Spice old exercises up with these cool cardio ideas.
For most people, there is a fine line between a training session that inspires and motivates and one that is boring. What is the secret to getting it right? For me, it all comes down to variety. I like to change the exercise, the equipment, the workout style, the people I train with, the session length, the reps and sets and the music. Otherwise, my body won't be challenged. Here are some cool cardio moves and some ways you can mix them up.
100 straddles, 500 skips, 200 mountain climbers, 200 travels and 200 step-downs.
This is a freestyle format with no specific order. You go through the reps in a circuit style until you've done them all. You may do 20 straddles, then 150 skips, then 20 step-downs and so on. Keep track of your reps and time how long it takes you to complete them all.
20 straddles, 100 skips, 30 mountain climbers, 40 travels, 20 step-downs.
Do 3 rounds in this order as fast as you can. Have a 2-minute rest and go again. Do 2-3 rounds.
Do 50 reps of each exercise, then 40 of each, then 30, 20 and finally 10 reps of each.
Do this as quickly as you can, making sure your technique is good on each rep.
Place your hands on a low bench or Bosu (pictured). Assume a push-up position on your toes. Move one foot forward so the knee is in towards your chest. With elbows bent and hands on the bench, jump and, in mid-air, switch your feet so the other foot comes forward. Land lightly with both feet simultaneously. Sink your back knee to the ground. Without resting, jump and switch feet again.
Stand on a hip-height bench. Lower the right leg, while keeping the whole left foot planted on the bench. Try to touch the ground with just the toes of your right foot; the less contact your foot makes with the floor, the better. Raise the leg back to the bench. The majority of the work is done by the standing leg, so make sure you keep the knee of this leg stable to avoid injury. Alternate legs as you go.
Skipping is essentially a foot speed drill, which is why boxers love it. The quicker you can hit the ground and jump up again, the better your foot speed. Stay up on your forefoot and rotate the rope from your wrists, not your forearms. Start at a steady pace, then speed up. Start with simultaneous-feet jumping, then try alternate-feet jumping once you feel up to it.
A travel can be done on a Bosu (pictured) or a low step. It is a lateral movement where you skip sideways, carefully, over the step and land softly on the other side, in a small squat. Start with your right foot on the step and your left foot at three o'clock on the ground. Skip to your left so the left foot replaces the right on the step and the right lands at nine o'clock on the ground. Land lightly in a small squat and skip back to the other side again. That's two reps.
Place your hands towards the front of a knee-high bench. Grab the edges in a safe grip. Have both feet on the right of the bench. Soften your elbows. Jump laterally up and over the bench, landing softly on the other side. With your hands on the bench, keeping soft through your elbows and knees, jump back to the right, landing lightly again. That's two reps. If you find this too much, take your hands to the back of the bench and perform your lateral jumps. You won't need to clear the bench and you can simply jump as high as you want.
Sarah Ling, 31, a mum of two, trains three times a week with weights and cardio.