At the same time, though, the need to keep going and going like the Energizer Bunny can be its own challenge. “It builds a lot of patience and focus to get through those longer sessions,” running coach Jessica Reyes, CPT, owner of Sugar Runs, tells SELF.
But the biggest drawback of longer workouts may be that, well, they take more time. And if you always keep a steady intensity, the only way to keep improving your fitness is to do longer and longer sessions. “There’s only so much time you have in a day to continue adding steady state—you would end up reaching a plateau,” Dr. Reiner says.
Working harder can create adaptations faster—and be a major confidence booster.
When you dial up the intensity of your cardio sesh, you basically amp up all the same aerobic and cardiovascular benefits you’d get out of a steady-state workout, according to Dr. Reiner. “Across the board, the stimulus is higher in high-intensity work so you get more pronounced changes,” she says. That means you don’t need to invest as much time to see results. While both the American College of Sports Medicine and the World Health Organization recommend getting at least 150 minutes of weekly cardio if you’re keeping things at a moderate intensity, they cut that rec in half to 75 minutes per week if you bump it up to “vigorous.” (As for what “counts” as vigorous? Hitting at least a 7 out of 10 effort level, or only being able to get out a few words at a time during a convo.)
Put simply: “Doing that more high-intensity work can give you more bang for your buck,” Reyes says, adding that she finds hard workouts especially helpful for athletes struggling with plateaus.
There are also some benefits that are totally unique to harder cardio workouts. When you push the pace, you work your anaerobic energy system and your fast-twitch muscle fibers, both of which can help you become faster and more powerful. And whether you’re running or cycling or rowing, going faster can also increase your lactate threshold, or the point at which your body starts to fatigue. “If we work above our current maximal lactate processing power capacity, we start to raise what that ‘maximum’ is,” Dr. Sotir says. That means you’re able to keep going harder for longer.
Additionally, Dr. Sotir adds that there’s a neuromuscular benefit. Meaning: Your brain starts to be able to communicate more effectively to your muscles. Research on neuromuscular training has shown it can improve our agility, balance, strength, power, and even endurance.
This can all be especially helpful if you’re training for a race and have specific time goals. “You need to go at your planned race pace and maybe even a little bit above that sometimes to teach your body to tolerate that intensity,” Dr. Sotir says.
Yes, that muscle-burning, stomach-turning sensation might feel super uncomfortable. But it can also be a major confidence booster. “You feel powerful. You feel strong. You feel like you’re an athlete,” Dr. Sotir says. And although you’re less likely to get that same sort of daydreamy, thoughtful flow like you can with steady-state cardio, Reyes adds that for some people, hard workouts can relieve stress in a different way—more cathartic release, less gentle meditation.
