
Interval training is thought to have originated in Sweden, where it's called fartlek training. Interval training is a method of training in which your workout's intensity is increased and decreased between aerobic and anaerobic training. Intervals can improve performance and recovery in a short amount of time. Read more: What Are the Benefits of Interval Training? Article
Multimedia: Slideshows, Images & Quizzes
-
Heart Health: What Is a Healthy and Normal Heart Rate for My Age?
Learn normal heart rates by age, for young adults, seniors, and others. What's a good resting heart rate for your age? What is...
-
Heart Health: What to Know About Your Heart Rate
Understanding your heart rate and what's healthy for you is an important part of taking care of yourself. Get the facts about...
-
Bodybuilding Pictures: Muscle-Building Workout and Diet for Men
Want bulging biceps and a bigger chest? Our experts demonstrate the right moves to help men build bigger muscles with just two...
-
Build a Better Butt: Workouts for Slim and Shapely Glutes
Want a rear view that kicks butt? Discover the right exercises, cardio, and style choices that can help in the quest for the...
-
Rheumatoid Arthritis Exercises: Joint-Friendly Workouts
Regular exercise boosts fitness and helps reverse joint stiffness for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). WebMD demonstrates...
-
Pregnancy Exercises: Safe Workouts Like Prenatal Yoga, Kegels
Pregnancy exercises and workouts for moms-to-be include Kegel exercises and prenatal yoga. A prenatal workout is an important...
-
Fitness and Exercise: Worst Things to Eat or Drink Before a Workout
You never want to go to the gym while your stomach rumbles, but here are some things to avoid having prior to your workout.
-
Exercise and Fitness: The 7-Minute Workout
The 7-minute workout provides a free, convenient way to get and stay fit. Discover these short, quick exercises that use your own...
-
Pictures of the 7 Riskiest Workout Moves, and How to Improve Them
Working out is supposed to make you healthier--but some exercises can leave your body at risk of pain or injury. Some exercises...
-
Flat Abs Pictures: 9 Exercises and Lifestyle Tips
Having a flat stomach makes you look great and feel great. But how do you get the flat abs you dream of? Learn how with...
-
Benefits of Exercise: Fitness Facts Prove the Benefits of Working Out
The best way to lose weight? These fast facts show weight loss is possible for everyone trying to lose weight. From calories to...
-
No-Gym Workout in Pictures: Equipment, Routines, and More
Learn about this no-gym, at home quick workout. It can get you into great shape at home and shows the best moves for flat abs and...
-
The 30-Minute Fitness Routine
This quick, high-intensity 30-minute workout routine can make you look better and feel better. Discover the right way to do...
-
Cardio Exercise: Good for More Than Your Heart
You might have guessed that cardio, or aerobic, exercise helps to strengthen your heart. But did you know it's good for your...
-
Beach Body Essentials: Workouts, Flat Abs, and More With Pictures
Watch this slideshow on beach body essentials for men. Get yourself beach ready before you hit the sand with our visual guide to...
-
17 Must-Try Fitness Workouts in Pictures
Learn the latest exercise crazes such as TRX, pole dancing, Zumba, Kangoo jumps, boot camps, exergames and more that are designed...

SLIDESHOW
Pictures of the 7 Most Effective Exercises to Do at the Gym or Home (and Tips to Improve Form) See SlideshowRelated Disease Conditions
-
Heat Rash: Symptoms and Treatment
Heat rash is a skin irritation caused by excessive sweating. It can occur at any age and it appears as a rash that itches or feels prickly, and looks like a red cluster of pimples or small blisters. Heat rash remedies include OTC creams and sprays. Usually heat rash resolves when the skin is cooled sufficiently. Medical treatment may be necessary if the sweat glands become infected.
-
What Is a Good Resting Heart Rate by Age?
Normal resting heart rate (RHR) values can range from anywhere between 60-100 beats per minute (bpm). As cardiovascular fitness increases, the resting heart rate value decreases. Resting heart rate is the number of beats per minute the heart takes while a person is fully rested.
-
Is a Resting Heart Rate of 50 Good?
A resting heart rate of 50 beats per minute (bpm) is good for you if you are an athlete or a medical practitioner. If you are not feeling dizzy or ill, a resting heart rate of 50 is a good indicator that your heart is functioning quite well.
-
8 Effective Exercises to Burn Stomach Fat
One can lose stomach fat by adhering to a strict diet plan, exercise regime, and lifestyle modifications. It’s normal to want to get rid of stomach fat fast, but it is not possible to reduce fat. Hence, losing stomach fat requires a mix of various exercises such as resistance training or high-intensity aerobic exercise, along with a healthy diet, which help lose body weight, including stomach fat.
-
What Should I Eat 30 Minutes Before a Workout?
