Interval workouts - Outdoors

(Not a picture of me)

My Hormone Diet Exercise Prescription calls for the cardio workouts to be intervals (alternating high and low intensity).  Last week, the weather was awful, and I did my cardio in the gym, where I could just set the exercise bike or treadmill on the "interval" setting and go.  Today the sun was out, and I wanted to walk outdoors.  I needed to find a way to set the pace and time the intervals without having to use a stopwatch or look at a clock every few minutes.

I am overweight and have arthritis in my knees, so alternating running and walking isn't an option.

Thanks to Google, I found a solution.  A 30-minute interval walking workout I could download for $2.24 (on sale from the regular price of $2.99).  I chose the 30-minute basic intervals, but they also have a 20-minute basic, a 20-min supercharged, a 30-min supercharged and a 45-min basic workout.  Maybe when I get good, I'll upgrade to the supercharged one.

The file is an mp3.  It took 45 minutes to download to my phone, and I've had a hard time trying to figure out how to download it to my computer as a back-up.  The website is really slow, and I'm not sure why.  But, I did get it to work, and stuck in my headphones and went for my walk.

There is a woman's voice telling you what pace to go at, counting down the time, and giving encouraging advice.  The music is non-offensive and sets a good rhythm to keep you moving at the right pace.  The 30 minutes went by fast, and I felt like I was working pretty hard.  My knees and ankles were only a little bit sore, so I don't think I am going to hurt myself with this workout.

If you want to check these out, they are available at the Rodale Store.  Rodale is the publisher of several fitness-related magazines.

For people who don't need music to set the pace, I also found several free Android apps that would just give you a notification at intervals, so you would be able to change up your workout.  Some even let you mix in your own music.  I wasn't that ambitious, I just wanted to click and go.