Q:I know I should start doing interval training as a firefighter but all I do right now is walk on the treadmill for cardio. How do I start.
A:If you have been walking for a while that’s great . First step, buy a heartrate monitor. You can get them at www.performbetter.com. Buy a cheap one. All you need to do is know your heart rate. Next time you walk use your monitor and see what your heartrate is during your walk. This is your Comfortable Working Heartrate (steady state). Most people would need to break 110 beats per minute to get a cardiovascular effect. Either way, don't worry about it. Just figure out what heartrate you normally walk at.
Next time you walk warmup for 5 minutes at your normal pace and then raise the incline to 5%. Walk for one minute. This should move you about 10%-20% ( this will be 10-20 beats in most cases) out of that steady state comfort zone. If it's more than 20% higher, reduce the incline to 3%. If it's less, raise it to 7%.
Step off the belt and wait for your heartrate to return to 100 beats per minute.
That’s it.
Be Safe
JC
