FitSugar

Get It Up, Your Heart Rate That Is: Biathlon

FitSugar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:45:00 -0700

Changing machines mid-cardio is one of my favorite ways to beat boredom. I love this stationary bike and treadmill mini biathlon because it's a great way to work your entire lower body, all while blasting major calories.

For the first part, hop on a stationary bike and be prepared to work! Here's how it goes:

Time	Level (Resistance)	Speed (RPM)	RPE (1-10)
00:00-05:00	3	70-80	3
05:00-07:00	6	90-100	5-6
07:00-10:00	10	70-85	7-8
10:00-12:00	8	90-105	6-7
12:00-15:00	12	65-80	8-9

For the second part of the routine on the treadmill just read more.

You're halfway there! Now get off the stationary bike and hop on a treadmill for the rest of the program:

Time	Speed (MPH)	Incline	RPE (1-10)
15:00-16:00	4.0	0	5
16:00-20:00	5.0	2	6
20:00-24:00	5.5	2	7
24:00-28:00	5.0	4	8
28:00-32:00	5.5	4	8-9
32:00-37:00	3	0	4-3

Fit's Tip: Depending on your exercise level this may seem too hard or too easy. Adjust your speed and resistance so that your RPE is within the desired range.

Get It Up, Your Heart Rate That Is: At Home Cardio

FitSugar — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:00:00 -0700

I have had a few requests for an at home cardio program involving no machines. Here is a short, fun, and hard cardio workout I just dreamed up and tested. I loved it! My legs and arms both feel worked. Check it out! The only thing you need is a step and a jump rope, if you have no stairs in your house find a small bench to use, or just march in place with a bit more vigor. If you don’t have a jump rope just imagine you do and hop over your imaginary rope.

Exercise	Time / Reps
March in place	2 minutes
Step up	2 minutes
Jump rope	2 minutes
Stretch	Hamstrings, Quads, Calves, Inner Thighs

That wraps up the warm up. To see the rest of the workout, read more.

Jumping jacks	2 minutes
Squats	1 minute
Side lunges	10 sets
Jumping rope	1 minute
Jump squats	15 reps
March in place	1 minute
Burpees	15 reps
March in place	1 minute
Walking lunges	10 sets
Squats	1 minute
Jump rope	1 minute
Jump Squats	15 reps
Jump rope	1 minute
Step up	2 minutes
March in place	2 minutes
Push ups	20
Ab work	5 minutes
Tricep dips	30

This workout is definitely not low impact, and if you have downstairs neighbors it could seriously bother them. Take care of yourself and your knees. Remember to stretch your entire body post workout.

Source

Get It Up, Your Heart Rate That Is: Slow Down, Climb Up

FitSugar — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 03:30:00 -0800

I like to pump up the incline when I am on the treadmill, but I also like to run at a faster speed. So since it's too hard for me to always do both at once, I combine the speed and incline with a fun workout that has you changing things up every two and a half minutes. For the workout, just read more.

Time	Incline (%)	Speed (MPH)
00:00-05:00	1	2.5
05:00-07:30	1	6.0
07:30-10:00	2	5.8
10:00-12:30	3	5.6
12:30-15:00	4	5.4
15:00-17:30	5	5.2
17:30-20:00	6	5.0
20:00-22:30	7	4.8
22:30-25:00	8	4.6
25:00-27:30	9	4.4
27:30-30:00	10	4.2
30:00-32:30	11	4.0
32:30-35:00	12	3.8
35:00-40:00	1	2.5

Fit's Tip: If this is too hard, go a bit slower until you build up your endurance. Once you get bored, do the program in reverse to get an entirely different cardio workout.

Source

Get It Up, Your Heart Rate That Is: Uphill Run/Walk

FitSugar — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 04:00:00 -0800

Last night on the treadmill I was not feeling like running, but I knew I just needed to push myself to run a little bit or I would have been disappointed with myself. So instead of forcing my way through a grueling (and boring) 30 minute run on the treadmill that I was not excited about, I decided to switch it up with an uphill run/walk that is great for the legs and booty. What's more? I really enjoyed it! To see the workout, just read more.

Time	Speed (MPH)	Incline (%)
00:00-05:00	2.5	1
05:00-10:00	5.5	3
10:00-15:00	3.5	11
15:00-20:00	5.5	5
20:00-25:00	3.5	13
25:00-30:00	5.5	7
30:00-35:00	3.5	15
35:00-40:00	2.5	1

Fit's Tip: If this proves to be too hard, lower the incline and/or speed. If this is too easy, raise the speed and/or incline.

Source

Get It Up, Your Heart Rate That Is: Three Mile Event

FitSugar — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:00:00 -0800

In this edition of Get It Up, I don't want to focus on duration, but rather distance. Next time you hop on the treadmill or elliptical, forget about the timer and focus on the miles. Aim to do three miles - just shy of a 5K - of whatever it is you are doing. Depending on your fitness level and machine, this could vary time wise. As a guideline, if you are jogging 6 miles per hour, that's a ten minute mile and three miles should take you about 30 minutes without a warm up and cool down. Just remember that even though you're not paying attention to time does not mean you shouldn't push yourself to really do your best.

If you try it out, I'd love to hear how long it took you to do your three miles and which machine you did it on. Enjoy!

