The Healthy Thread
Out of context: Reply #59
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- Hombre_Lobo0
RUNNING!
In terms of all the running short and fast or long and slow.There are pros and cons to both, but in my experience and the trainers I've spoken too, the benefits of short and fast running out weigh the benefits of long slow running.
The major reasons are that if you do a 5 mile interval session mixing up sprinting and jogging (or walking and sprinting), it puts a huge demand on your heart and nervous system, the change in pace is very good for your health and ultimately burns more calories.
If you were to run a steady 10 mile with no pace change, it's good for you for sure, but keeping your heart rate slightly elevated at the same rate for a long time is not as beneficial as changing your heart rate. Changing it is harder for your system and more demanding and thus better for you.
The only benefits of long slow running to my knowledge is that it is kept in a slightly more fat burning zone than shorter more intense workouts. Most say the fat burning zone is about 110-140 heart
Further to that if you can do 5 miles of intervals it's very very likely you could do 10 miles of steady pace jogging.
However someone who can run a steady pace 10 mile is less likely to be able to do a 5 mile interval. So the benefits of pace changing intervals are more applicable to various exercises.Throw in the bonus that the interval running work out will give you more testosterone production and growth hormone, like most short and intense exercises, (which will affect overall energy and muscle growth) than the longer steady running and it seems like a better choice for most people.
Naturally this doesn't apply for those training to run long and steady.