Interval timer

The 45/15 split

Forty-five seconds of work with fifteen off is the general-purpose interval. Long enough to do eight to twelve controlled repetitions of most exercises or to hold a tough pace on a machine, with a rest that covers a drink and a walk to the next station. This page runs eight rounds, chimes at every change, and ends on the eighth work block, 7 minutes 45 seconds in all. Each work block is its own dial, shedding a ring every 2.25 seconds.

Building a session

• One circuit, eight stations: goblet squats, push-ups, reverse lunges, band rows, dead bugs, step-ups, plank, jumping jacks. One pass through this page is the circuit.
• Three passes: run the page three times with a 90 second rest between passes. About 27 minutes of training.
• Machine intervals: 45 seconds hard, 15 easy, on a rower or bike. Eight rounds is a warm-up; sixteen is a session, so step the loop count up to 16 in Cycles.

Making your own split in Cycles

1. Open Cycles from the composer and add a new cycle.
2. Add a block named "work" and type its length, then a block named "rest".
3. Set the loop count with the plus and minus steppers. The final rest is dropped, so the session ends on work.
4. Add extra blocks for anything the session needs: a 3 minute warm-up at the top, a longer rest between circuits, a cooldown at the end.

Blocks can have any name and any length, so a strength session of 60 seconds work and 90 seconds rest is as easy as a conditioning one.

Which split for which work

Common errors

Choosing a work window that outlasts your form: if the last ten seconds of every round are sloppy, shorten the work or lighten the load. Ignoring the rest chime because you are "nearly done" with a set; the interval is the set. And running intervals as the whole workout every day. Use them two or three times a week around easier work, as interval and HIIT timing lays out.