There is a cardio world outside of running!
For those who suffer from knee pain, have a significant amount of weight to lose, or who just plain hate the activity, it’s important to experiment with different ways of moving.
At the heart of it all, you have to ENJOY HOW YOU EXERCISE if you ever want it to stick around as an actual habit.
If running brings you pain, makes you feel “heavy” as you move, or you find it boringAF, I’ve got 4 different styles of workouts that might make your heart, head, and knees happy.
Btw, INTENSITY will beat DURATION for every single time. When speed is not an option, it’s time to hit the often neglected INCLINE button. Ready? #leggo
Treadmill Incline Walk to Bike Speed Superset
Complete circuit 3 times! Go from bike to treadmill back and forth so the entire workout is 30 minutes.
R1= round 1
R2= round 2
R3= round 3
**adjust to your level, PLEASE!!! Breathless, burning, and sweat are your cues to know if you are working hard enough!
*** on the bike you should be FIGHTING for those RPM’s at the resistance you set! Your quads should be on fire!
**** on the treadmill make sure your speed is a power walk and your incline makes your hamstrings and glutes burn up!
Min RPM R1 R2 R3
Bike | 1 | 120 | Low level |
Bike | 1 | 110 | Add resistance |
Bike | 1 | 100 | Add resistance |
Bike | 1 | 90 | Add resistance |
Bike | 1 | 80 | Add resistance |
Min RPM Incline
R1 R2 R3
Treadmill | 1 | 4 | 7 8 9 |
Treadmill | 1 | 4 | 7.5 8.5 9.5 |
Treadmill | 1 | 4 | 8 9 10 |
Treadmill | 1 | 4 | 8.5 9.5 10.5 |
Treadmill | 1 | 4 | 9 10 11 |
Perfect10 Workout #6 Chains and Ladders
I sent this workout out to my Sweat Unfiltered crew earlier this month. You can join that newsletter here: Sweat Unfiltered.
For this workout, just grab a set of medium dumbbells and follow the pattern featured in the video…
1 curl,
1 overhead press, *
down into a plank,
1 renegade row on left arm, *
1 renegade row on the right arm, *
1 push up *
pop up or walk back into a standing position
Next…
do 2 reps of everything that has a star beside it. Then 3, then 4, then 5 and finally 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Arm death and sweaty mess in no time!
A
Kettlebell Circuit
Set your timer to 30 seconds of work and 10 seconds rest- with 1 minute to rest at the end. Repeat 5 times
- Kettlebell Swing
- Towel Mountain Climbers
- V- ups (face ceiling not floor)
- Wide Leg Straight Leg Kettlebell Deadlift (click for demo)
- Towel Plank Jacks
- Ab Rowers
Short Dumbbell Complex
- Grab a heavy (light dumbbells will NOT have the desired cardio effect) set of dumbbells and bring them overhead. Walk the length of your longest hallway or room. At the end of the hallway bring dumbbells to your sides THEN…
- Bend over and do 10 bent over rows…
- Then 10 push ups…
- Grab dumbbells again, bring them over head. Walk the length of the room and on the other side
- Bend over and do 9 bent over rows
- Then 9 push ups.
- Continue the pattern until you get to 0!!! 🙂
- ** if this is too advanced for you, it’s still killer to go down by two’s. So 10, 8, 6, 4, 2. That’s still 30 push ups, 30 rows, and a bazillion lunges!!