Source

Get It Up, Your Heart Rate That Is: Skater Steps

FitSugar — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 08:45:00 -0800

I've been really into running (and walking) stairs lately, but it can get a little tedious so I found a way to switch it up while still doing the stairs. All you have to do is add Skater Steps into your workout. Here's how:

Stand facing stairs.
Start by stepping your right foot onto the right edge side of first step.
Then push off of your right foot and step onto your left foot to the left edge side of next step. You should feel like you are speed skating.
Now keep alternating sides all the way up the stairs.

To see how I incorporate skater steps into my own stair workout, just read more.

*Use at least one or two flights of stairs, or more if you're up for the challenge.

Time

Activity
00:00-05:00	Walk up and down to warm up
05:00-07:00	Run up and down
07:00-10:00	Skater steps up and run down
10:00-12:00	Run up and down
12:00-15:00	Skater steps up and run down
15:00-20:00	Walk up and down to cool down

Skater Steps are a great addition because they target the outside of the leg and hip, ensuring that you get a fuller workout since stairs tend to work the front and back of your legs. Try it next time you climb the stairs!

Source

Luke Wilson Joins the Hollywood Runner's Club

FitSugar — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 14:30:00 -0800

Was Luke Wilson's New Year's resolution to start getting healthy? Luke, who we never ever see running, was trying his hand, er feet, at it, and I'm impressed.

Despite there being an ongoing war between runners and joggers, anyone can become either with a little persistence and practice. It looks to me like Luke is starting out with a jog/walk interval workout so I thought I'd make one for you guys in honor of Luke dusting off the old sneakers.

For the workout and to see more pics of adorable Luke jogging in Santa Monica, just read more.

Time	Activity	RPE (1 being easy and 10 being hard)
00:00-05:00	Walk (warm up)	2
05:00-10:00	Speed Walk	5-6
10:00-15:00	Run	7
15:00-16:00	Sprint	8-9
16:00-21:00	Walk	3-4
21:00-26:00	Speed Walk	5-6
26:00-31:00	Run	7
31:00-32:00	Sprint	8-9
32:00-40:00	Walk (cool down)	3

View 7 Photos ›

Flynet

Get It Up, Your Heart Rate That Is: TV Commercial Interval Workout

FitSugar — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 04:00:00 -0800

The other day I was on the treadmill and I just couldn't muster up the energy to both workout and create my own routine. Paying attention to the numbers on the screen seemed overwhelming, but the television was on and I decided to use the TV programming to my advantage. I did a TV commercial interval workout and this little routine got the job done.

Here's how it works: Turn on a TV while doing cardio on a machine. During the programming go at a RPE (rate of perceived exertion with 1 being a super slow stroll and 10 being a full out sprint) of about 5-7, during commercials try and keep your RPE around 8-9. Since most commercial breaks are about 3.5 minutes long, this gives you a few good bursts of high intensity cardio every 10 minutes or so. This cardio variation is definitely not something I could (or would) do each time I'm on a cardio machine, but it was a nice change of pace (sorry for the pun) and nice to focus all my attention on timing my intervals. Plus, since I don't really care about the commercials, I was able to really focus on pushing through the 3.5 minutes of high intensity and I didn't miss a word Joey just said on that great rerun of Friends.

You can do this "commercial intervals" using any cardio machine really, so try it out and let me know what you think.

Source

In Case You Missed It: Get It Up

FitSugar — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 09:30:00 -0800

I've brought you a lot of great ideas for cardio routines in a feature I like to call Get It Up, Your Heart Rate That Is. I know most of you really enjoy these posts, so I wanted to make sure you all saw some of the more popular cardio workout routines. So here are the top Get It Ups for 2007:

Treadmill Mountain Hike - interval walking with big inclines.
StepMill Intervals - a interval program on the dreaded StepMill.
Arc Trainer - two minute intervals on the Arc Trainer.
Quick Elliptical - for when you're short on time.
Swimming Fun - swimming indoors is a great cardio activity in the cold winter.
Gym Triathlon - combines swimming, biking, and running in the gym.

If you have a Get It Up that you're especially fond of, please share it in the comments section below - I'd love to hear your feedback.

Source

Get It Up, Your Heart Rate That Is: Quick Elliptical

FitSugar — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 04:00:00 -0800

I have said it before and no doubt I will say it again: If pressed for time, don't skip the gym altogether – just shorten your workout. Here is a quick elliptical workout that is only 22 minutes long including warm up and cool down. Using quick intervals makes the workout intense and productive in burning calories. Remember to work honestly within your Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and work between easy (1-3), medium (4-7) and hard (8-10) amounts of exertion. Play with the levels of resistance to find one that feels right for your short sprint. I added two minutes of moving the steps backward to target the hamstrings.

Warm Up
00:00-03:00 Level 3
03:00-05:00 Level 5

Quicky Intervals for 5 minutes
05:00-05:08, RPE 8-10
05:08-05:20, RPE 4-7
05:20-05:28, RPE 8-10
05:28-05:40, RPE 4-7
05:40-05:48, RPE 8-10
05:48-06:00, RPE 4-7
Repeat 4 more times

Recover
10:00-12:00, level 7, Backward

Quicky Intervals for 5 minutes
12:00-12:08, RPE 8-10
12:08-12:20, RPE 4-7
12:20-12:28, RPE 8-10
12:28-12:40, RPE 4-7
12:40-12:48, RPE 8-10
12:48-13:00, RPE 4-7
Repeat 4 more times

Cool Down
17:00-20:00 level 5
20:00-22:00 level 3

Source