Want More Out of Your Interval Workouts? Chill Out.

Unfortunately, lots of men dont do intervals that way. Instead, they tend to skimp on their rest periods in favor of long work bouts and short-as-possible rest breaks. One-minute-on, 15-seconds-off guy, were looking at you.

While the go-hard attitude is in the right place, the problem is that when you sprint (or even push a sled or swing a kettlebell) for a full minute, and then only rest for 15 seconds, youre going into each work bout so depleted that you'll be dragging ass. When you perform high-intensity work, it takes a long time for all of your bodys energy substrates to replete themselves so you can go hard in the next bout. Thats not you being out-of-shapeits human physiology.

So what happens when you go into your next set before your bodys actually ready? Your high-intensity intervals turn into an act of pure endurance, with your gains in muscle, speed, power, and your caloric burns taking a major backseat. Since you're burned out, your form will falter. If your form is off, everything suffers, explains Don Saladino, NASM , the superhero trainer behind the physiques of Ryan Reynolds , Zachary Levi , and other actors with powerful roles.

This full go, minimal rest setup can be especially damaging for your goals when you're working on treadmill intervals. "There are so many ways to get overly technical with setting up your interval training, and sometimes you just want to get a good sweat and have fun with your training partner," Saladino wrote in an Instagram post about the training challenge. His solution: Take a much more effective approach to your sprints with 1:1 work-to-rest ratios.

View this post on Instagram There are several answers here! If your form is incorrect and your body is not conditioned due to inefficiencies in a movement, this can become very taxing to the body. There are so many ways to get overly technical with setting up your interval training, and sometimes you just want to get a good sweat and have fun with your training partner So try these 1:1 ratio sprints on the treadmill. You can either do 30 seconds on/ 30 seconds off, or 1 minute on/1 minute off with your partner. Tag a friend you want to try this with! @torriewilson #suitupwithdon #intervaltraining #wednesdaymorning #wednesdaymotivation #superherotraining A post shared by Don Saladino (@donsaladino) on Sep 25, 2019 at 6:05am PDT

Youll sprint all out for one minute or 30 seconds with this strategy, and then rest for the same length of time. Sure, it might sound easier, but it will allow you to push harder and recover better for each work phase. And when it comes to intervals, exactly what you put into those high-intensity bouts is what youre going to reap in results.

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Want more workouts from Saladino? Check out his Men's Health Superhero Shred program, which is designed with the same principles he uses to get his star clients in shape.