Upgrading Interval Training For Hikers

In this episode I explore a few pieces of advice on how a hiker can get the most out of their interval training.

Episode Transcript:

[0:00] All right, hello, hello, ladies and gentlemen. So in today's episode, we are diving into the topic of interval training for hikers and just talking through a few really, really simple points to help you get the most out of this type of training. Now, interval training, what is it? Very, very simple. I'm sure you've already come across it in the past, but it's basically doing some type of cardiovascular training where you do periods of quick intensity followed by periods of rest. So as opposed to just going out and doing 20 minutes or 30 minutes or 40 minutes of constant movement, you break it up and you go relatively quick, rest, relatively quick, rest, relatively quick. Pretty simple. I'm sure everyone listening is already kind of aware of how they go about that. Now, the beauty of interval training is essentially because we are just doing short bursts of exercise, we can ultimately just work a little bit harder than we typically do with our steady state exercise, meaning we can access slightly higher intensities, we can sort of challenge the body in slightly different ways, and it can be a really, really effective method of training for one reason or another.

[1:01] Now, when we often talk about interval training, probably the most common aspect or type of interval training that people are familiar with is what I call short, sharp intervals. So this is the type of stuff which is really popular in gyms, on online classes, stuff that you've probably done at some stage or another, where you might go really, really, really, really quick for like 45 seconds and then have 15 seconds off and then go really, really, really quick for 45 seconds and then have 15 seconds off and repeat that a bunch of times. Or it might be doing something like going really, really quick for 20 seconds and then having 10 seconds off and then 20 seconds hard, 10 seconds off or something like that. And these really, really short, sharp intervals where you work super hard for a very short period of time and then just have a little rest in between or something like that. There's, in all honesty, countless different ways of going about that, but they're really, really common. And as I sort of said, these are super common in gym environments, in group exercise environments, in online classes. There's literally businesses which are made around these sort of interval structures, and they're really, really, really common.

[2:01] Now, this type of stuff, this short, sharp interval training, it can be really, really good. It gets you hot, it gets you sweaty, it burns through a lot of calories. And for a lot of people, it's really, really enjoyable because Because you feel like you're working really hard. And these short periods, you feel like you can just really, really push yourself and challenge yourself. And this type of stuff, it can be really beneficial for people who, you know, if you're just training for general fitness or weight loss, this type of stuff is awesome. And a lot of people are seeing great success with it and really, really enjoy it.

[2:29] However if you're not just training for general fitness or not just training for weight loss and if you're actively trying to improve your hiking and if you're literally using your training to try to get a bit better in one way or another on your actual adventures which i assume you are if you're listening to this podcast we can get a little bit better than this and we can upgrade this type of interval training a little bit so we can hone on in aspects on hone in on aspects of fitness, which are a little bit more relevant for hiking. So instead of just getting a good general workout, we're going to get a really good workout, which is going to be a little bit more towards what we need for hiking.

[3:08] And one thing that I often talk about here, and it's a really, really simple way of going about things of upgrading your interval training for hiking, is to aim for slightly longer intervals. So the example I often use, and I've talked about in this podcast loads of time, is instead of doing, you know, this 45 seconds quick and 15 seconds slow, we might do something where you're going quick for three minutes at a time and 90 seconds slow. So it's a lot, lot, lot longer period where you're going quick. And the reason behind this and why I recommend this and the idea behind this type of thing is when we're doing this really short, sharp stuff, it's very, very beneficial, but it's very, very targeting towards these super high intensities that the body needs to deal with. And it trains the body in these short, sharp bursts of exercise.

[3:53] But alternatively, if we extend the intervals out a little bit longer and get them a little bit longer around two minutes, three minutes, four minutes, five minutes, six minutes, et cetera, we can sort of hone this into aspects of fitness that the body needs a little bit more when we're hiking. Because it's very, very rare when we're hiking, we'll just go for 45 seconds at a time or 20 seconds at a time at these crazy high intensities. But when we're looking at, you know, climbing up a hill, it will take you multiple minutes. And for some people, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 50 minutes or something like that. So essentially looking at this longer interval training where we can still push the intensity, push the challenge and teach the body to kind of sustain these more difficult things, but for a slightly longer period of time, this is really, really relevant for hiking. This can be really effective. So as I said, one of the interval structures I often talk about is that three minutes on, 90 seconds off, but there's lots of other things like, you know, for example, you might do four minutes on or five minutes on or eight minutes on or something like that. And all of these are just different ways of challenging the body and using this type of interval training. But when it comes down to this type of stuff, it can be really, really, really beneficial and really, really, really effective.

