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I would like to do intervals on the elliptical, but I've never really figured out how. Do you try to go really fast for 1 min then slow for 1 min, or do you keep your speed the same and just change the intensity? It's easy to do intervals on the TM where the machine sets the pace; it seems a lot harder do them on the elliptical where I have to set the pace.
I actually find it harder to do intervals on the TM because it takes so long for it to come up to speed or slow down between intervals. On the elliptical, I can speed up while the intensity is going up and slow down while it's going down.
I do intervals a couple of different ways on the elliptical.
Most often I do this:
Set the intensity about 5, which at a moderate pace, gets my heart rate around 145 (about 2 or 3 mins).
Then ramp the intensity up to 8 and go as hard and fast as I can for 1 min. At the end of the 1 min, I'm up around 176/180
Drop the intensity back to 5 and slow down until my heart rate reaches 145 again (again, 2 or 3 mins).
I can do this for about 8-ish cycles. By the end of the 8th HI cycle, "as hard and fast as I can" is pretty darned lame.
Then I cool down for about 5 mins to get my heart rate down into the low 130s.
Every once in a while I set the intensity at 10 and the incline at 10 and just use my own speed to control my heart rate. This one is harder to do for me since it means really forcing my stride, so it gets my heart rate up higher, faster.
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