The Ultimate Cardio Hacks

The recent rise in temperature has been all the motivation I need to tone up for the summer! The sunny weather makes most people want to wear less and go out more, but endlessly walking on the treadmill is super boring. How do we get sculpted doing cardio as summer is rapidly closing in?

1) A gym-only entertainment!

Choose a TV series, podcast or audiobook you exclusively play at the gym. Setting that boundary between the rest of your entertainment and exercise rewards your hard work in the gym in a specific way and creates a routine for you to look forward to. For example, walking on the treadmill doing the 12 – 3 – 30 TikTok challenge, or walking on the Stairmaster can become mundane, but incorporating a thirty-minute TV show can help the time pass by. If you want to find out what happens next episode, get to the gym!

2) Join a cardio class.

Making friends at a fitness class is a great hack to make cardio enjoyable. You can find other participants with similar goals and have people you look forward to seeing. Making friends with other people at Zumba, spin or circuit classes can also help with motivation as I tend to get embarrassed being out of breath or not as fit as I’d like to be, but a class has a mix of abilities and everyone is just as tired you, so you won’t be comparing yourself as much.

Consider making a group chat where you all drop-in fitness tips and new classes and hold each other accountable for attendance. Actually getting to a class/gym is the hard part, this hack can remove that obstacle!

3) Get your pets involved.

Walking your furry friends counts just as much as cardio as a full-body HIIT class. You get to bond with your baby, sight-see and get your steps in, all in one go. You could try wearing weighted ankle bands or wearing a waist sweatband to add extra intensity to your workout. Keep you and your pet healthy and forget you’re even doing cardio altogether.

4) Nike Training Club

This app is an OG in the fitness community. You get two hundred plus free workouts to choose from and pre-plan around your schedule towards your goals, tracking your progress. It provides you with video demonstrations to improve your form and prevent injury, you also feel like you are doing the workout with someone else. Practising your form with the app will help you feel less intimidated by the professionals in the gym and as you improve, you can extend the periods of your exercises and increase the intensity. There are different levels and variations of workouts you may have not come across before, which could make cardio less boring and more of a challenge, like doing a leg day.

5) Cute fitness wear

Ladies, ditch the 2017 NCS T-shirt and old leggings and treat yourself to new fitness wear, you deserve it! I am just as guilty of that very outfit being worn to the gym, but honestly putting more effort into how you look actually advances your performance.

Confidence is boosted and you spent all that money on a new gym wardrobe, so you probably will frequent the gym/walk/run/go to classes more to get your money’s worth. Enhance what is already there and do not be afraid to flaunt your body as it is even if you haven’t hit your goal yet, you are still worthy of a fire fit! Your new gear does not need to fit social media’s “aesthetic” or be tight, choose whatever makes you look and feel good. You will blast through your cardio workouts in no time!