Health & Fitness -- Interval Training & other tips from a non-professional

On this page you will find useful information on how I train for my triathlons... - Mark
• Normal Day Interval Training : This is my training on a day when I feel neither weak nor strong
• Lazy Day Interval Training : My interval training routine, for days when I'm tired or "uninspired" to train
• "Feelin Strong" Interval Training : Here's what I do on days when I feel strong or confident
• Mark's "No Time to Train" routine: What you are being held accountable to and for
• Denis Collier's "Phone Booth Work Out" : For training when space is limited or no equipment is handy

An Interval Training session is one that involves repeated bouts (intervals) of exercise, separated by rest intervals. Depending of the length of exercise and rest periods, it may be anaerobic or aerobic training.

Here's my treadmill routine:
• two minutes walking (at around 3.5 mph), then...
• one minute light run (for me it's 4.5 mph before I start running. You'll have to find out where you move from a run to a walk ), then...
• one minute walking again, then...
• one minute running faster than before (usually one "notch" up... to 5.0 mph), then...
• one minute walking again, then...
• one minute running faster than before
Just keep walking a minute followed by running a (faster & faster) minute until you run out of time.
If you get to a pace where you can't run any faster, then keep repeating the intervals at this (max) running speed during the one minute run interval.

Once your aerobic fiteness has increased, I recommend one minute of walking followed by two minutes of (faster & faster) running.

The best Interval Training is one with specified distances of 2-5 minutes in duration run repeatedly with a specified period of rest separating each repeat. Usually the period of rest is equal to the period of the run. This is an aerobic workout.

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On "weak" or "lazy" days I walk rather than run. This requires a treadmill that elevates or a walk outside in a "hilly" area. On the treadmill I will...

• walk a minute at a steady pace (usually 3.2 - 4.0 mph for me)
• Increase the incline by "one notch" every minute until fully inclined.
• Stay at the higest incline for as long as you can
• Then decline "one notch" every minute or so to end at the time you've given yourself to train.

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This is how I interval train on a treadmill (or outside running) on days I feel strong:    

• one minute walking again, then...
• four minutes running faster than each interval before

I do this for four (4) intervals of running

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Your commitment is four hours per week.  But, have you contempated all the ways you can train when you have absolutely no time to train?  Here’s what I do…


• Always park at the “worst” & furthest parking spot… then jog or briskly walk to the destination
• Always take stairs over elevator
• Even further…. I’ll run stairs (which are everywhere) for ten minutes twice in the morning & ten minutes twice in the evening… finishing off with jumping jacks, ab crunches & “squats” wherever I am (to fit in 45 minutes)
• Look for hills to walk during lunch… even walking stairs for ten minutes before lunch is great exercise (you don’t have to run it).
• The key is… always think “what’s around me that would get my heart rate up a bit?”

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• Denis Collier's Phone Booth Workout (Denis is my Lead Trainer)

Here is an example of what I recommend when needing to get a workout in with no gear and limited time:

Every exercise lasts for an interval of 1 minute:

1. Squat jumps (Cardio)
2. Plank (Core)
3. Step-Ups (Cardio)
4. Bicycles (Core)
5. Squats jumps (Cardio)
6. Side plank (Core)
7. Step-ups (Cardio)
8. Side plank other side (Core)
9. Squat jumps (Cardio)
10. Crunches (Core)
11. Squat jumps (Cardio)
12. Plank (Core)
13. Step-Ups (Cardio)
14. Bicycles (Core)
15. Squats jumps (Cardio)
16. Side plank (Core)
17. Step-ups (Cardio)
18. Side plank other side (Core)
19. Squat jumps (Cardio)
20. Crunches (Core)

Alternatively, running up the steps of a hotel for 20-30 minutes would be a fantastic workout too.

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