[5:01] And basically in my training with my hikers, I will typically do, you know, when we're looking at interval training specifically, the majority of my stuff doing these longer intervals, and then every once in a while do that short, sharp stuff, which can be good to get little bits and pieces of. And I find this works really, really well.

[5:17] But there is one thing that I sometimes hear from people who try this type of interval training out. It may be from someone who's just come across like podcast or video and they've given it a go and they've given feedback. Sometimes this comes from hikers who start working with us and we kind of expose them to this type of thing for the first time or whatever it may be. But sometimes people come back to us and say, these intervals, they feel a bit easy and they feel like they're not really getting a huge workout out of them. And this will either come from someone who's kind of used to doing that short, sharp stuff, and they're really used to going super, super quick for 45 seconds, or super, super quick for 20 seconds, or something like that. Or on the flip side, this sometimes comes from people who maybe hasn't really explored interval training before, and they've just been doing walking and hiking workouts and never really done this type of stuff. But in either situation, if you ever experiment with this type of thing, and you feel like, hey, this actually does feel a little bit easy compared to maybe what I was doing before, or maybe it just feels like I'm not really getting a huge workout of it. The answer is really, really, really simple.

[6:20] You just need to work a little bit harder. Now, the beauty of interval training is when we're doing this work, rest, work, rest, is ultimately you can really, really push yourself as hard as you want. Or on the flip side, when we're looking at this longer interval training, if you're not the type of person who likes to work absolutely to the limit, you can pull things back and it's still going to be effective. It's still going to be beneficial. And ultimately, if you do try these intervals and you're like, hey, this is a little bit too easy, you just need to work harder. You just need to push a bit quicker. You just need to give yourself a little bit more challenge. It can take a little bit of trial and error to kind of figure this out, but it's as simple as that. So, you know, some people will say, you know what, in the intervals, I'm doing three minutes quick. And they're like, oh, you know, by the end, I'm not really super tired. Well, that's just a case of, yeah, you need to go a little bit quicker. Or then sometimes people like, well, you know, you've recommended having 90 seconds rest here or two minutes rest here. And they're like, well, I feel like I'm ready to go in like 45 seconds. I feel like that rest is a a little bit too long. And again, in that situation, you probably just need to be working a little bit harder. So the body is kind of craving that rest and you're actually, you know what, I really do want to take this time to recover.

[7:27] Ultimately, when it comes down to interval training, you have a lot of control around how hard you make these things. And no, you do not have to go absolutely hell for leather if you don't want. However, please don't feel like this type of training isn't effective if you're just not working hard enough. It's completely up to you and you're ultimately can control the level of difficulty for this type of thing. Now, on the flip side, like a lot of people, if you've been doing that 45 seconds on and 20 seconds on, you know, the way those workouts are strung together is anyone is going to get tired because there's not much rest at all. You're just going and going and going and going, and it doesn't really require a huge amount of kind of pushing yourself. Yes, you need to work hard, but you know, you just string together enough hard exercises, you're going to be knackered. So when we're doing this more longer interval training, you do need to be a bit more intentional around how hard you are pushing and what pacing you're doing so you can get the most out of this type of thing.

[8:22] So ultimately, you know, if you've tried, you know, this type of interval training, if you explored this three minutes at a time, four minutes at a time, eight minutes at a time, whatever it may be, and you've given it a go and then you're like, oh, you know what? This isn't really for me because maybe it's a little bit too easy. I would challenge you, give this another go. Put yourself in the mindset saying, you know what? I'm going to work with these longer things, but I'm going to really, really push myself and just really, really, really make sure by the end of these three minutes or by the end of these six minutes or whatever it may be, I really want to rest. And I guarantee you it's going to be a really good workout. It'll be a different type of tiredness. It'll be a different type of challenge, but it'll be super effective for your hiking.

[9:00] And also, if you've only ever done the short, sharp stuff, if you've only ever done group exercise, if you've only ever done this traditional HIIT, and you like the idea of maybe changing this to something, some type of interval training, which may be a bit more relevant for your hiking, I'd really recommend giving this a go. So try this idea of going quick for three minutes at a time and having 90 seconds rest, or try this idea of going quick for eight minutes at a time and having two minutes rest. You will need to adjust your intensity. You will need to have a bit of a trial and error to kind of find the right speeds for the different types of intervals, but it can be really, really effective. And once you figure it out, and once you kind of get that gauge of how you can push yourself, this can just be so, so, so beneficial for your hiking. So long story short, interval training can be great. The general interval training is beneficial as it is, but if you want to upgrade it a little bit more to this hiking specific stuff, try exploring this longer intervals and make sure you're pushing yourself hard. And if you can do that, it will really pay off well. So with that being said, that's enough on today's topic. I hope you've enjoyed it. I hope that makes sense. And we'll talk to you very, very soon. Bye.

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