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Get Rid of Regular, Boring Cardio!

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I am a strong believer in being in tip-top shape and am constantly looking for new ways to continue to make this my reality. Initially, when I first started to work out and take better care of my body, the two core forms of exercise in my plan were weight training and roughly 30 minutes of cardio.

Initially, this approach worked quite well. I noticed some small changes to my body with the buildup of muscle and the slight decrease in fat. This was really short lived, however, and I began to train without any noticeable improvements to my energy levels or physical appearance.

After doing some research and watching what others were having success with at the gym or at Muay Thai, I began to see a common theme among people who look fit and those who don’t.

To get great and consistent workout results, you must eliminate cardio as it is regularly performed by the masses.

Running on a treadmill or similar cardio machine will only initially provide you with the improvements you are looking for. Our bodies, however, are quite amazing, and can adapt to this form of physical activity pretty fast. As a result, your body will perform these same movements efficiently without providing your body with much of a challenge. This is why you see so many people at the gym reading a magazine while running on a treadmill. This is most likely caused by either; their body adapting to that specific cardio exercise, or they are not working their body hard enough. Both will result in weak, if any improvements.

Fortunately, there are lots of exercises around as well as different approaches to working out that do provide consistent results and will help you in being in the  greatest shape of your life.

There are basically two key areas needed that not only will be a great substitute to cardio, but will also provide greater results. The first is to reduce your resting periods and the second is to perform explosive workouts that will have your heart rate skyrocket.

  • Reduce Rest Periods – Reducing your resting periods is a great way to keep your heart rate up and burn as much fat as possible. Please be cautioned that this is pretty hard to do! What has worked well for me is to rest between sets for a maximum of 30 seconds. That should be the maximum! Ideally, 20 seconds is a great time to work towards as it will give you just enough time to catch your breath but make the next set still really difficult to perform. The first time you attempt this will be tough. However, you will begin to appreciate the progress you are making when you are able to handle short rest periods throughout the entire duration of your workout.
  • Perform Explosive Workouts – This is the key component in replacing cardio from your workout program. What is beautiful about these exercises is that they provide all the benefits that cardio provides while also building explosive strength and lean muscle. In other words you will be losing fat and building lean muscle at the same time! What is also a huge positive is that the majority of these exercises do not need any equipment and can be performed at home.

Without further wait, here are 3 explosive workouts, with links to examples of exercises that will make you burn huge amounts of fat and build lean muscle:

Burpees – I have a personal love hate relationship with this exercise. It will test the limits both physically and mentally and you will curse this workout the whole time doing it. I also love this exercise as it provides a total body workout and just shreds fat!

Exercise Example Link: http://bar-barians.forumotions.com/t930-bodyweight-exercise-burpees

How to Perform: Start by standing with your legs shoulder width apart. Go down into a squat position and eventually into a push-up position in an exploding fashion. This is mid-point. From here, explode back up in the squat position and finish off the first repetition but jumping in the air with your arms extended vertically. I try to do 3 sets of 30 reps of this.

Mountain Climbers – A good exercise that is also really painful as it works your core really hard. I try to do 5 sets of 30 second durations. Sounds easy but give it a try and you will see that it is not!

Exercise Example Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI8u58hPam4

How to Perform: Once in the push-up position, begin to bring one knee up to your chest and then jump alternate your legs so that your other leg is up to your chest while the original is back on the floor in the push-up position.

Alternate Lunge Jumps – This is brutal on the legs and make regular lunges seems like a casual walk in the park. Overall I love doing this exercise and usually start off my training with these as it gets the legs fired up.

Exercise Example Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzv_9AEzddM

How to Perform: Standing up, perform your first lunge regularly. Once you are fully in the lunge position, jump alternate to your other leg in explosive fashion until you are in the lunge with your other leg (If your left knee was originally bent and the leading leg on the first rep, you will jump alternate so your right leg will be bent and also the leading leg.) 3 Sets of 16 reps is ideal when first starting out. (8 on each leg)

Start by incorporating these 3 exercises as a substitute to cardio and you will see great results. These exercises are painful but they work! In the near future, I am going to be posting about a brutal workout I have been doing with a video that I hope you will all benefit from.

Do you perform exercises like this in your workout program? If so, do any take the place of cardio?


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