Your pre-workout meal often depends on your choice of workout. The best things to eat 30 minutes before a workout include oats, protein shakes, bananas, whole grains, yogurt, fresh fruit, boiled eggs, caffeine and smoothies.
-
Can You Get Menstrual Cramps After Exercise Like Running?
Menstrual cramps affect many women. Learn if exercise like running can cause menstrual cramps and how you can treat them.
-
Heat Cramps
Heat cramps usually affect people who sweat a lot during strenuous activity or work in a hot, humid environment. Symptoms of heat cramps are muscle pains or spasms, usually in the abdomen, arms or legs that occur in association with strenuous activity. Heat cramps are part of a group of heat-related illnesses. Heat cramps can sometimes lead to heat exhaustion or, in severe instances, heat stroke, which is a true medical emergency.
-
What Are the Benefits of Leg Workout?
Legs are the pillars for a healthy body and training them should be a top priority for overall physique and health. There are 12 common benefits of having strong legs.
-
Target Heart Rate Zone and Chart
Target heart rate zone is a term used to define a heart rate at which cardio exercises are to be done. Exercising regularly at a target heart rate ensures that there is minimum undue stress on the heart and maximum benefit from the exercises. The American Heart Association recommends people to exercise in their target heart rate zones, which are calculated as a percentage (usually between 50 and 85%) of your maximum (safe) heart rate.
-
What Are the Four Most Important Types of Exercises?
Exercise is the key to a healthy life. When it comes to exercise, it does not mean only the strenuous ones and exercising at the gym. Exercise also includes stretching and balancing acts.
-
Can Exercise Make Your Buttocks Bigger?
Exercise is a great way to build muscles and tone your body. Certain exercises that target a particular muscle group can make that particular part appear shapely or noticeable.
-
12 Types of Plank Exercises
A plank exercise is a form of core strengthening exercise. This exercise strengthens the body muscles, maintain our posture, and support our spine. Some types of planks also help increase your endurance.
-
Post-Polio Syndrome
Post-polio syndrome (PPS) is a group of signs and symptoms that show up two to four decades after the initial polio infection. Symptoms of PPS include fatigue, pain, sleep disorders, muscle twitching, gastrointestinal problems, and weakness. Treatment focuses on slowing down to conserve energy and relieving symptoms with pain relievers.
-
Can I Do a Full-body Workout Every Day?
A full-body workout means many groups of muscles are working at once. This helps to achieve greater workout results from a lesser number of exercises.
-
Fitness: Exercises for a Healthy Heart
Regular exercise can help reduce the risk of heart disease. To achieve maximum benefits, do a mix of stretching exercises, aerobic activity, and strengthening exercise. Aim to get 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three to four times a week. Consult a doctor before exercising for the first time, especially if you have health problems.
-
Fitness
Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of disease. Regular exercise can also reduce the symptoms of stress and anxiety. There are fitness programs that fit any age or lifestyle.
-
What Is a Tabata Workout?
Tabata is a high-intensity workout protocol that has both fitness and weight-loss benefits. It is also a very short workout. It is a combination of CrossFit and circuit training. The training is named after the Japanese physician and researcher Dr. Izumi Tabata who invented it.
-
Exercise-Induced Asthma
Exercise-induced asthma is asthma triggered by vigorous exercise. Symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, wheezing, and fatigue while exercising. Preventing exercise-induced asthma attacks involves using inhaled medicines before exercising, performing warm-up exercises and cooling down afterward, avoiding exercising outdoors when pollen counts are high, restricting exercise when you have a viral infection, and wearing a mask over your nose and mouth when exercising in cold weather.
-
How Can I Teach Myself a Calisthenics Workout?
Calisthenics exercises use our body weight. These exercises are performed with varying degrees of intensity and rhythm. You can perform calisthenics with or without light handheld apparatus, such as rigs and wands.
-
What Are the Best Abdominal Exercises?
Abdominal exercises strengthen the core muscle groups, including the rectus abdominis, obliques, transversus abdominis, which wraps around the spine.
-
Vitamins & Exercise: Heart Attack Prevention Series
Vitamins and exercise can lower your risk for heart attack and heart disease. Folic acid, vitamins, and homocysteine levels are interconnected and affect your risk for heart disease or heart attack. For better heart health, avoid the following fried foods, hard margarine, commercial baked goods, most packaged and processed snack foods, high fat dairy, and processed meats such as bacon, sausage, and deli meats.
-
10 Best Shoulder Exercises for Your Home Workout
The shoulder is made of two joints. One joint is between the shoulder blade (scapula) and collar bone (clavicle) called the acromioclavicular joint. The other joint is a type of ball and socket joint between the upper end of the bone of the arm (humerus) and shoulder blade. There are 10 shoulder exercises that you can easily include as a part of your home workout.
