Are you a cardio queen when it comes to exercise? If the answer to that question is yes, have you hit a plateau? Well here is why...
When you do only cardiovascular exercise, like running, walking or biking, your body adapts to having your heart rate in that "steady state." When you body adapts it gets more efficient and doesn't burn as many calories during that activity.
So, how do we fix this problem? Do we stop doing cardio workouts all together? NO! We need to mix it up a little. Don't let your body adapt and you will continue to burn the maximum amount of calories during each workout. Here are some ideas for spicing up your workouts:
1. During your normal 30 minute walk, stop every 5 minutes and do a body weight exercise. At the first stop, do a set of 20 squats, at the second stop do a set of 10 push-ups, at the third stop do a set of 10 lunges on each leg, at the fourth stop do one minute of jumping jacks, and at the fifth stop do a set of 25 crunches. The key is to move right from walking into the exercise and then back to walking, no rest!
2. If jogging is your exercise of choice, during your normal run, add in 5 30 second sprints. This will cause your metabolism to ramp up and increase the number of calories you burn.
3. If you want to change it up all together it is always effective to do a circuit workout of resistance exercises while moving from one exercise to the next without resting in between. Resistance exercises include the body weight exercises I mentioned above and those using free weights and weight machines.
Mixing up your workout will not only keep your body one its toes, it will keep it interesting for your mind too!
Happy Exercising!
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