In recouping from my shoulder injury, I've been limited to low impact cardio. This includes exercises like walking, using the elliptical machine, or the stationary bike. These are all low impact, as they don't put as much stress on the joints as running or plyometric exercises that I would normally do for cardio. However, the reason it's called "cardio" is because it's exercise to strength and build endurance in your cardiovascular system. That means getting your heart beating faster and your blood pumping. To do get that "cardio" part of the exercise in, you have to increase the intensity of the work. The best way to do this on a machine is to increase the resistance level in the case of a bike or elliptical, or increase the incline on the treadmill. You can also incorporate High Intensity Intervals Training (HIIT) by increasing the resistance to the max for 20 seconds, and then lowering it for 10 seconds, alternating back and forth between high and low resistance. Here … [Read more...]
Workout Intensity and Challenging Yourself
You've probably seen people in the gym who sit at the stationary bike, ride for 30 minutes or so, all the while reading a book or magazine. One of my favorite quotes from Tom Holland's book Beat The Gym is "If You Can Read During Cardio, It Is Too Easy." Spending the time to get a workout in is essential, but you have you want to make sure the time counts. When you do a cardio exercise or weight lifting, it is important to work at an intensity that challenges you. When it comes to cardio, doing high intensity intervals are great challenge. You might try the Tabata interval cycle of 20 seconds of hard running/riding with 10 seconds of rest for a total of 8 rounds. Another option is Fartlek Training, which is a less structured interval training involving running fast and slower at varying intervals for as long or as far as you like. For weight lifting, the rule of thumb is that if you can do more than 15 reps at proper form with a weight, then the weight is too light. If … [Read more...]
VIDEO: Battle Rope Workout using Tabata Intervals
Here is my go to Tabata Battle Rope workout! I start with alternating waves for the first 20 second interval, then 10 seconds rest. The next interval is power slams for 20 seconds then 10 seconds rest. I repeat this for 4 rounds for my total 4 minute Tabata workout! … [Read more...]