With this knee injury dragging on, I have become very good friends with the bicycle. I wouldn’t say we were never friends, but I couldn’t quite get the “runner’s high” from spin class and was having a hard time breaking a sweat when I was trying to workout on my own. I have been consistent and patient and slowly but surely the workouts are getting harder, far more enjoyable and endorphins are kicking in. Thank goodness!
When you are trying to increase your aerobic fitness there are three things you can alter:
- Intensity – resistance and/or speed
- Frequency – how often
- Duration – how long
I GUARANTEE everyone can improve their aerobic fitness by adjusting the variables.
If you are looking at duration – consider adding a few more minutes to your current workout – could you do 5 more minutes?
If you are looking at frequency – add one more day a week. Can you make that work with your schedule?
If you are looking at intensity you can adjust resistance and/or speed to change things up. Are you up for the challenge?
Playing with intensity can get fun – make a game of it! Find a certain amount of time “on” and a certain amount “off” and find just how hard to can push yourself. I am certain you can do more than you think. Show yourself how strong you are!
Today I spent 45 minutes on the bike and played with the following intervals:
- 1 minute on – 1 minute off
- 4 minutes on – 1 minute off
- 30 seconds on – 30 seconds off
- 1 minute on – 30 seconds off
- 2 minutes on – 1 minute off
I kept the RPM around the same level and adjusted the intensity by changing the resistance. I also watched my heart rate to monitor how I was doing. The time flew by because I was so focused on the interval and I was dripping by the end because I was continually challenging myself.
Do you think you are getting the most of your cardio workouts? Can you push yourself harder? Do you even want to? Just know that you can – changing things up can make a big difference.
No go get some endorphins!