30 min sprint -50 min run? what is best?
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| Thu, 06-04-2009 - 5:39am |
So three weeks ago apprx I began running for 50 minutes a day, six times a week ( I also do pilates and abs on every other day). The path included hills. It also worked really well. Now I find I have plateaued a bit, and also today I did not have the energy to push myself as hard.
Is it time to vary my cardio running? I heard about interval training, and was going to give that a try next week.
The thing is that I am worried that if I do interval training for 30 minutes a day for say 5 times a week, I will gain weight instead of lose because I used to do 50 minutes of running (which I guess did have interval in it, as my heart pumped more on the hills).
Is my concern justified, or would doing 30 minutes of interval training (intense sprinting and then low intensity jogging variations) actually burn more calories than what I have been doing?

Welcome to the board :)
Congratulations on doing so well with your exercise ..
You say you have been doing what you're doing for several weeks now ?
However have lost during that time ?
It has been said to switch it up now & then to help with those plateaus ..
Let see what others might suggest so do check back.
In the meantime it couldn't hurt ..
The weight you would gain is more of muscle most likely.
Let em look around to see what I can find out for you :)
Right now the running world swears by interval training.
It increases speed and makes you more efficient in the long run.
I guess the question is "why do you run"
Are you training for a race or just trying to lose weight?
Here's a great piece I ran across in Runners World recently
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304--13087-0,00.html
HTH!
Runners World calcualte out that running 30 min intervals burns almost 200 more calories than 30 min straight running.
Hi Chipmunkchom...Nice to meet you. I do a form of circuit training, but in a different form. There are circuit training workouts you can do for 20 minutes all at once...like running for 1 or 2 minutes, jump rope for 2 minutes, back to running 2 minutes, jumping jacks 2 minutes, walking at a fast speed 2 minutes, back to running 2 minutes....etc. You can give it varieties of your own.
I do mine throughout the day...some stretching, strengthening for lowerbody, hulahooping, walkingjogging,biking, etc.
I read that it is good to change to different workouts so your body does not get used to doing the same things. The body will act up and burn more.
Hope that helps. Back to my wogging. Hope to see you often like Hugs said.
If you're looking for support & accountability we'd love to have you join us here :)
Hi, chipmunkchom, and welcome to Fitness & Health!
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Nadine - deenie1979