interval training-what ratio of rest to work?

[alophysio]

Hi.

For cardiovascular fitness, there has been recent research from the University of NSW in Australia that suggests that 12secs work and 8 secs rest (or vice versa!) for 20mins is an effective regimen. I haven't been able to locate the journal or the reference.

[uranfeman]

yep, I believe it was part of a PhD, where they performed an RCT comparing the influence on fat loss between High Intensity Interval Exercise (HIIE) and Steady State (SS) cardio.
The HIIE performed intervals of 8sec work followed by 12 sec rest for a total of 20mins (that calculates to 60 intervals!), and the SS group built up to 40mins. The HIIE group lost considerably more fat.

This is only one study that is showing that HIIE may be more suitable for fat loss than the SS stuff that we have been told for years (ie the 'fat burning zone'). It should be noted that the participants in the above study were sedentary 20-something women, so you don't have to be fit already to benefit from this form of training (although I'd recommend one be healthy, no susceptibility to musculoskeletal injuries, and under the guidance of a competent fitness professional would be ideal).

For those interested, the abstract and full text of the thesis can be found here.

Of course, its not to say that SS won't work (for some it might be a good starting point). And afterall, a 60x8sec work/12sec rest protocol is just plain HARD, and not everyone wants to commit to that level of difficulty.

Happy Training!
Kevin