-
What Is the Best Exercise to Get Rid of Love Handles?
Love handles refer to the layers of fat present around the middle (waist) of a person’s body. To get rid of love handles, you need to achieve overall fat loss from the body. Perform regular cardio workouts such as walking, jogging, running or dancing.
-
What Leg Workouts Can I Do at Home?
Exercises that help tone the legs benefit the legs, the spine as well as the other body parts. These exercises help burn calories, reduce cholesterol, and reduce the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), and arthritis.
-
What Is the Best Workout for the Upper Body?
Your upper body is grouped into the muscles that support the upper spine and shoulder blade and the muscles of the hands, forearms, upper arm, and shoulder. Upper body workouts strengthen your arms, shoulders, and back, helping you achieve a good posture and co-ordination. Having a strong upper body improves your flexibility and range of motion and is also aesthetically appealing.
-
What Is the Best Workout for Legs?
Exercises that strengthen the legs benefits not just the legs but the whole body. These exercises help burn calories, reduce cholesterol, reduce the risk of diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), and arthritis
-
What Is the Best Workout for Abs?
A strong, well-toned core is not just aesthetically appealing, it is also essential for overall physical fitness. Abs form an important component of the core along with the muscles of the back and pelvis. Strong abs help maintain a good posture. They also help move around, bend over and perform everyday tasks.
Treatment & Diagnosis
- Exercising for a Healthier Heart -- Kenneth Cooper, MD -- 02/19/03
- Exercise Momentum Keeping It Going
- Fit: Got 8 Minutes? Get Fit!-- Jorge Cruise
- Fitness: Simple Run/Walk Fitness for Busy People
- Fitness Training Choices -- Cedric X. Bryant, PhD
- Fitness: Designing an Aerobic Workout
- Fitness Myths and Facts -- Gina Kolata -- 05/08/03
- Fitness Strategies for the Whole Family
- Exercise: Get Going and Keep Going -- Meg Jordan, PhD, RN. -- 01/21/03
- Fitness: Summer Fitness for Your Family
- Exercise: How to Get Going
- Fitness: Fall into Fitness -- Richard Weil, MEd, CDE -- 9/2/03
Medications & Supplements
Prevention & Wellness
- Bringing Up the Rear: A Workout for Your Glutes
- AHA News: The Road to Better Exercise Might Be in Your Playlist
- Do You Know Your Cardiorespiratory Fitness Level?
- Is Interval Training the Fountain of Youth?
- There's a Downside to Vigorous Interval Training
- Evening Exercise Won't Wreck Your Sleep
- Take the Stairs: An 'Exercise Snack' Can Do Wonders for Your Heart and Lungs
- Only Endurance Exercise May Slow Aging
- Bells, Whistles and Home Exercise Equipment
- When It Comes to Exercise, Quality Trumps Quantity
- Health Tip: Reap the Benefits of Intense Exercise
- Supercharging Exercise With Interval Training
- Got 10 Minutes to Spare?
- Exercise: The Cellular 'Fountain of Youth'
- Health Tip: Maximizing Your Workout
- Health Tip: Reap the Benefits of High-Intensity Interval Training
- Want New Knowledge to Stick? Head Straight to a Workout
- Gotta Minute? Get a Good Workout
- Health Tip: Make Your Workouts More Intense
- Health Tip: Considering High-Intensity Interval Training?
- Physical Activity Boosts Brain Health
- Short Bursts of Intense Exercise Can Fight Weight Gain: Study
- Interval Training Burns More Calories in Less Time
- Runners May Live Longer
- High Reps With Low Weights Builds Muscle, Too
- Dumb Jocks? Not if They're Good at the Game
- Exercise Recommended for Cancer Patients
- Good and Bad Health Habits in U.S.
- Kettlebell Workouts Burn Calories Fast
- Cholesterol Facts
- Lose Weight Fast: How to Do It Safely
- Heart Attack Symptoms in Women
- Fitness Boot Camps: Should You Enlist?
- The 300 Workout: Can You Handle It?
- Heart Rate Training Zone
- Lunch Hour Workout
- Fitness Basics: Swimming, No Pain, Plenty of Gain
- Exercise with Intervals Boosts Fitness
- Losing Those Last 10 Pounds, Tips to Hit Your Goal
- Cardio Exercise: Maximize Muscle Burn
- Fitness: He Ain't Heavy
- Run-Walk: Wogging
From 
Featured Centers
Health Solutions From Our Sponsors
Subscribe to MedicineNet's Weight Loss/Healthy Living Newsletter
By clicking "Submit," I agree to the MedicineNet Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. I also agree to receive emails from MedicineNet and I understand that I may opt out of MedicineNet subscriptions at any time.