Interval Training

Runners in Sweden originally practiced interval training. Swedish runners would engage in periods of fast running interspersed with periods of slow running. They called this type of training fartlek training. Fartlek in Swedish means "speed play." Athletes who compete in sports that require bouts of high-intensity exercise followed by periods of rest engage in interval training because it follows the training principle of specificity. Interval training is necessary for athletes who are training at high intensities because they cannot continuously engage in high-intensity exercise for extended periods. After an intense bout of exercise, the rest period allows them to recover so that they can perform the exercise again at full speed. Interval training programs require the athlete to consider the work-to-rest ratio, which is the ratio between the amount of time engaged in exercise and the amount of time for rest. Work-to-rest ratios range from 1:1 to 1:6 for extremely intense exercises. A 1:6 work-to-rest ratio would mean that if the exercise bout (an all-out sprint) lasted for 10 seconds, then the rest period would be 60 seconds (10 sec × 6).

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