A good cardio workout can do three main things for you: burn calories, get your heart pumping and tone muscles. Like all good exercise routines, cardio can also offer a fourth benefit: a more positive, energetic outlook that comes from getting healthier.
Jump Rope Exercises
A "Fitness" magazine web article features a series of one-minute jump rope routines you can cycle through for 15 minutes. Start by jumping rope with your feet together, then land with your feet apart in a quick squat. Next, alternate feet, almost running in place as you jump rope, but raising one knee high with each jump. Then stretch the rope out on the ground. Straddle it while you run in place as fast as you can for 20 seconds, football-drill style.
Elliptical Pyramid
Elliptical machines can provide a cardio workout without the impact of running, and you can set the resistance levels based on your level of fitness. Stew Smith, military fitness trainer, author and former Navy Seal, says a solid 20 to 30 minutes on an elliptical can get your heart and muscles pumping if you try a "pyramid" approach. He made his suggestion in a Military.com article on various cardio workouts. Smith suggests increasing the resistance by one to two levels each minute until you can no longer handle the resistance. Then reverse it back to where you started. "The first few minutes of the workout are easy (great warmup), the middle minutes are pushing maximum limits, and the last few minutes are an easy cooldown," he wrote.
Speed Walking
A good speed-walking pace, about 3 mph, can burn around 210 calories an hour; however, there are ways to get more out of that power stroll. "Fitness" magazine's web article, "Walk Your Butt Off," from January 2010, reports on a University of Michigan study that found walkers who pump their left arms as they step with their left legs (and vice versa) can burn up to 266 calories an hour. Walking on an incline can bring that output up to 346 calories per minute. Walking an uneven trail can burn even more calories and help with balance, "Fitness" reports.
Tips
One key to a cardio workout that works for you is to make it a routine, every day or every other day as your health and schedule allow. Warm up and gradually build up to your full workout intensity, then gradually cooling down. Mix up your cardio workouts so you don't grow bored. Run one day, then jump rope the next or even do kickboxing or play three-on-three basketball on other days.
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