Life Fitness Fitness Electronics - Manual (Page 17)

H
ILL
W
ORKOUT
The Life Fitness patented Hill workout offers the ideal configuration for interval training: periods
of intense aerobic activity separated by regular intervals of lower-intensity exercise. The comput-
erized interval training workout has been scientifically demonstrated to yield greater cardiorespi-
ratory improvement than steady-pace training. Not only does the Hill workout offer the challenge
of alternating periods of high and low intensity, but the levels of intensity become progressively
more difficult during the course of the workout. The longer the Hill workout, the more amount of
time spent on top of a hill and at the bottom of a valley.
PHASES
Each Hill workout session comprises the following phases: (1) Warm-up, (2) Plateau, (3) Interval
Training, and (4) Cool-down.
NOTE: Check the pulse at the Heart Rate (HR) Check Points (following the Plateau and Interval
Training phases) to ensure that the heart rate has entered and remained within the target heart
rate zone.
Warm-up: Gradually brings the heart rate into the lower portion of the target heart rate zone,
increasing respiration and blood flow to working muscles.
Plateau: Increases heart rate so that it is within target zone. Check the heart rate at the end of
the plateau period to ensure having entered the target heart rate zone.
Interval Training: A series of hills and valleys. During this portion of the workout, the user is
confronted with a series of successively steeper hills, each separated from the next by a valley
or recovery period. Check the heart rate at the end of the interval training period to ensure stay-
ing within the target zone.
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