Cardio Is Boring
We all know that getting on the treadmill or the road and running can be some of the most boring ways to training cardio.
Steady state cardio is excellent for you, and you should have it included in your programming to some extent, but no one wants to get on the treadmill and do the same thing every single day.
Training shouldn’t always be a struggle or uneventful. You should add some variety and novelty to your practice. Here are some ways to train cardio with a little more enthusiasm.
Boxing
Boxers are some of the most conditioned athletes on the planet. They are for a reason. They need to have a level head no matter how tired they are.
When they are training, they do include some road work or steady state cardio. However, a lot of the actual bag work is great for your cardio. Hitting a heavy bag, shadow boxing, working on footwork, and even doing some sparing with a friend.
Do this for 12 rounds for 3 minutes each round with a 1 minute rest period I guarantee you will be burning. All without really thinking about it because it is a fun experience. A side benefit of punching a heavy bag…you get to relieve a little stress!
Battle Ropes
As we have stated in other articles, the battle ropes are some of the best ways to get conditioning using only your upper body. They are excellent tools for building up your arm strength. But they can also be used to increase your work capacity or cardio.
If your gym has a set of battle ropes then you’re ready to add these to your programming, for increases in your cardio strength: you can do ten rounds of 1 minute on and 30 seconds off. During each one minute series, you can break it into four different movements. It can look like this:
15 Seconds Each:
Alternating waves
Double Waves
Flap Your Wings
Thrash
30 seconds Rest
You should be going 100% for the entire minute. Training this way will increase your cardiac output without even having to use your legs once. That will serve to save your knees and hips from the repetitive nature of the treadmill or road.
Kettlebells
Another tool we have talked about before. You can utilize the kettlebell much like anything else to increase your ability to produce work. Get that heart healthy, and get your entire body strong all at the same time.
Training with a light kettlebell and putting 20 minutes on the clock and getting as many swings, or snatches in that period as possible is one of the best ways to increase your cardio.
If you can average 20 reps per minute for the whole 20 minutes, you are going to get 400 total reps of whatever movement you decided to do. Make sure it is a lighter kettlebell because you are not looking to kill the muscles before your heart gets used to it correctly.
Get On Your Bike
This one is simple. You want to get in some new training get on your bike. Go for a long bike ride. You will get your steady state cardio, but it will be a lot more fun than running the entire time.
If you do not have a bike, but your gym has a stationary bike or better yet an air assault bike, then you can get some more high-intensity training. Set it up for go for 30 seconds full boar and then rest for 15 seconds. Do that for ten rounds and your lungs will be burning.
Strap On The Blades
This one may be difficult for some. You may or may not have a pair of rollerblade. If you do, you can get a pretty decent workout. Another way to get some steady state cardio in. Go for a skate for a long distance.
However, I know that many people may not have a pair of rollerblade. So this one may not be for everyone.
Row Your Way To A Strong Heart
Crossfit has made rowing famous over the last couple of year. I should be more specific. Rowing with a machine or what they call a rower. A lot of commercial gyms have a rower now. If your training facility does have one, then you can add rowing to your training protocol.
Rowing is an excellent way to get both steady state cardio and high-intensity training at the same time all while keeping the pressure and trauma to your joint to a minimum.
You can apply a steady state protocol (30min-1hr), or you can do an interval style session ( 10 rounds of 30 seconds full blast with 15 seconds resting speed)
Get In The Pool
An excellent workout for your heart is swimming. If you have ever been swimming and ever tried to tread water for any amount of time you can feel your legs burning and your heart starting to pound.
So getting into a pool and swimming some laps is a great way to change it up when you are in need of some new training stimuli.
If you have access to a pool, you can again change it up with interval training as well. Do sprint laps with short breaks between your laps. Oh, I should mention (if it wasn’t clear) a prerequisite to exercise in a pool is you much know how to swim!
Check Out The Free E-Book!
KHO Health was acquired by was acquire by 9INE POINT in the summer of 2019 and is now referred to as 9INE POINT Health.
