I have a whole post about the importance of cardio workots. I know many of us dont like it. I NEVER liked running. even when I was training Karate, the school was on the hill 1/2 mile from my home. I used to fast walk there but then during warm up I could not run. I had pain in my knees (I always thought I had artritis until Dr got me checked 2 years ago and it came negative) I wasn’t able to breath steady and I was getting that ugly pain in my side.
If you are reading this it is most probably because you are intersted in this topic and maybe already know that cardio trains us for resistance and get our hearts stronger. So let me get straigt to the point and tell you how I started to love cardio and running.
let me take you back in time (again) to that moment when I was just recovering from my lower back treatment and started exercising. I mentioned that I didnt go to gym but a month later and my first thing was an eliptical machine. (if you dont have an access to gym there are plenty of affordable options for elimptical on amazon.com)
My first walk was 7 min at a level 1 of resistance of the elliptical machine. Have to mention I don’t put my hands on moving parts as that gets me dizzy. I hold to the fixed handles and only move my legs.
So there I was with 7 min into it but next day I forced myself to go for 10. and so on I got to 20 min. Once there I started feeling a need for more, so I started playing with the resistance buttons. and this is when I discovered a magic world of HIIT training.
HIIT stands for High-Intensity Interval Training.
Maybe you already heard of it as it became very popular lately. and I have to agree this is the best for weight loss and a perfect option for training when you don’t have time. 20-30 min of HIIT will set you to a straight path to weight loss and the best part of it is that you don’t need more time.
A misconception comes to the type of exercise you perform. you will see many videos from different trainers talking about HIIT and showing jumps and super runs and crazy things and I don’t blame you if after watching it you feel discouraged and just swipe to the next thing and not even try doing it.
Stay with me! I promise you will be able to do it and will enjoy!
1. Choose your activity: run, walk, elliptical, bicycle (stationary or real), jump-in jacks, stairs, row (real or stationary)
2. Get a clock in front of you. I also recommend getting a heartbeat measuring device. HIIT consists in elevating and lowering your heart beat rate. I started with this exact device (Fitbit)
3. Start the activity of your choice and perform it on a medium speed for 1 min.
4. Increase the speed and/or intensity (if you are outdoors trying to go up the hill and faster on a stationary bike, treadmill increase the speed to fast walk or light run, on elliptical increase the resistance and go faster) do it for 20 seconds. (check your heart rate monitor and compare to your resting rate)
5. Go back to your original speed for 1.5 min
6. Repeat step 4.
7. Repeat step 5.
If it is your first week, take it easy but try to push yourself, going into the second week you have to be able to add more intensity and time ( do it gradually, if you feel like only adding a minute, it is fine)
Increase intensity slowly and gradually, point by point and if you feel tired after a first one, stay at that level for a couple of days.
Try to monitor your heartbeat. while on intense part of the exercise your heart beat should elevate dramatically. But don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t go very high at the beginning. You will get there soon.
