Build Fitness With Mild Interval

By Steve Pavlina

If you haven’t exercised in a long time and have gotten out of shape, mild interval training is a good way to rebuild endurance and cardiovascular fitness without killing yourself.

Let’s say your exercise of choice is running. Maybe you can only manage to run a few minutes before your heart feels like it’s about to explode out of your chest and you’re forced to stop for fear of passing out. It’s going to take you a while to build up to 30 minutes if you simply run your maximum each day and then stop.

So instead of that, try running 1 minute then walking 1 minute, repeating this cycle for as long as you can. You’ll find that you can go much further without overtaxing your heart and muscles. Maybe you can even go 10-20 minutes your first time. If run 1 walk 1 is too hard, try run 1 walk 2 or run 2 walk 3. Experiment to see what intervals work best for you. If your heart is still racing after the walking interval, increase the walking interval and/or reduce the running interval.

I recommend you aim for an initial interval that allows you to do the most amount of running in a 25 minute period. If you can only manage run 1 walk 4, that’s fine. Take a week to experiment with different intervals if you need to, but find one that allows you to go 25 minutes total (even if it’s run 1 walk 24). You should be physically challenged but not to the point of feeling nauseous or faint.

Once you’re able to go 25 minutes, gradually increase the running time and reduce the walking time. Aim to reach run 1 walk 1 for 25 minutes for an initial goal. Be patient as it may take you a few weeks to get there if you’re starting with a longer walking interval.