hen we start our career as runners, it is necessary to learn about the different types of training that exist and how it can help us to have more speed, resistance or strength.

Therefore, we present one of the most common, but most important, trainings, so that you can adapt it to your routine.

Surely you will think that there are not many differences between the series that we do in the gym and the intervals of activities also known as fartlek. However, the difference is that the first one has another type of rest with a longer duration, where the recovery will also be complete before starting the next series; while in the fartlek you continue to recover from a high intensity exercise in an active way.

So, when training for a race, the fartlek could be a great ally, since it allows you to intersperse low intensity work intervals with high intensity and aims to improve physical resistance and recovery capacity, keeping in mind that the key is not to suspend the activity with established periodic times.

Based on your physical condition and performance, the routine that you must carry out will be determined, although before that, you must consider some basic points: the intensity and duration of the interval, as well as the total number of repetitions, and the duration of the rests .>

If you are a beginner, you can start to alternate the rhythm every 5 or 10 minutes, as these exercises will help you to work on both the aerobic aspect, which would be the low intensity ones, and the anaerobic ones, the high intensity ones.

The total time that you should perform your routine is from half an hour to 45 minutes, once or twice a week maximum. It is recommended to start running at a medium speed and do the interval with higher speeds for 30 or 40 seconds, and continue repeating the sequences three or four more times. This training has the advantages that you won’t need a large amount of money to be able to do it, because you can do the intervals anywhere on a flat surface, with comfortable tennis shoes and the stopwatch on your cell phone.

As time goes by, as you gain more control of your body, you will be able to shorten the interval time, and maintain shorter time lapses. But you should not trust yourself, you have to be very careful with the routine you want to perform and not push yourself too hard, because this can lead to unwanted results such as slow progress in the benefits of training and even injure yourself by not performing the exercises properly when starting; for this reason, it is very important to take into account about your limits are and advance at your own rhythm.

You can do the routine change every 2 weeks or every month, depending on how your body feels. If you train the fartlek consistently, some of the results you will get are:

• Increased muscle mass
• Cardiovascular endurance
• Improved breathing and speed
• Increased tolerance to lactic acid buildup

Finally, don’t forget to warm up before starting your interval training and ask for professional assistance in case you don’t know how to perform your exercises to avoid damage to your health.