While it’s important to incorporate strength training into your workouts (adding muscle speeds up your metabolism, which burns fat) – you also need cardio if you want to not only loose weight, but build endurance. Unlike s strength workout circuit, doing cardio can be, well, boring. And if you’re bored, you loose motivation for your cardio workouts. But if you have a good plan for your workout, you not only can stay motivated, you’ll benefit greatly – so here’s some ideas for great cardio workouts for weight loss.
Why Do You Loose Motivation For Cardio?
There are three reasons why people loose motivation for doing cardio. One is boredom. The second is burnout. And the last is bewilderment. And if your cardio workouts for weight loss suffer from one or more of these reasons, you won’t find the weight loss success you’re trying to achieve. Here’s ways to avoid these three reasons.
- Bewilderment – If you aren’t sure how to go about doing a good cardio workout, you won’t do it. It’s easy to over complicate what you think you need for a good workout. But, if you keep it simple, you may find that your workouts are actually more effective!
- Burnout – Doing the same workout each time can cause burnout. But, with a simple cardio plan that also allows you to change up your workouts each time, you can keep yourself motivated and avoid burnout!
- Boredom – Running on a treadmill while staring at the wall is a sure fire way to get bored, causing you to focus on things other than a productive workout. But with a workout plan that allows you to focus on a goal during your workout, you can do a better job of keeping yourself focused, and wanting to come back for more!
Ideas for a Great Cardio Workout for Weight Loss
Great Cardio Workouts #1 – Stair Running
This is a great workout that can burn up to 1000 calories per hour! Even walking up and down a flight of stairs for 10 minutes will cause a 160 lb person to burn over 100 calories. You can either use a flight of stairs in your home (which is great during bad weather) – or find an outdoor staircase that has more than one flight of stairs. Try substituting your next running workout with a flight of stairs! (And, as you’ll use a different set of muscles than a normal running session – you’ll find it’s great for your glutes and hamstrings!).
Great Cardio Workouts #2 – HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)
HIIT, or “High Intensity Interval Training,” is a training regime that was once used to train only elite athletes. Now, many gyms are specializing in this type of training. This workout has one goal – go all-out with your highest intensity for a short interval, then take a briefly rest and do it again. Plus, you’ll burn up to 600 calories per hour. You can do this with running, cycling, or on an elliptical machine. And in 20 minutes, you can get a full workout. You just need to push hard for 30 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds – then push again for 30 seconds – for the entire duration of your workout. Want a great HIIT plan? Check out this HIIT Tabata Workout!
Great Cardio Workouts #3 – Rowing
For this, you’ll need a rowing machine. You’ll get a full body workout that includes biceps, triceps, shoulders, back, glutes, quads, hamstrings – and you’ll burn over 500 calories per hour! Combine this with HIIT Training, and you’ve got a killer 20 minute workout!
If you’re looking for home fitness equipment for that great cardio workout, Fitness 4 Home Superstore can help you put together the right mix of equipment for both your workouts and your budget. We have equipment that is also perfect for HIIT training – come check out our full selection of home strength equipment, cardio equipment, and fitness accessories at any of our three Valley locations!
