How-To: Improve your cardio workout

We all know that cardio is good for us. Some people are built for it. They love nothing more than sweating it up on the treadmill or going for a 20km run. If this isn’t you, don’t worry, you are far from alone! Luckily the clever crew from Lifespan Fitness have given us some tips to improve your cardio workout.

1. Choose an exercise you enjoy:

If you hate running, even if you force yourself to do it, chances are you’re going to lose interest and not keep it up. Pushing yourself outside your comfort zone is great, but when you’re talking about regular exercise and using your home gym equipment regularly, stick to something you actually enjoy.

This is the key to maximising efficiency and effectiveness. Whether it’s interval sprinting on a treadmill, swimming or kick boxing, choose something you know won’t feel like a chore every time.

2. Choose your time

If you’re going to do it anyway, you may as well make it at the most optimal time to see results. The best time for cardio is early in the morning or straight after a weight training session.

Make sure you eat an hour after your cardio session. After training, you heart rate will still be high, so let it burn your fat stores even after you’ve finished exercising!

3. Change it up

While it’s great to do the things you love (see point 1) your body needs to be kept guessing. If you are constantly doing the same thing on your home gym equipment, not only will you get bored, but your body will get used to it.

Experiment with different techniques and exercises on your gym equipment, you’d be surprised how many exercises you can do on one stand-alone piece of fitness equipment!

Speak to an expert for some tips about how to get the best use of whatever equipment you own.

4. Rest time isn’t rest time any more!

So you’ve done a set of weights and you’re taking a few moments before you begin the next set…instead of walking around or chatting, try some short cardio.

Jump on a rower or make the best of what you’ve got at home. Try running stairs if you’ve got them, or lunges up and down the hallway. This is the best way to take it up a notch! You’ll see massive improvements if this is your approach.

Would love to hear what some of your workout tips are!