Gin called me yesterday and was rather perturbed.  She’d been politely corrected after teaching a class that was titled “interval” which included strength segments. So she taught her format that alternates strength segments with cardio “intervals”.  After the class, she was told that she took the cardio “too high”.

This has been a long-time pet peeve of us both.  Seems over the years, the misnomer of alternating steady state cardio with strength has come to be known as an “interval” format.   True, they are done in “intervals” or segments and, yes, they alternate aerobic with anaerobic work.  But in this format, the aerobic segment tends to be the higher effort and the anerobic is the recovery.

Reebok University clarified the difference back in the 90′s when they rolled out Circuit and Interval Step programming.  A circuit alternates strength with cardio, and in a group fitness setting, it is done at what they call a uni-station as opposed to moving from one station to the next with some kind of cardio in between.   Interval training is alternating bouts of high intensity work efforts with lower intensity recovery and the goal is completely different from a circuit.

Check the dictionary and you find the definition: series of fast paced exercises interspersed with slower ones or brief rests for training (as of an athlete).

 The ACE Personal Trainer Manual defines it as “repeated intervals of exercises (e.g., jogging or running) insterspersed with intervals of relatively light exercise (e.g., walking)” and further defines “aerobic” and “anaerobic” interval training – all relative to cardio-respiratory fitness.  “Circuit training” is then defined as “taking participants through a series of exercise stations, with relatively brief intervals of rest in between”.

Several years ago, we posted this information clarifying Interval Training:

• What it is and Why it Works
• Types of Interval Training

Despite attempts to clarify, the word interval to describe cardio/strength formats seems to have taken a strong hold.   Is it “wrong”?  Perhaps not.  Is it “confusing”? Without a doubt!

The following is a thread found on the Video Fitness Forum:

http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=128307&highlight=interval+definition

photo credit: jontunn