Cardio Workouts

Cardio Workout #1

45 min – 1 hour 65% MHR (You want your heart rate up, but not so much that couldn’t sing or carry on a conversation.) Begin VERY slowly for 5 minutes to ‘warm up’. Continue cardio for at least 30 minutes & no more than 1 hour. Decrease intensity for 5 minutes to allow your heart rate to return to normal. Stop and gently stretch all major muscle groups one at a time; holding every stretch for approximately 15 seconds. Drink tepid water SLOWLY.

Cardio Workout #2

20 – 30 min 75% MHR (You can still talk; but not sing without feeling breathless) Begin very slowly for 5 minutes to ‘warm up’. Continue cardio; starting slowly and gradually increasing speed/intensity. After 10 minutes, you should be at 75% MHR. Keep that pace for another 10 – 20 minutes. Decrease speed/intensity for another 5 minutes to allow your heart rate to return to normal. Stop and gently stretch all major muscle groups one at a time; holding every stretch for approximately 15 seconds. Drink tepid water SLOWLY.

Cardio Workout #3

This is your sprint/interval training. Warm up for 5 – 10 minutes. Follow your warm up with AIS stretching* (10 reps of 2 second stretches for all major muscle groups involved – stretch-release-stretch-release, etc) Begin slowly, gradually increasing heart rate to 75%. ‘Kick it’ for 10 seconds (all out, whether it’s speed or intensity). Take it back down to 75% for 1 – 2 minutes, then kick it for 15 seconds. Keep this pattern until you reach your max ‘sprint’ time. Then decrease sprint times until you return to 10 seconds. You may vary speed, intensity, sprints & rests, constantly changing patterns and shocking your body.