The value of Interval Training...

[lorilu]

An interesting short read. I know this is similar to what we do - slow warm up, some harder work divided up by easier work. WHat do you think? http://www.riderfitness.com/interval-co ... e-athlete/

[PaulaEdwina]

I use it and swear by it. I belong to a barn of eventers and cowboys (mostly barrel racers and bull riders at this stage) and fitness is important to them -their horses have to go long (eventers) and go fast (barrel racers). Coupled with this I started on a fitness journey myself about a year and a half ago. Fortunately as well, the farm is 85 hilly acres with a 1/3 mile flat track and a 1 mile hill hack. So Fella and I regularly take conditioning rides on the farm. They are 1 mile walk, 2 miles WTC and 1 mile walk. I adopted interval because this is my regimen as well when I'm trail running. As a result a year later I have a freakishly fit percheron/standardbred cross! When we go out for Western games the day is usually from 8 in the morning to 2 or 3 in the afternoon and I enter 8-10 classes with 5 of them being speed classes (barrels, plug, poles, versatility, ranch pleasure) and Fella still has gas in the tank at the end of the day.

I'll attach a couple of pictures so you can see the physical changes. Rest assured there are cardiovascular changes as well. Because I am interested in competitive trail I learned to take his pulse, and his "resting" pulse -that is, walked up from the field to tie in the barn -is 40 bpm.

[Silverado]

I also do this for the horses and myself. It was an interesting read, thanks lorilu for posting a link to the article.

[demi]

I do an interval training of sorts with my horse and just posted about it in the "senior gals" forum.

Paulaedwina, Fella looks wonderful. He makes me happy just to look at him! I have watched and enjoyed his progress for a while now. Thanks for posting the before and after pics.

[PaulaEdwina]

Thanks, Demi! I am getting glimpses of "in front of the leg" now. It's pretty awesome!

Paula

[Alex]

Interval training is really the only way to go once you know how much it helps the muscles to keep oxygenated and develop their capillary web. I know that from my own running, it's something that assists your heart and lungs and muscles interact w/the least amount of pain for the maximum amount of gain over time. Done RIGHT, it's the surest and fastest way to success.

Just yesterday, I was out w/our head Search and Rescue trainer w/our two newest SAR puppies scouting for new training areas adjacent to the St. Croix River. We went down a STEEP hill that we knew would CLEARLY cause us to realize what our present fitness level was. The puppies roared up and down and around but we panted our way back up the hill. We even had to stop and pretend to admire the foliage in order to give ourselves a breather!! This winter, I'm buying a treadmill or an elliptical machine. Riding and dog training and a little running here and there aren't enough to keep me at the fitness level I like. Having had pneumonia for almost 7 months straight last year because of haying, I just lost my fitness big time.

[Ganas]

I'd like to read the study because I'm not sure what their version of an interval really is. Are we talking a HIIT interval or Gallowwalking?

I realize that LSD has taken a bit of a hit lately, but IMO it still has value in a long distance runner's program. https://experiencelife.com/article/stea ... -training/

[PaulaEdwina]

I don't go as hard as HIIT, but I employ a similar pattern where, for example, on the trail I'll walk a half mile and run a half mile regardless of terrain. With Fella I use a long warm up and long cool down of a mile-walk, then we'll TC the two middle miles. For example I'll canter the up slopes and trot the down slopes with very little walking on those middle miles. There was more walking in the beginning.

For both of us it was a necessity. We were out of shape in the beginning and couldn't maintain a fast pace for too long (neither I on the trail or Fella on the hack). I found that wogging (what I call walk/jogging) had improved my CV condition very very quickly. It seems to have done the same thing with Fella. What do I mean by cardiovascular condition? I could go longer and my recovery time to decent heart rate became shorter and shorter.

Paula