If 30 minutes of continuous cardio activity is too strenuous for you or you can't commit to the time frame, researchers in Canada have found that a 20-minute workout consisting of one-minute intervals followed by one minute of recovery is an effective method for improving your overall health and fitness level. To experiment with the concept yourself, complete a one-minute interval at 90 percent Read more

FitSugar community member (and fitness instructor) livinginthin gives us a primer on Tabata training, a type of high-intensity interval workout. You've probably heard the word Tabata by now (and if you haven't, you will!). So what exactly is this hot new fitness trend, and why you should care about it? What is Tabata? The term Tabata was coined after the Japanese researcher Dr. Izumi Tabata, Read more

Now that school is officially out, the track at your local middle or high school is probably available for your running pleasure. Whether running around a track is new to you or a place you've always worked out, the monotony can be very calming and meditative, but it can also be extremely boring. I know it's not the most exciting place to get your run on, but since it's also not the most popular Read more

Interval training is the ultimate fitness mashup, blending the speeds of both the tortoise and the hare. The benefits of this workout — pushing your pace, then slowing down to recover just so you can push your pace again — will certainly motivate you to play with your speed. If you haven't already added them to your cardio workouts, here are seven benefits of interval training. Whittle your Read more

Tabata. These three simple rhythmic syllables when uttered by a personal trainer can make a person sweat with nervous anticipation. And the nervous sweating will be followed by lots of actual sweating once the workout begins. After hearing rumors of this intense workout, yesterday my Equinox trainer Lauren decided it was time to introduce me to Tabata training; today my abs, glutes, and upper Read more

If your goal is to get fit this year, hopefully, you've been reading our tips on how to motivate yourself to go to the gym, and being inspired by readers in our Fit Community. And now that you've gotten into a routine with your workouts, it's time to decide how you'll be switching it up to maximize your time in the gym or on the road. Interval and high-intensity training are perfect ways to do Read more

If you're too hot to run outside, and you refuse to exercise indoors on a treadmill, I don't blame you. That doesn't mean you need to give up on your workouts, though. Slip on your bathing suit, find the nearest pool, and start treading. It's essentially like running, but you're floating in water. You'll feel resistance from all angles, so it's an amazing thigh-, butt-, and core-toning workout. Read more

The following post was written by Olympic athlete and mom Kerri Walsh, two-time gold medalist in pairs beach volleyball. Every now and then, my husband, Casey, and I work out together. When we do, we usually do intervals. We'll warm up with a nice jog on the beach. Then we'll do beach sprints. We sprint from one lifeguard station to the next, then we jog to the next lifeguard station, and then Read more

Dear Fit, I'm trying to get rid of belly fat and I've read that the best way to do that is by doing intervals. I've been jogging slowly for two minutes, and then I sprint for a minute, but by the next time the next sprinting interval comes around, I'm still huffing and puffing. Sometimes, I even have to stop running altogether. How can I recover faster between intervals? —Catching My Read more