Make cardio fun with these tips

We all know cardio is essential to any well-rounded fitness program, it improves your heart health and boosts your mood but it’s notorious for being bland and sometimes monotonous. Sadly this sees some people skipping their cardio training altogether. If this is you we’ve put together a few tips and tricks to try and turn cardio from drab and dry into fun and enjoyable.

Mix it up and get your heart racing with different types of cardio.

Variety is the spice of life, so mix things up and try your hand at any of the many cardio exercises. You can jump on the treadmill in RUNAthetlic or the bikes in Cycle, or maybe incorporate some swimming. Try as many different activities as possible until you land on something that feels right for you.

Find a new playlist or podcasts

Keep cardio fun with some high-energy tunes, or a juicy podcast. Listening to something other than your head noise can help distract you from the cardio workout and keep your brain entertained and engaged. It’s true what they say, time flies when you’re having fun.

Get your gym buddy involved.

Working out is always better with a friend or in a group class. And not only will you have someone to chat with during the workout, but you can guys can keep one another accountable and motivated.

Track your progress

The journey is more important than the destination, and tracking your progress along that journey is a surefire way to keep you motivated with your cardio training. You can set yourself benchmarks, such as distance or the number of laps in the pool, and then track your progress as you reach and break through those benchmarks.

Workout

Now let’s put some of these tips into practice with a short bike workout. 

Warm-up

Start out with an easy warm-up for 5 minutes.

30 seconds on/off (for a total of 5 minutes)*

• 30 seconds of high-intensity effort.

• 30 seconds of recovery.

Warm-down

Return to your easy pace for 5 minutes to bring your heart rate back to normal.

*Adjust the bike’s resistance to your fitness level and be sure to listen to your body.