Doing cardio does not have to be a long, drawn out affair. What if I told you that you can get in a very effective cardio session in 15 min. or less? Do you believe me? B-E-L-I-E-V-E.

Now if you are a beginner, I am not going to suggest to you that you run out and start sprinting down the road for 2 minutes. No. I would suggest that you pick up the intensity of your walk. This will increase your heart rate, increase your metabolism, and have you burning fat long after your workout is complete.

If you are someone that is used to long duration cardio (30 min. or more), than I suggest you pick up the intensity by 20% and decrease your workout time to about 15 min. You can vary up the intensity or try to stay at a level that is more challenging than you are used to. When you cut time out of your workout like this, you MUST increase the intensity level that you are used to.

You may bike for 2 minutes really fast and then slow it down for a minute. Alternate like this for a total of 15 minutes. You should feel exhausted after this! You want to aim to deplete all of your energy when you do a high intensity workout like this.

What is so appealing about doing a high intensity workout is that you can squeeze it into your workday schedule. You may do your workout first thing in the morning, or on your lunch hour, or after the kids go to bed. Another great bonus is that you don’t need any fancy equipment to get in a heart pumping cardio session. All you need is two legs…you can sprint up and down stairs, you can do jumping jacks or sprint on the spot. Skipping is also an amazing, intense workout. You don’t need much space to skip and it only costs a couple of dollars for a rope!

I personally aim to do these quick, intense workouts 2-3 times a week. I also ride my bike for about 30 min. 2X/week.

Who can truly say that they don’t have 10-15 minutes to spare for a quick, intense, and so EFFICIENT workout? Come on…CREATE THE TIME!!

Cheers to health,

Angie
ISSA – C.P.T., B.Ed.

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