10-20-30 (Or 30-20-10) Interval Training

Three out of three formidable German women suggest you do 10-20-30's So, what starts off slowly, then gets more uncomfortable, then downright painful, then proceeds to repeat itself over and over and over 'til you want to puke? Why yes, it's a Cranky Fitness blog post! But this also describes the exercise I love to hate, high intensity interval training, or HIIT. And there's a newish variation, getting all kinds of rave reviews of late, called the "10-20-30." Curious about the why's, how's, when's, whether's, and whatevers? Let's check out this puppy out. What is a 10-20-30? Here's how it goes: 1. First you warm up. 2. Then you jog for 30 seconds, at a leisurely 30% of maximal intensity. Then you go 20 seconds at "training pace" of about 60% of your maximum. Then finally, you crank it up and bust your ass and go all out, over 90% of maximum, for 10 seconds. Repeat this minute-long cycle continuously 5 times. That's "one."  (Even though it's really five). 3. Then, you go back to nice slow jogging for two minutes (120 lovely recovery seconds). 4. Repeat the above series 3 more times. (And you don't have to start with 4 sets, you can work up to that many over time). So to review:  4 x (5 x (30/20/10)) + 120)  = You Are Done. Note: these should really be called 30-20-10's, right, since that's the order you go in? Whatever. Why are people so excited about 10-20-30's? This protocol came from a study out of Copenhagen that took "moderately trained...
Source: Cranky Fitness - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Source Type: blogs