Interval training has always been a cheat-code for me in terms of getting in shape, then staying in shape when I wasn't able to spend a lot of time in the gym. As someone who comes from an engineering background, I have a special appreciation for how efficient it is in terms of time-spent and results.
I agree. The catch is that it doesn't seem to be something that's sustainable at high rates in the long term. There's quite the contrast between the way experienced athletes who already are very fit incorporate interval training long-term (often 1x/week) and the way Internet enthusiasts (perennial beginners) use interval training because they read about the Tabata study.
It strikes me as a bit similar to one of those effective but short-term crash diets. You get lean, tell everyone about it, and stop. Similarly, the dramatic effect of training intervals 6x/week is one of those things that's great for a few weeks.
> There's quite the contrast between the way experienced athletes who already are very fit incorporate interval training long-term (often 1x/week)
1x/week? Where are you getting that number from? For many athletes, their sport essentially is interval training (e.g. sprinting, tennis, American football).
As a pretty capable sprinter, I do something akin to interval training 4x/week, weight training 2x/week (one heavy day, one light), and then mobility and blood flow work whenever I can.
You're right. I missed a great deal of context there, as I was thinking about the most familiar cases to me, where either (a) you're an endurance athlete whose interest is largely maintaining a huge cardio base (see the Mark Twight piece in the sibling comment) or (b) you're getting a ton of 'intermittent' work from your sport, like you say.
Mentally I somehow but that kind of skill work in a different category from "interval" training but that's probably because I've never done an sport like sprinting or short-distance rowing/swimming/etc. Skill training for tennis or boxing or judo or BJJ or whatever doesn't feel like interval training even if it is intermittent and anaerobic... even when the round timer goes off at regular intervals in a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio.
I recently started doing Tabata workouts on a stationary bike. Interval training is an incredible approach if you can't invest much time. I can be in and out of the gym in 15 minutes and can feel the benefits 48 hours after a rough workout.
The challenge is that it can be incredibly difficult. I never regret going, but it can be hard to motivate knowing how hard that 15 minutes will be. I can barely walk afterwards. That's unfortunately a tough sell for most people despite its benefits and I find an excuse to avoid it more than I'd like to admit.
For anyone thinking it's a tough sell who is curerntly doing regular cardio; try it, it's tougher for sure but then it's over before you know it. I honestly can't go back to regular cardio now that I've tried Tabata/HIIT.
There's a major difference between "getting in shape" and "being a top-performing athlete". There's no silver bullet, no, but some forms of exercise are better than others.
It is sort of a cheat code but when i measure intervals in terms of how stressed i am after a work out... intervals should be worse then a 5 mile jog. Its so intense i don't really feel like i cheated anything.
