Only a week has gone by since I started my new cardio regime in the hope of shedding a couple of pounds before my beach holiday in October and… I am already bored of the routine that I started. Oh, well. Anyway, here are some more ideas I have come across in my endless search for less boring cardio (well, it feels endless but it’s actually only a week):
- Climb stairs – a brand new article about climbing stairs with chains from Elite FTS, just when I need it. The only problem is that I don’t have any chains. Hmm, this could be tricky. Plus, the stairs in my house turn two corners and there’s a big plant at the top which sticks out.
- Combine running with circuits – Mike Mahler suggests combining running with swings and things. I like it but I’m not sure I can think of anywhere locally where I could leave a dumbbell lying around and it wouldn’t walk off discretely while I was 200 yards away.
- Hit things – Mike also gives advice on how to hit things with a hammer. Sounds good. I would love to take out some of my hunger-anger out on an inanimate object. Now I just need a tire and a sledgehammer… damn.
- Complexes – Chris Shugart has four complexes from four of the best strength coaches in the world. I hate complexes. My form goes to hell after the first one and then my joints hurt for days afterwards. I am sure there are lots of people who are skilled enough to do these safely but I am not one of them.
- Bike intervals – Dave Draper reminds me that 30s on 30s off for 12 minutes on the bike is as good as anything else these days. Probably sage advice given the trouble I have finding a routine that I like. I must confess, I really miss having a Concept 2 rower handy.
- Hill sprints – Charles Staley recommends hill sprints, which is frustrating as there is a really great hill about 10 minutes jog away from my house. Frustrating because if I jog there and back as well as running sprints for 20 minutes, it turns into the best part of a 45 minute workout once I’ve put my shoes on and off. How is that a bad thing, I hear you ask… well, let’s just say I’m not really a cardio king and leave it at that.
- Lift sandbags – Ben Hanson at ChasingKaz has a great selection of suggestions on how to make use of sandbags for conditioning. I bought an army duffel bag online about a month ago for £5 and it’s been lying on my dining room floor looking at me accusingly ever since. Fortunately, the two bags of sand I bought from the local DIY store are round the back of the house so I don’t see them so often…
- Farmers’ walks – Matthieu Hertilus suggests that I just go and carry heavy stuff around. Now this sounds promising. I went through a phase of improvising farmers’ walks in the summer while the weather was nice. A couple of laps around the garden (it’s quite small, really) and I was definitely feeling it in my upper back and forearms. I used slings and carabiners to hold 20kg (45lb) plates on dumbbell handles. Not pretty and they tend to swing around a bit and knock into your legs (especially when you turn corners) but better than nothing. I’ll do another post tomorrow with some pictures.
Well that’s quite enough cardio for one day. I need to go and relax on the sofa after all that hard work!
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Tags: Bike Intervals · Cardio · Complexes · farmers' walks · hill sprints · Mike Mahler · sandbags · Stair Climbing1 Comment
[...] I promised in my article yesterday about more interesting ways to do cardio, here is a brief guide to how to set up a pair of dumbbell handles to act as farmers’ bars [...]