Long Slow Distance: (40 minute default)

Long Slow Distance is a great workout for everyone! Beginners can ease into their exercise program with this workout, being sure to do this workout at least a minimum of once a week to maximize overall cardiovascular endurance. Long Slow Distance workouts are also great for experienced exercisers to do on days following a harder, higher intensity workout.

Long Slow Distance helps you improve your overall cardiovascular endurance and provides lower intensity exercise ideal for your fat burning zone. Long Slow Distance workouts should begin at a duration that is challenging for you then become longer as you improve your endurance. Your intensity should be at a pace that is comfortable and allows you to maintain a conversation while exercising at your prescribed target heart rate.

There are several exercise programs you can use to accomplish Long Slow Distance. In programs that vary your resistance or incline, select workout level one to limit the change in resistance or incline.

LifeSpan Treadmills — The Step Count program lets you choose the number of steps you want to take and is a great way to participate in popular step counting programs such as the Center for Disease Control's 10,000 steps a day. The Distance program lets you select 5K or 10K, or enter the distance you want to go. The Decline program lets you walk downhill at different gradients and is excellent if you are just beginning to exercise. The MyZone Constant Heart Rate Control program lets you enter your prescribed target heart rate and will keep your heart rate at this constant level throughout your treadmill workouts.

LifeSpan Exercise Bikes and Ellipticals — The bike and elliptical machine Weight Loss program varies the resistance level at lower levels to keep your heart rate within an optimal range to achieve weight loss. The MyZone Constant Heart Rate Control program keeps your heart rate at a constant level throughout your workout. On bikes without programs, keep the resistance at the same level throughout your workout.

LifeSpan Rower — Keep your resistance and strokes per minute at constant levels throughout your workout.

Short Interval: (20 minute default)

Short Interval is ideal for beginning exercisers that want to start gaining the benefits of interval workouts but aren't quite ready for a harder and longer intensity interval workout. Short Interval is also ideal for experienced exercisers to develop their speed and anaerobic fitness. Short Interval workouts are fun to do after you have had a few days exercising for a longer duration at a slower pace. Remember, it is important to vary your exercise intensity and exercise durations to maximize your overall fitness so be sure to include some interval workouts in your exercise program at least once or twice a week.

Moderate Interval: (30 minute default)

Moderate Interval helps you improve your overall cardiovascular endurance while stimulating a higher calorie burn than you would achieve in a lower intensity workout. Moderate Interval should begin at a duration that is challenging for you but initially easy to accomplish. In between each interval you should slow down to a pace where you can very comfortably maintain a conversation, at an intensity that is in the lowest range of your prescribed target heart rate. For example, begin with an interval duration that is comfortable for you to accomplish, such as 40 seconds of fast walking on a treadmill, followed by one minute of slow, easy walking. Repeat that cycle until you have completed your full workout time. As you improve your fitness level, you can gradually increase the time of your moderate intervals.

As you begin to exercise on a regular basis and feel your fitness improving you will be ready to begin doing Moderate Intensity Interval workouts. You should begin with an intensity that is easy and then progress to an exercise intensity that is challenging but not too difficult. Remember in this workout you alternate between and easy recovery interval followed by a higher intensity interval. You should feel comfortable to push yourself as you do this workout as you are never too far away from an easier recovery interval. This workout will improve your overall aerobic endurance while also maximizing your anaerobic fitness.

LifeSpan Treadmills — Use a speed or incline Interval program. Some LifeSpan treadmills allow you to set your own minimum and maximum levels so that your treadmill will automatically change intensity levels to alternate between the minimum and maximum speed or incline you have specifically selected. You can also customize two other programs on LifeSpan treadmills to accomplish long interval exercise. The User program allows you to customize your own exercise program and the MyZone Interval Heart Rate Control program lets you choose your minimum and maximum heart rate and will adjust the incline during your workout so that you stay within your heart rate zone.

