Get Creative with your Workout!

More ideas to get creative with your workout!!
Every once in while, try to get out in the open, outside the gym for your Cardio routine.

Cross Training is a great way to spice up your routine. It is also a favourite mode of performance training for athletes!
Simply put, it means training in different ways, using 2 or more different types of activities to improve overall performance – can be applied to resistance training, cardio training or a combination of both.

It also helps break the plateau in case of achieving results as is usually observed after months of performing the daily routine exercises. The results tend to stagnate or proceed very slowly, since the body has adapted to the routine and now does not consider it a challenge any more!
Also, the chances of adherence increase since the activities can be planned according to your interest. Also, it is ideal for the busy working professionals, who find it difficult to follow the resistance training and cardio schedule as is generally prescribed in a gym, due to time constraints.
Another significant benefit is that it helps prevent Repetitive Stress Injuries, which occur due to the wear & tear produced at the joints, if same intense activities are performed consistently over a period of time.
A routine can be designed using different Cardio methods – for example, instead of using Treadmill everyday or Elliptical Cross Trainer or both day in and day out, break the routine by doing an outdoor activity like biking, swimming or mountain climbing 2-3 times a week.

Every activity involves atleast some different set of muscles. For example walking and biking – both being cardio activities involving legs, target slightly different set of leg muscles!
And the beauty of such combinations is that along with the cardio component, the muscles can also be strengthened and skills like agility, balancing etc. can also be worked on. It focuses on the entire body and performance also.

Creative Cardio

I admire people who look forward to their 1 hour of treadmill or cross-trainer, day after day, after day without feeling a tinge of boredom!
For the rest of us who cannot even think of more than 15-20 minutes on any machine, fret not! There are many creative ways to ensure a cardio workout that lasts atleast 30 min to an hour.

One of the easiest and most popular ways is – Interval Training. Other options include cross-training, boot-camps, circuit training etc.
The basic concept of Interval Training is to alternate periods of high intense and low intense activities and thus extend the total period of exercise routine. In special cases, the low intense activity could also mean rest, however it is not useful if your target is a cardio activity to burn fat!

You can really use your creativity to spice up your routine. A few examples are given below -

a) Incase you cant sustain the treadmill/cross trainer beyond 15 min either due to boredom or low capacity, alternate the 10-15 min of cardio with callisthenic (using your own body weight and no additional weights) workout using either abdomen or leg exercises.
Perform a couple of sets of 3-4 exercises of each muscle group and then return to the Cardio machine. Remember to end with a stretching based cool-down.

b) You can also alternate cardio machines with other cardio activities like a jog in the surrounding area, skipping, stepping, climbing steps up and down or spot jogging.

c) Another way is to alternate Cardio machines with weight-based activities, using low weight – high reps especially of the upper body like for example push-ups or pull-ups. You can also focus on legs using exercises like squats, lunges or step-ups.

The combinations can be many, as you can see above. The only care to be taken is to ensure that all activities leave enough energy to perform the next activity and hence, it is preferable to alternate high intensity activities with low-intensity ones! End with a proper cool-down for best results.