When most people think of interval training — if they think of it at all — they think of an intense regimen reserved for competitive types. Distance runners heading to the track once a week to work on speed (evidenced by the Swedish fartlek approach that came into vogue here in the 1970s), cyclists working 30-second county-line sprints into their 3-hour rides, swimmers who periodically inject a speed lap into their long hours in the pool.

Turns out, though, that interval training can benefit anyone, especially those who need to get the most out of their workouts: the obese

This was the conclusion of a study by the Montreal Heart Institute’s center for preventive medicine and physical activity, released last week. The study followed 62 participants in a 9-month program for the obese called Kilo-Actif. The program focuses on both better eating habits and being more physically active. For the latter, participants engage in two to three supervised 60-minute training sessions each week. A key component of those sessions: interval training. (On the nutritional side, fyi, participants meet with dietitians and follow a Mediterranean diet.)

At the end of the 9-month period, participants showed, on average, across-the-board improvement in their key stats. Among them: 5.5 percent drop in body mass, 5.15 percent reduction in waist circumference, 15 percent improvement in “effort capacity,” 7 percent drop on LDL (‘bad”) cholesterol and an 8 percent increase in HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

“It is proven that, compared to moderate-intensity continuous training, interval training is more appreciated by participants,” said Valérie Guilbault, a kinesiologist at the center who oversaw the participants’ training. “This type of training is also more effective, because alternating between short periods of intense effort and rest periods allows for a longer training time.”

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For more on the study, go here.
For more on interval training in general — how it works, the benefits and how to incorporate it into your workout — go here.

Photo: Cheetahs are the ultimate interval trainers. And have you ever seen a tubby one?