Simply Interval – More Info

Gin live cues this workout and has Mandi “the modifier” to show easier /different variations or options.

Music – a brand new video track compilation by cardiomixes.com called “Techno Step”.

DVD Chaptering

Play All Pre-Class Guidelines Warm-Up Workout Cool Down Cycles 1 – 8 chaptered with cycle names indicated.

You can hit menu to return and select specific cycles at any time. From those selection points, the workout will continue to play.

The Interval Workout

There are 8 cycles – first one is longer with an optional bonus 30 seconds for an early glycogen burn. No weights are used in this all out cardio workout – the only “strength” like cycle is a tough 3 press lunge with scissors. Even the super-fit will find this difficult to perform for the full minute.

As the workout progresses to the peak of the workout, the movement patterns simplify and recovery periods shorten. At the end of one peak cycle, Gin throws in a bonus 30 seconds of plunges for the more advanced exerciser. On the downhill side, the combos include more movement patterns as the overall workout effort starts to decrease.

An Interval Not Circuit Workout

This is not what most consider to be “interval” training – alternating cardio with weights. True, such a workout alternates “anaerobic” training with “aerobic” training – but the harder effort is usually the “aerobic” cardio part of the cycle and the easier rest effort tends to be the “anaerobic” strength portion of the cycle.

With pure cardio intervals, the all out work efforts should take you beyond “steady state” aerobic training into the cardio anaerobic levels of interval or “intensity” training. With perceived exertion, rpe of 7 is the top of aerobic zone – 8 is the the threshold – and above at 9 and 10 are the anaerobic training levels. The recovery part of the cycle then takes you to the low end of the aerobic zone. So the hard effort is anaerobic and the easy effort is aerobic.

With a circuit type interval – alternating cardio with strength, it’s difficult to overload a muscle to fatigue in a short amount of time in order to burn the glycogen stored in the muscle. When you push yourself to “sucking wind” in this type of interval, you burn the glycogen during the hardest cardio effort (anaerobic), and then recover with oxygen (aerobic).

These alternating bouts (think sprints) will push your cardiovascular system beyond it’s adapted state and you’ll get fitter faster. So THIS interval workout CAN take you beyond a plateau.

There is only one cycle that is “strength” like in Simply Interval – the 3 press lunges. Most will find this to be the hardest of all the cycles. Executing this cycle all out will leave your legs feeling like they’ve turned to concrete – that’s a sign of fatigue due to lactate buildup and indicative of true anaerobic effort!

When all out effort is applied to the work portion of the cycle, the demand for oxygen to the muscles should be so intense that it becomes hard to think. For this reason, the peak of the interval workout reduces the complexity of the patterns to enable you to work without a lot of blood going to the brain. Also, as fatigue builds, you are less likely to stumble with more repetitive movements.

But the primary key in reaching peak effort in true interval training is to REST prior to the next cycle’s work effort. Simply Interval offers an “active rest” option for participants who have a high level of fitness. But if you think about intervals as “sprints” – most sprinters do not “run” in between their short sprints, they walk and rest in order to recover.

A common mistake made is working at too high of a level during the rest portion of the cycle. This can result in difficulty pushing beyond the threshold and working only at the top of your aerobic zone. If that’s the case, the workout will end up being just a “steady state” workout and you’ll feel like you should have gone longer – and with an aerobic workout, you should feel a need to go longer.

But, if you DO apply all out effort in the work cycles, there’s no need to go longer than this workout. Once you are confident with the patterns and can work them without thinking, you should be able to push your max VO2 to reap the full benefits of interval training.

And finally, according to the oft-quoted Laval Study, there’s a side benefit that’s referred to as the “afterburn” associated with interval training. Once you’ve burned the stored glycogen in the anaerobic work efforts, all you have post workout to burn is stored fat.

You can get that benefit from serious anaerobic weight training – to fatigue. But unless you are just starting out and minimally fit, pumping 10 pound dumbbells in between aerobic step segments will only take you so far.