I do high intensity intervals on one of three machines
elliptical
bike
recumbant bike
Usually it’s the elliptical, but there are some nights when I look at that fucking thing and can’t bear the thought of being on it.
It’s usually 25-30 minutes and it breaks down like this:
First 5 minutes, warm up at about 110-115 steps/minute
Next 10 minutes, 30 seconds balls out with a minute of sustained pace at about 110 steps/minute.
Next 5 minutes, 1 minute balls out, one minute 100 steps/minute
Last 5 minutes, 30 seconds balls out, one minute at about 100 steps/minute.
Then for that last 5 minute “cool down” I’ll stay on it nice and easy until my HR gets down to around 120-ish.
I definitely like the ideas of jumping rope and high rep squats as an alternative, I’ve also thought of doing 90 second sets hitting the heavy bag. For me, my biggest enemy with cardio is boredom and monotony, so any new ideas help a lot.
[quote]the.israeli wrote:
If you dislike any sort of running, rope jumping is a very good solution. You can work in intervals that can be at least as hard as short running sprints, and even tougher on your coordination.
For some people, like me, rope jumping builds the calf muscles like a motherfucker. It’s best to learn proper technique and use a fast moving lightweight rubber rope. If you know anyone who’s into boxing, that’s the place to go learn from.[/quote]
What is the benefit of jump rope with regards to boxing? Just curious because it always seems to go with boxing training.
I like intervals on the treadmill. I change up the incline and speed each minute or two, to keep it interesting.
A lot of people would be surprised to learn that walking at 3.3 mph on a 12 degree incline actually burns about 16 cals/minute for a 200 pound person. So, I’ll do a few minutes walking, as specified above, and then go down to 1 degree incline and run at 10.0 for a minute or two, and then back to walking for a bit.
This lasts about 25 minutes, and, it’s not all that miserable. I burn an average of about 19 cals/minute, over 25 min (plus warmup and cool down = 30 min), and it turns out to be over 500 cals.