However, I got a couple emails suggesting that it was a little difficult to transition from steady state cardio if you’re just getting into intervals.  I also got an email telling me that intervals are not for beginners.

Fortunately, I was recently speaking to Craig Ballantyne of TurbulanceTraining.com and he mentioned that he’s had great success with intervals for beginners and he was kind enough to share his ideas with me.  Although neither of us is really a huge fan of treadmills, I’ll use this as an example because it is pretty easy to understand.

Let’s say that a beginner can walk on a treadmill at a steady pace of 3.5 for twenty minutes.  You could start to implement intervals by having that person performing at a higher level than usual (3.8) followed for about one minute followed by a minute at a lower level (3.2).

By doing this you’re gradually increasing the intensity at which someone can work.  Over time you’ll be able to increase the intervals to higher and higher levels until they can go full tilt with a true interval protocol.

So if you’re just getting started you can definitely give this a go.  Also, I’d highly recommend checking out Craig’s website at TurbulanceTraining.com