1.) Short, Maximal Effort with
Long Rest
These intervals involve working at maximal effort for short periods of time (5-30 seconds at most). Longer rest facilitates recovery of metabolite accumulation and the involved energy systems (e.g. creatine phosphate system), enabling repeated high-output intervals.
Example: Assault Bike - 5 Calories x 5-15 seconds, Rest 60-90s
2.) Moderate, Near-Maximal Effort with Long Rest
These intervals take you into the territory where your muscles and lungs are screaming at you to stop, with a large accumulation of metabolites (byproducts of metabolism & muscle contraction that contribute to fatigue)
that impede muscle contraction and leave you burning. Long rest here enables repeated high-effort outputs, albeit not near maximal power as in the first example.
Example: Hill Run x 60-90s, Rest
90-180s
3.) Short, Maximal Effort with Short Rest
Where rest is short,
subsequent efforts will result in lower output. What this means is that you will gradually move away from the maximal power side of the spectrum, toward moderate power with more aerobic energy contributions. This is neither good nor bad, it just means you aren't getting maximal power output, nor are you getting a low fatigue aerobic training stimulus. It can be quite time effective.
Example: Assault Bike - 10 Calories x 10-30 seconds, rest as long as the work period took, and repeat.
4.) Moderate, Submaximal Effort with Matched Rest
As per (2) above, these will leave you burning and gasping, but with matched rest here, you will find your output dropping and fatigue accumulating quicker. Similar to (3), this can be quite time effective due to a higher
work:rest ratio, but can also be very fatiguing.
Example: BikeERG x 60-120s, Rest 60-120s, Repeat as close to max effort as you can.
5.) Long Aerobic Intervals Climbing to Threshold
These intervals are a little different, as it's more like "clustered"
aerobic training. This type of training can be quite useful for many athletes that need a large aerobic engine, and one sport-specific example close to home would be jiu jitsu or combat sports athletes competing in 3-10 minute matches.
Example: BikeERG x 3-5 minutes, allowing heart rate to climb up toward 160-180bpm by the end, with rest by 1-3 minutes and repeat.
As mentioned at the beginning, there are many ways to plan cardio
training. Knowing some of the advantages and objectives can help you plan more deliberately. What many people do is something like 30s on, 30s off, with no tracking of output, no progression, no heart rate monitoring, just simply "trying hard". This is good, but it could be a lot better.
If you are ready to take charge of your training, nutrition, and lifestyle, cardio training is something we try to prioritise with our coaching clients. If you are interested, we now have spots available for coaching clients!.
If you'd like to maximise your understanding of nutrition to coach others on their journey, join the waitlist
for Triage Nutrition Certification V2.0.
