Shake-up & Wake-up Your Cardio Routine

Creating a balanced program means devoting equal time to all the components of good health and fitness.

My favorite breakfast is 100% Bran cereal with dried cranberries and milk, along with a side order of honey ham. I love it! Would I want to eat it everyday? No way! I'd get bored. Really bored.

The same thing happens to our bodies when we give them the same exercise diet day after day. Our muscles, including our hearts, get "bored" and stop improving in strength and endurance. I'm going to introduce you to several workout techniques that will keep your mind and body engaged to make you stronger, faster, and endlessly energetic. Endurance is one of the key components to a fit life because it keeps you going on the playing field, as well as in the board room, the carpool, the grocery store, and wherever else you find yourself.

Heart Rate

I believe that success is not measured by numbers on a scale, numbers on a timing clock, or even placement numbers on a list of race finishers. Having said that, I encourage you to get to know a very important number that will help you gauge your fitness -- your resting heart rate.

Resting heart rate (RHR) is the number of times per minute your heart beats when you're completely at rest. The average woman has an RHR of around 60-85 beats per minute. The champion cyclist Indurain has an RHR of 30. That's right! His heart beats once every other second. All of his cycling has given him a very strong heart. Along with this lower RHR, he also has an increased stroke volume; you will, too. Lower stroke volume means that with every beat of your heart, a higher quantity of blood is pumped more easily through your body.

Taking RHR

On a weekend morning, or some other time when you can wake up without the alarm, before you move one iota, take your pulse for one full minute. That's your resting heart rate. Twelve weeks after that first test (and after 12 weeks of following one of the new training programs explained in this article) take your resting heart rate again. It should be lower ... and that means you've improved!

The goal with all of this RHR business is to improve your sports performance and endurance. The idea is this: if on "Day 1" you can run a mile in, say, 10 minutes at a particular level of exertion, by the end of the 12 weeks, you should be able to run that same mile either FASTER at the same exertion level, or in the same amount of time at a LOWER exertion level.

Finding Maximum Heart Rate (Max HR)

The old method of subtracting our age from 226 to find our maximum heart rate has proven to be pretty unreliable. Max HR tends to vary according to sport, so you'll need to find your Max HR via a little test. If you can afford it, a heart rate monitor is one of the best investments you can make in your fitness and health. If you don't have a monitor, take a 15-second pulse on the inside of your wrist or the side of your neck, then multiply by 4 to get your 1-minute HR. Though less accurate than a monitor, this is an OK substitute.

DO THE MAX HR TEST WITH A FRIEND! You're going to be pushing yourself to exertion; it's good to have someone around to make sure you're OK. After a solid warm-up, do the activity of your choice continuously for 2-4 minutes, checking your heart rate several times. Gradually increase your exertion level until you are going full-out and your heart rate is no longer increasing. Record the highest HR you see on your monitor. Rest for 10 minutes and do it again. Average your two Max HR measurements to find the HR on which you'll base your target HR. Your target heart rate for an activity depends on whether you want to exercise in your aerobic or anaerobic zone.

Aerobic vs. Anaerobic

One of the best ways to wake up your workout is to alternate between your aerobic and anaerobic zones. Aerobic exercise is defined as being "in the presence of oxygen." What that means in practical terms is that you're working, probably sweating, breathing deeply and heavily, and starting to feel that buoyant, "I'm so awesome"-feeling of endorphins. The key is that you are not breathless. In contrast, anaerobic exercise is so strenuous that your muscles are working beyond their oxygen capacity; you will feel slightly breathless in your anaerobic zone. Traveling back and forth between these two zones is an excellent way to improve your fitness level and to jump start yourself when your progress hits a plateau.

Generally speaking, your aerobic heart rate zone is 50%-80% of your maximum heart rate. Above 80% of your maximum, you will be anaerobic. For example, if your maximum heart rate for running is 190 beats per minutes, your aerobic zone would be 95 (50% Max HR) to 152 (80% Max HR) beats per minute. Your anaerobic zone would be 153 to 180 beats per minute.

