Let's get real... Cardiovascular exercise can be a bit of a bitch. I HATED cardio. For a very long time, I found it really boring and repetitive which really made me lack motivation to go to the gym. It can be very demoralising knowing that you have basically move more to burn more fat, and the thought of being on a treadmill or a bike for ages just makes you want to rip your hair out. But it doesn't have to be like that. I am going to share the ways in which I incorporate cardio into my fitness routine without it being mind-numbingly boring and are quick and (sometimes) fun.
HIIT Training
It has been something that has been noted by many fitness experts, and that is because it works! High Intensity Interval Training involves exercising for short periods of time at maximum effort and taking a short break between each exercise. Sounds easy right? It really isn't! What is good about HIIT is that you are shocking your body; with the short bursts of exercise and rest, your heart rate is rapidly changing and this can continue for hours after exercise, which means you are still burning fat. This can be a lot more effective than steady pace cardio on a treadmill for example, as you are still burning fat after exercise and in less time. HIIT doesn't have to be too long either, one of my favourite forms of HIIT is called Tabata which is 4 minutes of exercise! Choose 2 cardio exercises, for example burpees (Exercise 1) and star jumps (Exercise 2), complete exercise 1 for 20 seconds and then have 10 seconds rest, exercise 2 for 20 seconds then another 10 second rest, repeat this 3 more times and you have completed a 4 minute Tabata workout! This is a personal favourite because it is so quick and the combinations of exercises are endless so you can always change up your workout. Trust me when I say you can do 3 different combinations for a 12 minute workout and it can work wonders!
Take a Class
If cardio is something that you struggle with, what better to motivate you than people around you doing a cardio which doesn't even feel like cardio. Here I am talking about classes which include the likes of Zumba and Dancercise. These classes don't even feel like you are doing exercise, and you have fun while doing them. I feel like it is a lot of trial and error when it comes to fun cardio classes and a lot of the fun and motivation comes to a good instructor. I have done some terrible Zumba classes in my time where I did not enjoy it at all; but once I found a good instructor in my local area Zumba is a weekly part of my fitness routine. Like I say, it is trial and error into finding the right class for you, but taking cardio classes is a great way to meet new people and take your mind off the fact that you are actually doing cardio.
Circuits and Weights Training
If you really find you are hating cardio and prefer strength training, try and work this into a cardio routine. I mentioned in my last post that you should be lifting lighter weights but do more repetitions of an exercise to focus on fat burn, so why not do this as part of a circuit or in a super-set (2 exercises back to back with no rest) or a tri-set (three exercises back to back with no rest)? I personally find that strength training in the gym goes so much faster than doing cardio, and if I go in with a plan that is even better. With weighted cardio I like to do super sets with lighter weights and more reps, or I devise a mini circuit with no rest between exercises which definitely gets my heartrate up. Kettlebells are one of my favourite pieces of kit to do this with; you can do so many different exercises with them and they provide a great full body workout. For example I do a workout called 'the devils workout' because you do 6 reps of 6 different exercises and repeat the circuit 6 times. You do this without any rest but you can go as fast or as slow as you like, this type of workout for me takes between 30 and 45 minutes. It sounds easy, but when you are using a fairly decent weight to work with it is a great workout!
I hope this post helps some people who may be struggling to enjoy cardiovascular exercise, let me know in the comments if there are any other forms of cardio that you enjoy!
It has been something that has been noted by many fitness experts, and that is because it works! High Intensity Interval Training involves exercising for short periods of time at maximum effort and taking a short break between each exercise. Sounds easy right? It really isn't! What is good about HIIT is that you are shocking your body; with the short bursts of exercise and rest, your heart rate is rapidly changing and this can continue for hours after exercise, which means you are still burning fat. This can be a lot more effective than steady pace cardio on a treadmill for example, as you are still burning fat after exercise and in less time. HIIT doesn't have to be too long either, one of my favourite forms of HIIT is called Tabata which is 4 minutes of exercise! Choose 2 cardio exercises, for example burpees (Exercise 1) and star jumps (Exercise 2), complete exercise 1 for 20 seconds and then have 10 seconds rest, exercise 2 for 20 seconds then another 10 second rest, repeat this 3 more times and you have completed a 4 minute Tabata workout! This is a personal favourite because it is so quick and the combinations of exercises are endless so you can always change up your workout. Trust me when I say you can do 3 different combinations for a 12 minute workout and it can work wonders!
Take a Class
If cardio is something that you struggle with, what better to motivate you than people around you doing a cardio which doesn't even feel like cardio. Here I am talking about classes which include the likes of Zumba and Dancercise. These classes don't even feel like you are doing exercise, and you have fun while doing them. I feel like it is a lot of trial and error when it comes to fun cardio classes and a lot of the fun and motivation comes to a good instructor. I have done some terrible Zumba classes in my time where I did not enjoy it at all; but once I found a good instructor in my local area Zumba is a weekly part of my fitness routine. Like I say, it is trial and error into finding the right class for you, but taking cardio classes is a great way to meet new people and take your mind off the fact that you are actually doing cardio.
Circuits and Weights Training
If you really find you are hating cardio and prefer strength training, try and work this into a cardio routine. I mentioned in my last post that you should be lifting lighter weights but do more repetitions of an exercise to focus on fat burn, so why not do this as part of a circuit or in a super-set (2 exercises back to back with no rest) or a tri-set (three exercises back to back with no rest)? I personally find that strength training in the gym goes so much faster than doing cardio, and if I go in with a plan that is even better. With weighted cardio I like to do super sets with lighter weights and more reps, or I devise a mini circuit with no rest between exercises which definitely gets my heartrate up. Kettlebells are one of my favourite pieces of kit to do this with; you can do so many different exercises with them and they provide a great full body workout. For example I do a workout called 'the devils workout' because you do 6 reps of 6 different exercises and repeat the circuit 6 times. You do this without any rest but you can go as fast or as slow as you like, this type of workout for me takes between 30 and 45 minutes. It sounds easy, but when you are using a fairly decent weight to work with it is a great workout!
I hope this post helps some people who may be struggling to enjoy cardiovascular exercise, let me know in the comments if there are any other forms of cardio that you enjoy!
Elisa x
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