How to Make the Most of Your Cardio Workout

My number one excuse for not working out is, "I don't have time." I say this like it's true. I promise you, it's not. As a self-proclaimed lazy girl, I will find any excuse to watch Psych and read celebrity gossip blogs. I consider such activities "me" time. But lets be honest. They should be called "me getting fat" time.

You don't need to spend two hours at the gym to benefit from exercise. You can get a kick butt workout on a time crunch. It's true. In fact, Body-for-LIFE workout program suggests 20 minutes of cardio, on alternate days, three times a week. That is 60 minutes. That is one episode of your favorite television drama, or two episodes of a must-see sitcom you TiVo. In other words, we can make the time!

20-Minute Aerobics Solution™ (the official Body-for-LIFE cardio plan) suggests that you can get an effective cardio workout in less than half an hour. And, boy, are they not kidding! This is probably the most intense 20 minutes you will spend on the treadmill. The workout is designed to burn fat and build your endurance by utilizing intervals that vary in intensity.

Follow these steps to your 20-minute kick-butt workout:

- The first two minutes are your warm up. Set the treadmill at level 5 and get going.
- After your warm up, increase your intensity level to 6. Minutes 2-3 are done at this level.
- Increase the intensity level by one during the following intervals: Minutes 4-5, Minutes 6-10, and Minutes 11-14. You are working from level 6 to level 9 in each interval, maintaining your intensity for one minute at the time. For example, you go from level 6 to level 7 between minutes 3 and 4, level 8 between minutes 4 and 5, level 9 in between minutes 5 and 6, than you lower the intensity back to 6 at the end of the interval. Repeat this three times.
- Same concept applies to minutes 15-19, but you will go from level 6 to level 10 (which is why you have one extra minute in this interval), maintaining each intensity level for one minute.
- Minute 20 is your cool down. Bring your intensity level back to 5 (same as your warm up).

The level of intensity may concern you if you are just now getting started with an exercise program. Do not get discouraged. If you have to start at a lower intensity level, do so, but maintain the intervals and intensity changes as indicated in order to get the most of your workout. Personally, I am still working my way up to level 5. But I intent to get there. It really helps that my gym has TVs. There is nothing like a little must-see programming to motivate this lazy girl.

Source: Body-for-LIFE and bodyforlife.com