The Best Cardio Workouts

The Best Cardio Workouts

Looking for a new cardio routine to jumpstart your workout program? I’m offering up some killer new workouts to help get you back in the game – and on the road to seeing results!

Cardiovascular exercise is still a great workout option, whether your goal is burning fat, losing weight, or just overall health maintenance. Where most people go wrong with cardio is doing the same thing day in and day out. You need to change it up on a regular basis and try new things, otherwise you’ll find yourself in a plateau very quickly. Read my 5 Tips to Improve Your Cardio Workout here.

One way to get yourself out of the same old cardio routine is to get yourself off the treadmill (or the elliptical, or the stationary bike). Although these machines can be effective, especially when using an interval training approach, they don’t challenge your fitness in the best way possible.

Here are 3 of my best cardio workouts to get you moving…

3 New Cardio Workouts

1. The Fifty-Five Cardio Workout

This one is a total body cardio routine that can be adapted using pretty much any combination of exercises. You’re going to start out by doing one squat (suing body weight or dumbbells for resistance as desired) followed immediately by 10 push-ups. Rest for 15-20 seconds, then do 2 squats followed by 9 push-ups. Rest again, and do 3 squats followed by 8 push-ups. Keep repeating this pattern until you get down to 10 squats and 1 push-up, at which point you’ll have completed 55 reps of each exercise.

2. The 10-Meter Sprint Workout

Sprinting is a great way to add some variety to your cardiovascular routine. You can do this one outside at a track, or in an empty gymnasium. All you need is enough space to sprint 10 meters. After the first sprint, pause for one breath (1 inhale, 1 exhale), but only breathe through your nose. Sprint back to the other side, pause, and now take 2 breaths through your nose. Keep doing this, adding an inhalation at each pause, until you can no longer breathe through your nose only. You can breathe normally during the sprint, but trust me, breathing only through your nose at each pause is a challenge, and it’s one that will work up quite a sweat!

3. The Jumping Jack Pyramid Workout

This one can easily be done at home or at the gym. Start by doing as many jumping jacks as possible in 10 seconds, followed by a rest of 10 seconds. Then do as many jumping jacks as you can in 20 seconds, and follow this by a 20 second rest. Next, do as many as you can in 30 seconds and rest for 30 seconds. Work your way up to 60 seconds of jumping jacks, following this same pattern, and then reverse it, until you get back to your starting point of 10 seconds of jumping jacks. Repeat this pattern for a longer cardio workout, or apply it to another cardio exercise.

Get More out of your Cardio Workout…

Another great way to add some variety to your cardio routine is to incorporate interval training by cycling through intervals of high and low intensity. This can be done on a treadmill or by using some of the exercises outlined above.

A great example of a cardio routine that involves intervals is my Jillian Michaels Treadmill Workout. You should also check out my article, This Cardio Workout Will Blast Fat for a great weight loss routine.

Have any questions or feedback about these cardio workouts? Please leave a comment below…