Cardiovascular exercise or training is incredibly important to all of us. No matter what your age, your heart is a muscle and needs to be exercised in order to stay healthy and keep working. Your heart is what keeps you alive and therefore is the most important organ in the whole of the human body.
Question: when was the last time you felt slightly out of breath for 20 minutes or more?
For too many of us the answer is ‘I am not sure’. If you cannot remember, then it has been too long ago.
In order to exercise the heart you need to be out of breath for a minimum of 20 minutes. This can be done in any shape or form. Running, swimming, cycling, aerobics, playing sport, dancing, walking etc the list is endless. The more often you do this, the better it is for you, however the general recommendation is 3 – 5 times a week.
Research has found that working at a higher intensity but for shorter increments generally strengthens the heart just as effectively than exercising at a lower intensity for a longer period of time.
With this in mind I thought I would share a little high intensity cardio routine inspired by Ramona Braganza’s 3-2-1 training method. All you need is a skipping rope, a bench/low wall or step, a bit of space in your garden or local park and of course yourself!
5 minute warm-up:
- Walking around space lifting knees up one at a time
- Walking around space kicking heels into bottom
- Walking around space kicking legs straight forward reaching for toes
- Inch worm
- Crab crawl
(perform each exercise for 1 minute)
3-2-1 Cardio routine:
- Skipping – of any variety
- Mountain climbers – with hands on the bench/low wall or step
- Step ups – on bench/low wall or step. Lead with one leg first for 30 seconds and then switch legs
(perform each exercise for 1 minute)
4. Run at a steady pace for 5 minutes. I like to find a hill to run up and down, or around the block or park. You can keep the skipping rope in your hand and start the routine again wherever you end up!
5. 2 minute rest – but keep moving
Repeat the cardio routine from beginning to end x2 more times. In total this will take you 25 minutes including the warm-up. Make sure you cool-down and stretch after as that will help to keep the DOMS away!
Have a go. share with your friends and let me know how you get on.