Interval training as a time machine

Twice the results in half the time? Where do I sign up?

That’s what Jan Helgerud, an exercise expert at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, says is possible with interval training: alternating high intensity and low intensity bouts of exercise effort in one continuous session. For people with time constraints, it is the perfect solution. And, who doesn’t have time constraints?

Read the article, and then try these two ways of doing it to get started. No matter what exercise you do, all you do is alternate hard work with easy work---and move fast.

Interval cardiovascular workout

This is is basic as it gets. 30 seconds high, 30 seconds low, 10 minutes.

1. Hop on an upright bike (or outdoor variety if you have a course that allows for speed and no interruption).
2. Warm up at a moderately easy pace for 2 minutes.
3. Starting at the 2:00 mark, and at the top of every minute, crank up the resistance until you have to stand up in the pedals and the revolutions per minute (RPM) count decreases at least 25% (e.g., from 90 pedal RPM to 65-70). Go for 30 seconds with very high intensity.
4. After 30 seconds, crank the resistance all the way back down and recover.
5. Repeat until you hit 10:00.

Interval resistance workout

A little more complicated, but it follows some other principles I have talked about in the past. You will be using antagonistic exercise pairings. That is a fancy way of saying using opposite muscle groups in two exercises back to back without rest. This one will deal with chest and back.

1. Conduct your normal warm up routine.
2. Use a moderately heavy weight that you could lift 10 times with good form.
3. Perform a dumbbell bench press and do 6 reps.
4. Immediately perform 6 reps on a lat pulldown machine (pull ups are better if you can do them).
5. Rest 30-45 seconds.
6. Repeat for 6 sets.

After both of these, you will be surprised at how wiped out you feel in just 10 minutes. Hmmm, guess it must be working.

Restaurant food is sneaky. Don’t trust it.

Well, a perfect example of why you never, EVER take uneducated guesses about calories in food that you did not buy and prepare yourself. I just ate two lunches by accident.

I stopped by Panera Bread today and chose the Pick 2: half of a Greek salad and a cup of French Onion Soup. I missed breakfast that day, so I splurged and got the side of French bread. If you go to their nutritional calculator, you will see this comes out to 500 calories (about 180 of that was the bread).

Three hours later, I was in a Caribou Coffee and decided to get a little snack during a long conference call. They have a new promotion for oatmeal. I chose a small cup of the 7-grain, berry flavor. Sounds healthy and light, right?

470 calories. Ouch. That’s an extra small meal.

Moral of the story: words like “7-grain” and “oatmeal” may bring visions of health to your eyes, but do the math before chowing down.