Fartlek for beginners: what it is, where it comes from and how to run it by feel

By Luis Carvajal · Updated 1 October 2026

What fartlek is

The word is Swedish: fart means speed and lek means play. The whole idea fits in those two words. You go out for a continuous run and, within it, you play with the pace: a livelier stretch, a calm one, another lively one. You don't stop to rest. You just ease off.

What sets it apart isn't the speed, it's who decides. In a classic fartlek the changes aren't written down in advance. They come from how you feel and what's in front of you: a hill, a lamp post, a bend in the path.

Swedish fartlek: where it comes from

The method was developed by Gösta Holmér, an Olympic medallist in 1912 and later national coach for the Swedish athletics federation from 1925. According to his Olympedia profile, he created it originally for cross-country runners. Designed for running through the countryside and changing pace with the terrain, it went on to spread to the rest of the sport.

The exercise physiology textbook by McArdle, Katch and Katch describes it as a loosely structured mix of continuous running and interval training, where the interplay between effort and recovery is set by how you feel.

Why it suits beginners

• You're in control. The review by Ekkekakis and colleagues on intensity and pleasure found that when you choose the intensity yourself, instead of having it imposed, the harder stretches are easier to tolerate. That's exactly what fartlek is: you decide when and how much.
• It feels shorter. Breaking a run into pieces helps the minutes go by. In a small study with eight active men, Bartlett and colleagues found that interval running was more enjoyable than a continuous run of similar effort. It's a study with few people, but it points the same way as many runners' experience.
• You don't need anything. No track, no watch, no plan. A path and the will to go.

How to pace it by feel

Without a stopwatch, your breathing is the guide. The talk test has been validated against the ventilatory threshold: if you can say a whole sentence comfortably, you're below it. Use it like this:

• Easy jog: you can talk in full sentences. This is the base of the session.
• Lively stretch: you can say a few words, not a whole sentence. That's a beginner's change of pace.
• Too much: you can't talk. If you're just starting, there's no need to go there.

If you prefer a number, the Borg rating of perceived exertion works just as well. On a 0 to 10 scale, the easy jog would be around 3 or 4 and the lively stretch around 6 or 7.

Recovery isn't timed either. You jog easily until you can talk comfortably again. Then, if you feel like it, another change. If you don't, keep it easy. That counts too.

Fartlek workouts for beginners

All of them start with a 10-minute warm-up, walking and then jogging very easily, and finish with 5 minutes of easy jogging or walking.

1. Lamp post fartlek

Pick a lamp post, a tree or a corner a short way ahead. Run there at a lively pace. Then jog easily until you've recovered. Repeat 4 to 6 times over about 15 or 20 minutes. Short stretches of 20 or 30 seconds to begin with.

2. Song fartlek

With your music on, pick up the pace a little during the chorus and go back to an easy jog for the verse. If a song catches you tired, skip the chorus. Nobody's counting.

3. Gentle hills fartlek

On a route with some ups and downs, let the climbs be your lively stretches. Shorten your stride, go up with rhythm and recover on the flat or the way down. It's the closest thing to the original Swedish fartlek.

4. Fartlek with a little structure

If deciding on the go is hard: 1 minute lively and 2 minutes easy, five times. It's a first step towards intervals, but without ever stopping running.

If you're just starting, one session like this a week is enough. Keep the rest of your runs easy. The main reason new runners give up is injury, according to a Dutch study with 774 beginners. We cover it in why people quit running.

Fartlek vs intervals: the difference

In structured intervals, everything is decided before you head out: how long each fast stretch lasts, at what intensity, how much rest and how many reps. Buchheit and Laursen, in their review on how to programme interval training, describe exactly how to adjust those variables to get a specific effect.

In fartlek you decide those variables on the go. You give up some precision and gain freedom and, often, more enjoyment. McArdle's textbook notes that there isn't enough evidence that one method beats the other for improving aerobic capacity, and that you can alternate them to make training more enjoyable.

• Intervals: better if you're after a specific stimulus or preparing for a race.
• Fartlek: better if you want variety, to run by feel and not fight the watch.

You don't have to choose for good. Plenty of runners do both, depending on the week.

If you like having someone call the changes for you, Coached Run includes fartlek among its eight session types, by time or by distance, and the coach announces each block over your own music.

Coached Run

Coached Run is a running app for iPhone with six real-voice coaches, three in English and three in Spanish. They keep you company over your own music, whether that's Spotify, Apple Music or a podcast, and they don't put your pace on screen: the coach only tells you if you're going too hard for the session. Three full runs free, then a one-time purchase, no subscription.

Frequently asked questions

What is fartlek?

A continuous run with free changes of pace. The word is Swedish and means "speed play". It was devised by the Swedish coach Gösta Holmér for cross-country runners.

How long should a beginner fartlek be?

25 to 35 minutes in total is a good starting point: 10 minutes of warm-up, 15 or 20 of play with short changes, and 5 to cool down. Better to finish wanting more than to finish wrecked.

What pace should a fartlek be?

There's no set pace. The lively stretch is the one where you can say a few words but not a whole sentence. The recovery is a jog where you can talk comfortably again.

Is fartlek good for weight loss or for getting fitter?

It's good for running with more variety, and that helps you keep going out. There's no evidence that it's better or worse than other methods for improving aerobic fitness. What matters most is consistency.

Sources

• Olympedia. Gösta Holmér. Biography.
• McArdle WD, Katch FI, Katch VL. Exercise Physiology: Nutrition, Energy, and Human Performance, 7th ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009, pp. 480-483.
• Ekkekakis P, Parfitt G, Petruzzello SJ. The pleasure and displeasure people feel when they exercise at different intensities. Sports Med, 2011;41(8):641-671.
• Bartlett JD et al. High-intensity interval running is perceived to be more enjoyable than moderate-intensity continuous exercise. J Sports Sci, 2011;29(6):547-553.
• Foster C et al. The talk test as a marker of exercise training intensity. J Cardiopulm Rehabil Prev, 2008;28(1):24-30.
• Reed JL, Pipe AL. The talk test: a useful tool for prescribing and monitoring exercise intensity. Curr Opin Cardiol, 2014;29(5):475-480.
• Borg GA. Psychophysical bases of perceived exertion. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 1982;14(5):377-381.
• Buchheit M, Laursen PB. High-intensity interval training, solutions to the programming puzzle. Part I. Sports Med, 2013;43(5):313-338.
• Fokkema T et al. Reasons and predictors of discontinuation of running after a running program for novice runners. J Sci Med Sport, 2019;22(1):106-111.