It’s been a long day at work, your phone keeps notifying you that you have yet another email and dinner is most likely going to be the leftovers that are lingering on the verge of expired. Yet, you’ve managed to haul your booty to the gym and you’re hitting it with all you’ve got, as fatigued as you might feel. You’re trying to be a good little gym-ie, but the idea of getting in the cardio means more time until you eat those iffy leftovers.
Or maybe you’re feeling pretty on top of your gym time. You’ve got an intense workout lined up, you’re eye-balling that heavier dumbbell and you’re feeling pretty confident. But the idea of cardio makes you deflate and filled with sadness. The monotony and boredom hits you every time and you wish you could just forego the cardio.
Whatever you’re reason– exhaustion, boredom, a way to make your workout more intense or maybe you’re just short on time, you can skip the cardio. More importantly, you can do so while still knocking the weight off– perhaps even more so. What?! It’s true…
How Does the Magic of Cardio Acceleration Work?
Cardio acceleration will definitely kick your butt with intensity, and you’ll leave sweaty. But it will make this happen using your same workout regime and without adding any extra time to the workout. In between your sets, you have ‘resting periods’. Some people set a timer, so they don’t rest too long or fail to give their muscles a pause. Others might run and get some much needed water. I myself like to scroll through Facebook, which is becoming more foolish every day November 8th approaches.
With cardio acceleration, you spend a portion of that time doing a quick exercise to keep your heart rate increased. By not letting your heart rate drop during your workout, you will not only be whittling your cardio into your workout, but you will also intensify the actual workout itself. If you’re wanting to tone up your body, this is the way to go. You’re utilizing time you would have been at the gym anyways, so you won’t have to wrap it up with some time on the treadmill after your workout. So, to recap:
- No extra time doing cardio
- You can use the workout plan you’re already on
- You’ll be making the workout more intense
- No extra time doing cardio….. I can’t stress that enough
Examples of Cardio
Okay, so what to do during this period? There are quite a few options for you, depending on how comfortable you feel at the gym. Bear in mind that a good majority of these will be hitting your legs, so be prepared for some sore calves.
- Jumping squats
- Jumping lunges
- Mountain Climbers
- Running in place (note that it says running and not jogging in place)
- Knee highs
- Box jumps
- Step up with knee highs
- Smith machine/barbell/dumbbell clean
- Diagonal/lateral bounds
- Jump-rope (not gonna lie– I have no hand-eye coordination and NEVER do this, but you can always go through the motions without the actual rope)
- Battle rope
- Medicine ball slam
- Sprints/suicide (make sure you’re in a place that isn’t too crowded and has about 10 meters/30 feet)
- Goblet squat
- Kettle-bell swing
- Jumping jacks
- Knee tuck jump
- Skipping in place
- Push-ups
- Burpees
- Sit-Ups
Okay, so you can see why they aren’t called “Super Fun Time Activities”. This doesn’t give you a free pass to take it down a notch at the gym. The point is for you to integrate cardio into the workout to intensify the workout and spend less time at the gym.
Maybe you love the idea of cardio acceleration but you actually don’t have a workout that you like. Jim Stoppani is the man who finessed cardio acceleration and integrating it into a workout. so you should check out his program.