How to shake-up your workout

Now you know the terminology, but you may be wondering about the practical applications of all of these numbers. There are a lot of fun ways to incorporate new training principles into your workouts:

Intervals

Interval training allows you to bounce back and forth between your two training zones to challenge your heart and burn more fat -- research shows that intervals burn 40% more fat than training at a steady heart rate. To add intervals to your workout, alternate between 2-3 minutes of aerobic work and 1-2 minutes of anaerobic work. If you're a walker, you might alternate walking at your regular pace for 2 minutes with a light jog for 1 minute. Runners or cyclists might try fartleks: chose a landmark in the distance (a telephone pole, a fire hydrant, a streetlight) and sprint to the landmark. Drop back to a slower pace until your heart beat slows a bit, then pick a new landmark and sprint again. Though many sports are just now catching on to the idea of interval training, good swimming workouts have always been based on intervals; by challenging our hearts we not only improve endurance, we also pick up speed.

Circuit Training

A circuit consists of two or more activities done in succession with very little rest in between. A weight/cardio circuit can wake up your routine and boost your progress. This is also an ideal workout for the winter months when a lot of us are forced indoors for our workouts. Set out a pair of dumbbells and put on some motivating music. Dance, jog in place, do jumping jacks and knee lifts, alternate deep squats with lunges .... do anything that seems like a fun way to get your heart rate up into your aerobic zone. Keep moving for 3-5 minutes, then grab your weights and do a resistance exercise. When you've completed a set of repetitions with the weights, put them down and return to your aerobic activity.

Cross-Training

Cross-training has been the fitness buzzword of the nineties for good reason ... by working various muscles groups we strengthen our bodies, improve our performance in our primary sport, and avoid injury. To make the most of cross-training, it's best to combine activities that use opposing muscle groups. For example, step aerobics can improve your cycling ability by strengthening your quadriceps and overloading them in a way different way than cycling. Training your abdominal muscles can also improve your cycling by improving your posture and fighting fatigue with proper body alignment. See the chart below for cross-training exercise suggestions.

Primary Activity	Try adding ...
Aerobics classes	Cycling, Swimming
Cycling	In-line skating, Rowing
In-line skating	Running, Cycling, Rowing
Running	Cycling, Swimming
Stair climbing, Step aerobics	Walking, X-country skiing, Rowing
Swimming	Rowing, In-line skating, Running
Walking	Cycling, Swimming, In-line skating

A new activity

Trying a new activity, even if it doesn't become a favorite, forces your muscles to work in new ways. That translates into overload for your muscles ... and overload leads to improved strength and endurance. If you're an aerobics addict who's never tried mountain biking, time in the saddle will provide a greater range of motion for your legs and will work the inner thigh muscles that don't always get the attention they need. In addition, cycling is a non-impact sport -- that's a nice change if you're usually bouncing around on an aerobics floor. No matter what your activity, consider trying something new to spice up your routine. In addition to the physical benefits, new activities also have mental reward. Unfamiliar activities build new connections among the dendrites in our brains, improving our coordination and setting a pattern for the next time we do the activity. Working out really can make you smarter!

Use the terrain and weather

Hills and headwinds, the two dreaded "H" words for runners and cyclists, can actually be a blessing in disguise. By training in these unfavorable conditions from time to time, you can increase your leg and heart strength for greater endurance and fat-burning power. Next time the wind is whistling through the trees, bundle up and face the wind head-on, or head FOR the hills instead of away from them. You may be surprised by how much fun it can be.

Strength = Endurance

New research has linked to improved endurance. Conditioning the muscles of your core (abdominals, back, and hips) in particular, can drastically improve your overall stamina. These muscle groups are responsible for holding your body in proper alignment and help fight fatigue when they are strong and flexible. A core training program, done even once a week, can provide noticeable benefits.

Don't just exercise, TRAIN

Motivation can be a problem for all of us; the best motivation I've found is to set a training goal and devote myself to reaching it. Pick a race or community fun run, select a challenging hill and vow you'll ride your bike to the top one day, promise yourself you'll shave 5-10 seconds off your 100-yard swim time, try to walk forty minutes instead of thirty ... choose a goal and work toward it. You'll not only have that extra motivation you need to stick to your workout routine, when you reach your goal you'll look in the mirror and see the strong athlete you've had inside you all along.