***Fat Loss Interval Training For Beginners

Do want run but don’t feel that you can?

Do you enjoy walking but are looking for the added fat burning benefit of running?

Well if so, then the workout I’m about to take you through will make your day a happier one.

When most people start running (at whatever stage of their life) they usually cannot run for a very long period of time. That’s to be expected since the body hasn’t been trained to accommodate the greater demands imposed by running faster or longer. However, the desire to run is present for many people because of its fat burning and overall cardiovascular benefits.

One way to build up your running endurance is to simply run a little bit longer each time you run. A good rule of thumb is to increase either your distance or speed (not both) by no more than 10% per week. This progression allows your body to adapt to new running demands while minimizing your risk for injury.

This method of running at the same pace for a given distance or duration is known as steady-state cardio or running. Initially, this is a great place to start for most beginners but there comes a point when it becomes rather boring and its fat burning potential lessened.

Instead, you may want to consider interval training. Interval training, also known as HIT, is by far the most superior training method to improve your running speed and endurance while maximizing your fat burning potential.

HIT refers to a method of cardio training whereby you combine bouts of high and low intensity. So for our purposes, and since you are a beginner, you would be combining bouts of walking and jogging. Each bout would last a certain amount of time and would be executed at a certain speed.

For most people who have never run before (and who want to start) I usually get them to start with intervals that consist of 90 seconds of walking followed by 30 seconds of jogging. They would then repeat this sequence for a given amount of time – usually 10-15 minutes depending on their initial fitness level.

The wonderful thing about interval training is that there are thousands of possible interval combinations that you can use. And as you become fitter the amount of time at the low and high intensities would vary to give you more of a challenge.

Start with this interval training workout:

Assuming that you’re a complete beginner I’m going to suggest that you begin by following the workout I mentioned above. That is to walk for 90 seconds and then jog for 30 seconds. Repeat this sequence for a total of at least 10 minutes. If you feel you can go longer, then go for it.

The true value of interval training is that it allows you to exercise at a higher overall intensity because it is broken up. Starting off, it might be tough to run (without stopping) for a full 10 minutes but with HIT you can actually spend more time running at a faster speed because you have those lower intensity recovery bouts.

Working at higher intensities also means that you burn more calories and while maximizing your body’s ability to burn fat. Over time, your metabolic rate will increase and you will be burning fat even while your resting. When it comes to fat loss the key is intensity.

So start off with this walk and jog HIT workout and progress from there. For more great interval training workouts check out my Treadmill Trainer™ iPod running workouts.