“Cardio” alternative
I’ve had a pretty good last couple of days in the gym. This week’s workouts have been fairly intense (for me), they consisted of some heavy deadlifting, partial incline presses in the power rack, heavy walking lunges, weighted pullups, etc. I didn’t have any workout planned for today but I felt like doing something so i deemed it my ”cardio” day. The last thing I wanted to do was hop on a treadmill and run sprints, and the bike wasn’t looking too appealing for interval work either. The gym was empty so I took advantage of the space but that is not to say you need a ton of space. These types of workouts can be done in one spot, you just have to get a little creative. I felt like I had to move and kind of give all my joints an “active recovery” workout as well as get my heart beating. By the way, the following types of workouts are much more effective forms of cardio than walking/jogging on a treadmill. It’s much more enjoyable as it involves the whole body, it’s a little more mentally stimulating, and it makes the time go by quicker as well. Here is what I did, take the concept and give it a try for yourself.
I didn’t plan any of this, I just came in, made a decision and went with it. I grabbed some equipment, set the clock, and let it fly.
First you have to pick out some moves. When I’m choosing moves there are a few things I consider. Work/Rest ratio, direction (forward, backward, sideways), runs, hops, jumps, bounding, push, pull, upper body, lower body, trunk.
Here’s the equipment I grabbed; 2 kettlebells, 2 rubber bands, 1 medicine ball, cable unit, jump rope, 12″-14″ step.
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- bands
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- step for jumps
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- cable unit for chops
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- the good ole jump rope
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- kettlebells
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- 12lb med ball for throws
Realize this type of workout can be done without equipment just as easily, and can be done anywhere so there goes two excuses out the window. They are also fairly quick, you can go hard for 15 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever amount of time you have. So the third excuse, “I have no time”, is no longer valid either.
I started out with either :30 second intervals, or 1:00 intervals depending on the difficulty of the exercise and I tried to keep the work/rest ratio 1:1. So if I just performed a :30 second interval, I followed it with a :30 rest interval and went onto the next exercise which could be either a :30 second, or 1:00 interval. I did this for about 35 mintues straight. There was no structured order, I just went to whatever station I felt like at the moment but I tried to get equal amounts of time at each station give or take 1 or 2 intervals. These were the exercises.
Band resisted forward runs- I sprinted 3 or 4 steps, back pedaled, and repeated for 1:00, then rested 1:00
Band resisted backwards run- 1:00 work/1:00 rest. Understand, you need to work at a pace that you can maintain for 1:00, but not 1:01, get it?
Band resisted side shuffle- 3 or 4 side shuffles out, return under control, explode into the next set. 1:00W/1:00R
Straddle jumps onto a 12-14″ high step box- straddle the box, jump up on it, jump back down straddling the box as fast as you can, rebound, and repeat. :30W/:30R
Jump rope- (ah, the good old fashioned jump rope!) 1:00W/1:00R
Medicine ball slams(12lbs)- simply raise the ball over your head, slam it to the ground, catch it on the way up, and repeat. Throw it hard, react fast. :30W/:30R
Lateral bound over the step up box- Start on one side standing on the outside leg, jump sideways over the box landing on the outside leg, rebound as fast as you can and repeat. :30W/:30R
Kettlebell walks- I grabbed 53lb kettlebells, held them either at should height, or straight overhead and walked around for 1:00.
Pushups- :30W/:30R
Cable chops- :30 each side/:30 rest
I ended getting at least 2 rounds of each in, 3 on some. You could pick 4 exercises, or you could pick 8, doesn’t matter. If I felt ready to go before my rest time was up, I went, but I never rested longer than the previous work interval. Remember the whole purpose of this workout was only to get some “cardio” in while getting to move around a bit in all directions and involve the whole body to some extent. So there was some running in all directions, alot of jumping, some single leg, some double, some straight up, some sideways, some upper body involvement, some abdominal involvement, but not too much of any one thing. The goal wasn’t to destroy one particular bodypart, just to move everything, get the heart rate up and down, and sweat. I followed the workout with some foam rolling and stretching. Take the idea, pick some exercises, pick a work/rest time and ratio that is appropriate for your current level but IS challenging, set the clock, put the headphones on and just go!! Take yourself to that uncomfortable zone. It’s controlled chaos. I guarantee you will enjoy it more than just running or biking to nowhere! Have fun.