Beware of Interval Training

If you read enough about fitness and exercise you will come across an article promoting interval training. Wikipedia defines interval training as follows:

Interval training is a type of physical training that involves bursts of high-intensity work interspersed with periods of low-intensity work. The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to near-maximum exertion, while the recovery periods may involve either complete rest or activity of lower intensity.

About a year ago I was training for a triathlon and it was recommended to me to do interval training to help my cardiovascular strength and endurance faster. Fitness experts will always talk about the benefits of benefits of interval training but you never hear about the down sides. When running if you alternate between very high intensity running and a jog you end up running much faster and harder during the high intensity portion than you would if you were running at a constant speed because you have a chance to rest and recover. Unfortunately running (especially on concrete or a treadmill) puts a lot of stress on your knees, shins and back, so very high intensity running puts even more stress on your body. In one 20 minute session of interval training I managed to herniate a disk in my back. A perfectly healthy 25 year old athlete got a serious injury from just running. Unfortunately I did not realize I that I had a herniated disk until I got an MRI last week.

While I would strongly caution against doing any type of interval training on concrete or a treadmill, you can safely do interval training on an elliptical runner.

Fitocracy, the Facebook of Fitness

A few days ago I wrote about how you could use fitocracy to track your BJJ training. I am reposting it on this blog since I think it is a great tool for a person who is training for any sport.

Today I was reading a blog entry at jiujitsu365 about a new website called Fitocracy. It is a training log mixed with a competition mixed with social networking. You log your workouts and get points based on the different exercises. There are contests, quests, accomplishments and leader boards to compare yourself to other people. Since I am a competitive person, I can see myself really getting into this. If you need motivation to get in shape or lose some weight then this is the perfect site for you. Fitocracy also has groups so you can socialize with other people with similar interests.

If you sign up, I highly recommend changing your email settings because they are pretty spammy at first. Right now the website is in beta testing and is only available by invite. If you are interested in getting an invite, post a comment on this post, then email me at bjjcompete@gmail.com and tell me why you deserve an invite. I have limited invites so I am not going to just post it here.

Some of my criticisms for Fitocracy are that it overvalues weight lifting compared to other typse of exercise. It also doesn't have a mobil optimized site. I would also like for people to be a little more interactive in the groups, it seems like anything anyone says gets lost amoung all of the workouts that are logged. I would also like some sort of charting funtion to see my progress over time. However I am very impressed with the wide range of exercise options the site has and how good the search function is to find the different exercises.

I would like to add that I am still a big fan of this website. It is great for people who are competitive and also for people who like the constant feedback and likes from a website similar to facebook. I see a bright future for Fitocracy.