It was the late 70's and I was a sophomore at Liberty University. On the first day of wrestling practice Coach Bonheim called us together and announced: "All right, this year we are going to do something a little different." He went on to explain how practices would be organized. Every other day we would be wrestling. The in-between days were to be spent practicing moves. This was my introduction to interval training.
Wrestling days began with body-weight exercises. Coach was a bit leery of free-weights back then. Afterward the real work started. A typical session would go like this: Wrestling for a 1 minute period, then 2 minutes, then 3. Next: 3 minutes, 2 minutes and 1 minute. Between we would circle the mat and check our pulse. Once our heart rate fell below 120 we would start again. Thus it would continue. Each practice would include about 45 minutes of full-on wrestling.
Off days would serve two purposes: Recovery from the previous day; and refinement of skills. This was radically different from what I had known before and I was curious about the effects. They turned out to be good. The team had a winning season and we placed 3rd in the NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) tournament. The previous year we had placed 5th. The effect on me? Unfortunately I had to leave the team for more pressing matters early in the season. But the short time I had put me in arguably the best shape of my life. I had a resting heart rate of 50. I was strong with great endurance and flexibility.
That was then. Today interval training and its numerous variations are among the most popular forms of exercise. They promise all the usual benefits of training; weight loss, increased energy, muscle mass, etc, in a much shorter time frame. I am speaking of a couple of studies which seem to show that short, intense bursts of energy can have the same effectiveness as longer, less intense sessions.
I decided to test this idea on a willing subject - me. What kinds of changes would a high-intensity workout engender? Not being a gym rat anymore, I own exactly three pieces of equipment. Two 40 lb dumbbells and a NordicTrack bicycle.
On alternate days I do weights. Back, chest (in the form of pushups), abs, shoulders and arms. Three sets each with no more than 3 minutes rest in between. I warm up with a quick sprint on the bike, and usually hit it again halfway through to keep my heart rate (way) up. The in between days consist of bicycle sprints: 4 of them with 3 minutes rest in between. This may sound like a short session. It is. I spend no more than 1 minute at a time riding, but my pace is furious. Some days I go at my absolute max speed. These last for about 30 seconds. Other days I go at the highest rate I can perform for 1 minute.
The new workout had an immediate effect, mostly in a negative sense. The pain in my legs by the end of each sprint was tremendous. I would be sucking air like crazy and my heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest. This is certainly not for the squeamish! It took a few weeks for my body to adapt to this new workout. Now I'm developing some variations to make the sprints even more intense. My heart and breathing are still through the roof when I'm riding, but I recover quickly and by the next start time I'm more than ready to go again.
The effects? My muscles are tight and feel great. I haven't lost any appreciable muscle mass even though I have to do more reps than before. Sure, the intensity leaves my legs tight, but I remedy that with stretching on off days. On the up side, I am rarely tired or out of breath. And what about my resting heart rate? It's not 50 anymore. Actually, it's a bit lower.
This type of workout carries a high discomfort factor, that's true. But the benefits are well worth the effort.
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