How to use the online timer
Thirty seconds on, thirty seconds off, ten times through, is the most even interval structure there is, and the symmetry makes it far easier to pace than the lopsided ratios. Ten rounds gives ten minutes of work and ten of recovery, so around twenty-five minutes including a warm-up and a cool-down at either end. It transfers cleanly between running, the bike, the rowing machine and bodyweight circuits without needing to be redesigned.
Because rest matches work exactly, the thirty seconds on should sit well above anything you could hold continuously, otherwise the equal rest is wasted. On a track, that is roughly the pace you could hold for a hard three minutes, not a flat-out sprint. On a bike it means a gear you would not choose for a steady ride. The test is whether the rest feels genuinely welcome by round four.
Even pacing across all ten is the skill, and almost nobody gets it right at first. The common pattern is three brilliant rounds, three that hurt, and four spent surviving, which produces less total work than ten consistent ones. Aim to finish round ten at the same intensity as round three; if you can go faster on the last one, the middle rounds were too soft.
Common questions
How hard should the thirty seconds on be?
Well above anything you could hold continuously, roughly the pace you could sustain for a hard three minutes. If the rest never feels welcome, the effort is too low.
Why do my last rounds fall apart?
Almost always because the first two or three were too quick. Aim to finish round ten at the same intensity as round three, which usually means starting slower than feels natural.
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