High intensity interval training - anyone tried this?

[sarahgreeny]

I've been looking into high intensity interval training, it involves doing 20 seconds of exercise (jogging on the spot, sit ups, anything that works the body really) followed by 10 seconds of rest. Repeat for 15 minutes and your work out is complete.

It doesn't take long to do and you can do easily in the home without having to travel and pay for a gym.

Has anyone tried this? Thoughts welcome!

[ErrolTheDragon]

Yes - its an excellent way to improve you're fitness efficiently. You can use all sorts of exercises, depending on your initial fitness and equipment. Its whatever constitutes max effort for you so its not like some of those dvds where some moves are impossible. You can do a mix of different things so it doesn't get boring.

The standard 'tabata' is 8x(20 secs full intensity, 10 secs rest), then recover for two or three minutes and do another set, however many you want really. There are various tabata timer apps, ive got a free one which does the job.

I need to start doing this again, Ive been doing c2k but not much else over the summer so thanks for the reminder! I do various things - a set of step ups, alternate leg leading, different heights eg sofa base and chair ; a legs set of squats and lunges; maybe one of various typical aerobics eg jacks, high knees, mountain climbers. If you've got an exercise bike you can use that at high resistance.