Jog to boredom

Let’s face it, some of us are really sick of doing our standard, traditional cardio routine on a regular basis. It seems as if they are running like hamsters on the infinite road to nowhere, ie the treadmill just doesn’t seem to work. Sure, you could take your mind off the tedious task by plugging in your ipod or watching one of the big screen TVs your gym might have next to the treadmills.

The truth is, though, if you can watch TV or even carry on a conversation while doing your cardio, you’re not working hard enough. While I’m certainly not totally against regular cardio practices like jogging or biking, this article hopes to show you some alternatives that will get your blood pumping and take your breath away.

Take, for example, a move most commonly performed with dumbbells, barbells, or kettlebells called the clean and press (often shortened to C&P). You lift the barbell/dumbbell off the ground to your shoulders, then push the weight toward the ceiling so your arm is straight overhead. Reverse the action to lower the weight. You may be reading this thinking it sounds more like a weight training workout than a cardio workout, but I’m sure that after just 10-15 reps with a fairly challenging weight, you’ll definitely have a racing heart rate and feel short of breath. .

This exercise alone is much more effective in the long run than running 40 minutes on a treadmill for weight loss. Also try dumbbell one arm snatches to feel the benefits. Your body gets a great workout and your mind has something to focus on. Really focus while doing these exercises and you may even find that your attention span and work capacity can improve as well.

For the busier guys, why not try five minutes of intense, vigorous exercise? For example, five minutes of lunges, push-ups, squats with little to no rest between sets. Five minutes is all it takes and if you don’t feel like you’ve just finished running at the end of these, then you might not have been working hard enough.

Try these exercises the next time you don’t feel like jogging, changing your exercise program on a routine basis will do you a lot of good.