The Best Cardio Workouts Are Also The Shortest
The best cardio workout you can do is also the shortest
. It is called the Tabata protocol after Dr. Izumi Tabata who discovered in the 1990s that, by doing 8 short but highly intense periods of exercise for 20 seconds each period with only 10 seconds of rest in between you can increase your anaerobic capacity 28%. This is only 4 minutes of work but it is highly intensive and will leave you gasping for air and thinking that 4 minutes is an eternity.
You can perform the Tabata protocol with a wide range of exercises from running wind sprints to swimming to body weight squats or anything else for that matter. The exercise does not matter, it is the effort you put into it. And this is really the point. How often have you seen the same people at the gym on the treadmill or the Stairmaster doing the same long boring cardio exercises for hours, months and ultimately years on end? They have not really changed their body shape since they started have they? This is because, while there is a lot of time invested there is really no effort. It is like showing up for work, punching the clock, going through the motions for 8 hours and then going home.
To really make the gains (or losses) you are looking for you need to invest some effort. You need to expend yourself so that you are burning more calories and, consequently, burning more fat.
However, the Tabata may not be for everyone, and I certainly would not recommend it to someone who is just starting out, but you can apply the principle to anything. High intensity interval training uses the same philosophy as the Tabata protocol and is training intensely for brief periods of time followed by short periods of rest before you move on to the next exercise.
I have been doing this type of training for a few weeks now with a kettlebell and I find it difficult to last any longer than about 15 to 20 minutes in my workouts.
If you are unfamiliar with a kettlebell it is a Russian device that looks like a cannonball with a handle. Because of its design it is ideal for swinging. So this adds a weight lifting element to your cardio routine. Because of this you will be winded pretty quickly using a KB.
The KB is so effective at building anaerobic capacity that I have heard of people running marathons after doing nothing but working with a KB. KBs are also extremely effective at burning fat. Research has shown that you can burn up to 20 calories a minute using a KB which is the equivalent of cross country skiing uphill. Now, if that is not a great cardio workout, I do not know what is.
Here is a sample workout schedule that you can do with a KB or dumbbells in the privacy of your own home. Now remember, they key is the effort expended not the time invested. Perform each of the exercises, rest briefly, then move on to the next one. Once you get to the end start over and do them as many times as possible. The workout should last anywhere from 10 minutes to a half an hour.
Week 1: A/B/A/B/A
Week 2: B/A/B/A/B
A: One armed clean and press, rest, two armed clean and press, rest, one armed snatch, rest, squat to a military press, rest, lateral raises, rest, dead lift to a high pull
B: Pull ups, KB or DB swing between your legs, bent one armed rows, burpee w/ renegade rows, bent one armed rows, burpee w/ push ups, dips
by: John Kidder
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