strict 30-second rest between sets, and then slowly increase your rep count and set count as you become more conditioned. If you're already pre-conditioned, you might start this with something like 10 sets of 20 constant tension squats with a strict 30-second rest.
And over time, you can add a weight vest, increase the rep count, or decrease the rest time to ensure they're producing the attended effect. Instead, structuring your conditioning like this can build some really impressive fitness, and it's also pretty time-efficient.
And depending on your current program and leg training, it can work really well when done two to three days per week. And this gives you plenty of other opportunities to train your legs for strength, power, mobility, size. You could do more cardio, active recovery, or whatever else you feel like doing.
So, I hope that makes sense. If you guys have any questions, let me know. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next time.