Let's examine four main training methods: steady-state, variable, repetition, and interval.
Steady-state or continuous.
As the name implies, this method involves performing work at a relatively constant, unchanging intensity throughout the entire session. There are no sudden changes or spikes in load; the intensity remains uniform.
This method typically involves working in the first or second intensity zones. This approach is commonly used when designing cardio workouts and may include various types of aerobic activity — walking, running, elliptical trainer, stationary bike, or rowing machine.
The steady-state method can also be used when performing any exercises without cardio equipment, where the load is maintained in the same intensity zone. This is especially relevant during the initial stages of training for beginners, in rehabilitation, and for special groups: pregnant women, children, adolescents, and the elderly, when sudden changes in load are undesirable.
Additionally, the steady-state method is often used during warm-up and cool-down, as well as for integrating cardio elements into the main part of the workout.
Example: performing a cardio workout or low/moderate intensity exercises (60–70% of max) for 5 to 30–40 minutes or longer.
Variable or fartlek.
Against a backdrop of steady low-intensity work, typically in the first or second heart rate zone, spikes of intensity occur that are not regulated in terms of timing or intensity parameters.
After each surge (intensity spike), a recovery period of lower intensity follows, lasting as long as the person needs to feel recovered and ready for the next surge. Importantly, the next intensity spike will not look like or repeat the previous one. For example, it may be of lower intensity but longer duration. Then the recovery work continues until the person subjectively feels ready for a new surge with different characteristics. And then back to steady low-intensity work.
Examples: sports games (soccer, hockey, etc.); performing cardio or strength exercises at low/moderate intensity (60–70% of max) with changes in stimulus for 20 or more seconds (pace, resistance, incline angle, weight load, etc.) that lead to increased intensity depending on the training goal.
Repetition or sets-based.
This method is also used in strength training. Against a backdrop of steady low-intensity work in the first to second zones, loading phases or intensity jumps are introduced that are regulated in terms of both duration and other intensity parameters.
The workout starts with steady low-intensity work. Then comes a loading phase — an intensity spike that lasts for a strictly set time and has constant load parameters. After this, a recovery phase follows — again steady low-intensity work, but its duration is not fixed and depends on the subjective feeling of readiness for the next loading phase.
Importantly, all loading phases strictly repeat each other in intensity and time, while the recovery phase can vary based on the individual's capabilities, training level, and adaptability.
Example: performing cardio or strength exercises at an intensity near ATCP (anaerobic threshold) for 3–12 episodes (cardio) or sets (strength exercises).
After each loading episode or set, it is necessary to achieve recovery back to the first intensity zone.
Interval.
The interval method came to fitness from professional sports.
The essence of the method is alternating strictly regulated loading and recovery intervals in terms of time and intensity.
Against a backdrop of low-intensity work lasting a certain time, a high-intensity spike occurs — the loading interval. This is followed by a recovery interval equal in time and intensity. All intervals repeat with unchanged parameters, which allows precise control of the load.
In professional sports, this method has been part of athletes' lifestyle since childhood. It allows them to develop and maintain anaerobic endurance, train their capabilities beyond the ATCP level, and — crucially for professional athlete conditioning — the ability to return to oxidation processes as quickly as possible and remove metabolites of anaerobic energy production at high speed and efficiency. High-intensity load is typically in the third to fourth heart rate zone. As training progresses, intense work intervals begin to dominate over recovery intervals.
This creates the necessary metabolic adaptations for improving athletic performance.
However, the interval method in its pure form is not suitable for most fitness enthusiasts. They do not need extreme anaerobic loads and the associated risks — excessive accumulation of anaerobic muscle work byproducts (lactate, pyruvate, ammonia), tissue acidification, as well as possible local and systemic damage and associated inflammation.
For the average person, it is far more important to train with adequate and positive adaptation that improves the body's aerobic capacity, enhances quality of life, and contributes to its extension, while avoiding excessive stress on the body.
Example: performing cardio or strength exercises at an intensity near ATCP for 3–12 intervals (cardio) or sets (strength exercises). Work and rest are time-regulated.
Which training method to choose?
Исходя из природных условий существования человека и особенностей двигательной активности наших предков, наиболее естественным для человека является переменный метод тренировки. В повседневной жизни нет одинаковых холмов по высоте, продолжительности или крутизне – мы постоянно меняем свою двигательную активность в хаотичном режиме. При этом выполняем сложные координированные действия, которые требуют повышения общей интенсивности со стороны нервной, двигательной систем и навыков координации и ловкости. Также мы временами снижаем темп и активность.
Our life is a kind of motor chaos, governed by a multitude of external conditions.
The steady-state method can serve as a preparatory stage to set the body up for the necessary metabolic adaptation. Then, considering the individual characteristics of the body, it is recommended to introduce the variable training method. After the person has adapted, the intensity jumps can be systematized by transitioning to the repetition training method.