LifeSpan Exercise Bikes and Ellipticals — Use the Interval program on exercise bikes and elliptical cross trainers to automatically change the resistance level between high and low as you work out. Adjust your intensity level manually on bikes that don't have the interval program.

Long Interval: (40 minute default)

Long Interval helps you improve your overall cardiovascular endurance while stimulating a high calorie burn throughout each interval. Long Interval should begin at a duration that is challenging for you but initially easy to accomplish. In between each interval you should slow down to a pace that you can very comfortably maintain a conversation, at an intensity that is in the lowest range of your prescribed target heart rate. For example, begin with an interval duration that is comfortable for you to accomplish such as one-minute of fast walking on the treadmill followed by one-minute of slow, easy walking on the treadmill. Repeat that cycle until you have completed your full workout time.

Long Interval workouts are great to maximize calorie burn and improve your anaerobic fitness and your ability to exercise at a harder intensity level. As in the Moderate Interval workouts, remember you have a recovery period after each higher intensity interval so you can comfortably push yourself to exercise at a progressively higher level.

LifeSpan Treadmills — Use a speed or incline Interval program. Some LifeSpan treadmills allow you to set your own minimum and maximum levels so that your treadmill will automatically change intensity levels to alternate between the minimum/maximum speed or minimum/maximum incline you have specifically selected for you. You can also customize two other programs on LifeSpan treadmills to accomplish long interval exercise. The User program allows you to create your own exercise program and the MyZone Interval Heart Rate Control program lets you choose your minimum and maximum heart rate and will adjust the incline during your workout so that you stay within the heart rate zone you entered.

LifeSpan Exercise Bikes and Ellipticals — Use the Interval program on exercise bikes and elliptical cross trainers to automatically change your resistance level between high and low as you work out. Adjust your intensity level manually on bikes that don't have the interval program.

Negative Interval -1: (30 minute default)

The Negative Interval -1 workout will provide you with all the benefits of the steady pace workout but push you to slowly obtain a progressively higher steady state exercise intensity and then allow you to slowly decrease the exercise intensity. As you improve your overall health and fitness you can slowly, and of course always comfortably, push yourself to a higher peak in your overall exercise intensity in this workout.

Negative Interval -2: (30 minute default)

The Negative Interval -2 workout has been designed to provide your body with a workout that begins with a slight increase in exercise intensity, then continues the workout at a set intensity and ends with a progressive decrease in exercise intensity. A workout with an increase and decrease in exercise intensity at the beginning and end of the workout will most ideally develop your overall aerobic cardiovascular endurance. A workout that decreases in intensity is also ideal for maximizing calorie burn, but most ideally when done for a longer duration such as 40 or 50 minutes.

Fartlek: (30 minute default)

Fartlek is a Swedish word meaning speed play and is a workout that will maximize your calorie burn in a fun, varied intensity workout. Rather than following a precise workout description, this workout is up to you to determine what you will do, when you will do it and for how long! For example, following your usual warm-up, begin at an easy pace on the treadmill walking, then decide to pick up the pace for whatever amount of time you feel like doing at a faster pace. You decide the faster pace, the length of time of the faster pace, and then when to slow down, let yourself recover and start the process over again. A Fartlek workout can be accomplished in different activities including walking, biking, swimming, hiking and rowing — almost any activity you enjoy!

Varying your exercise intensity with a constantly changing interval workout that starts out at an easy pace and then increases to a moderate or higher intensity pace will add some great variety to your workouts, and make your workouts go by faster than you ever imagined, while providing your body and mind with great fitness benefits.

Because a Fartlek workout is a create-as-you-go exercise program you can easily use any type of exercise equipment in which you have control over the speed and intensity levels.

LifeSpan Treadmills — Use the Manual mode and adjust your speed higher and lower as you like.

LifeSpan Exercise Bikes and Ellipticals — Increase and decrease your revolutions per minute on bikes.

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