Jes Reynolds…Your Fitness Coach

Over the years I’ve helped many people overcome the roadblocks they encounter on the journey to reaching their fitness goals.  One of the main obstacles people face is consistently doing their cardio training.  Most people seem to either hate cardio all together or they just get bored with doing the same routine all the time.

Since I’m a fitness maniac, I’ve created about 10 million different cardio routines to help me stay motivated, improve my performance, and provide appropriate training for my cardiovascular system.  I’ve included a brief description of one of the cardio programs I use for my fitness program and I want you to try it (indoors or outdoors) and let me know what you think.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Over the last decade or so, HIIT has become a very popular method of cardio.   Most forms of HIIT uses time intervals with assigned levels of difficulty.  HIIT is a great mechanism for breaking personal records and increasing your level of challenge during cardio training.  Not only that, SOME research suggests that HIIT causes the body to burn more energy for a longer period of time after the workout is complete and may be overall a more effective method of cardio training than steady state training.

Since the current research (that I am aware of) is inconclusive as to which type of cardio training is the most effective, I recommend using HITT as a part of your overall workout routine while also including other types of cardio as well.

REMEMBER:  This type of workout, when done correctly can be exhausting.  Whenever performing HIIT, it should ALWAYS be based on your personal intensity index.  It is important to understand how hard YOU can work, and your own capabilities before including HIIT in your cardio training plan.

Directions
1. Warm up the first min.
2. Min. 2-4 start @ 8, go to 9, back to 8
3. Min. 5 = recover
4. Min. 6-8 start @ 7, go to “Max”, back to 7
5. Min. 9 = recover
6. Min. 10-12 start @ 8, go to 9, back to 8
7. Min. 13 = recover
8. Min. 14-16 start @ 7, go to “Max”, back to 7
9. Min. 17 = recover
10. Min. 18-19 start @ 8, go to 9, back to 8
11. Cool down on your own

If you tend to get bored with your cardio training, you might want to take a look at Cardio Coach.  Cardio Coach™ is a downloadable audio workout program for your iPod / MP3 player and is designed for any type of cardio machine (bikes, treadmill, cross trainer, elliptical, stair stepper, rower etc.) & features a patented levels & zone system for any fitness level, from beginner to advanced.

Cardio Coach basically gives you some entertainment and variety and keeps you motivated for cardio every day.  Try it and let me know what you think!