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This one is for my Muse and Tom, again

Hello Readers

Yes, I know it’s been a while Everything is good, almost perfect even, at this end and I trust these latest ramblings find you all in a similar position

This week’s post sees me venturing off onto exciting new territory for this blog – cardio  - in response to this charming request that I received from My Muse; henceforth referred to as MM.

“Hmmmm….blogggg!!!! I await patiently for ones wise words….please….maybe based on cardio? I don’t like cardio…the thought of being stuck on something for whole 20 mins bores me to death.. ”

I’ll be honest with you all here; I’m not exactly a huge cardio fan myself. I don’t think I’ve done any at all this year, hence the somewhat tongue in cheek title I don’t go running for fun and neither do I have any urges to participate in mass cardio gatherings thinly disguised as long obstacle courses, fun though I am sure they are For me cardio is currently reserved for when I am trying to lose body fat. That said a quick glance back to my post from last October shows that the last time I did that I only did 3 sessions

The Boredom Factor

After promising last post that “Blog requests will be honoured” and receiving such a polite message from MM I don’t really think I can get away with leaving it there though so I’ll start by addressing the boredom factor

My first recommendation is quite simple. Just do it I’ve employed this approach myself quite successfully; for my first bodybuilding show I did 45 minutes steady state, twice a day. The first session was usually a run on a treadmill, the second was a walk, just before bed – my girlfriend would drop me off 45 minutes away from home and I’d walk back This regime was so far beyond boring it was bordering on soul destroying, but I wanted to get in good shape so I just did it anyway

You’ll now understand why 20 minutes cardio isn’t a big deal to me 20 minutes should fly by, especially if you’re doing intervals. If you’re doing ‘em right you’ll be far too busy feeling exhausted to be bored Music helps a lot here and, perhaps unsurprisingly to readers of my last post, Motorhead are my interval training favourites

Just add weights

There are other ways to make cardio interesting too; ways that don’t involve “being stuck on something for whole 20 mins” The most exciting way I can think of is to throw weights into the mix There are lots of ways to do this, the only limit is your imagination really but I’ll share some workout ideas to get you going These are not easy by any means, but they’re not boring either

Giant Sets = Good

This is what I’d recommend MM to do. Use Giant Sets; a group of 4-6 exercises performed back to back with minimal rest between exercises for the uninitiated.

MM’s Giant Set

Start with the lower number of reps and build up to the higher one.

1. Bodyweight Squat x 8-12
2. Press Ups x 8-12
3. Plank (15 secs)
4. Lunges x 8-12 (4-6 each leg)
5. Hip Raises x 8-12
6. Burpees x 5-12

Rest for a minute and then do another Giant Set. Do 3 Giant Sets to start with and build up to as many as you can do in 20 minutes.

Including a warm up, cold down and stretch you’ve got a 45-60 minute workout that will allow you to maintain muscle mass, shape, tone and strength, burn body fat and it’s not boring

In the case of MM I’m recommending doing this routine 2-3 times a week, with no other training.

You may have noticed that I’ve included all bodyweight exercises in MM’s Giant Set. You don’t have to do this of course but I know that MM uses a very busy gym and getting hold of multiple pieces of kit might be challenging. Using bodyweight exercises solves this problem rather well

Want more variety?

I said that there were lots of ways so here’s another, courtesy of my mate Tom Robertson of GymAddict.com Unlike me Tom actually does cardio and I watched him smashing himself in the gym with this little number recently which he later posted on his FB page.

Tom’s Tantalising Thursday Training Plan – “Ass ‘n” Abz”

Warm Up

1. Rower: 350m steady + 150m sprint x 2 = 1000m
2. Circuit x7 rounds
3. Kettlebell Swing x 30 reps (10 x double hand swings + 10 single arm swings (5 each arm) + 10 x double hand swings)
4. Knee Grab Sit Ups x 15
5. Mountain Climbers x 30 (15 each leg)

Cool Down

Again this is a pretty tough workout but I challenge anyone to find it boring

So there you go MM. Hopefully this has solved your boredom issues and revitalised your workouts too. I’m actually quite pleased with how this post has turned out If you’ve enjoyed it please ‘Share’ it, ‘Like’ it and ‘Tweet’ it Actually please do this even if you didn’t enjoy it Until next time ….