Cardio: heat it up; The weather outside frightful, but your body will be delightful with these 3 creative fat-blasting workouts - The Total Package

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, Dec, 2002 by Lara McGlashan

Holiday songs conjure up images of a cozy winter scenario, but most of them are missing a few things: last-minute shoppers, sugar-crazed kids, curmudgeonly in-laws and cocktail-party buffet bombs. Although the holiday season usually brings family, friends and celebration, it can also bring depression, stress and unwanted pounds on the scale. These trying times call for a cardio quick fix.

The main theme of this issue is to teach you about targeted weight training, but a good workout program isn't complete without cardiovascular exercise. Aside from helping maintain a healthy heart and lungs, cardiovascular activity can also help lower bodyfat and promote a positive body image. Numerous studies link exercise with stress relief and mood regulation. So during the holidays, when the weather is dark, the calories high and the stress outrageous, your panacea comes in the form of exercise.

Don't think you need to exercise aerobically for hours on end to bum the most fat--your body is a remarkable machine, and will quickly adapt to this repeated stimulus. Who has an hour to tromp on the treadmill, anyway? To get the most bang for your buck in the shortest rime, we rum to interval training.

enter the interval

Interval training involves alternating short bursts of intense activity with a session of active recovery, in which you keep moving at a level less intense than the interval. By alternating intensity levels within a single workout, your body becomes more efficient at flushing lactic acid and toxins from your cells while simultaneously training the heart to recover faster.

As an additional bonus, interval training has an "after-burn" effect. This means you maintain an elevated metabolic rate for the remainder of the day. Because of the intensity, these workouts are also shorter, making intervals a perfect addition to your holiday program.

But as with sugar cookies and pumpkin pie, too much of a good thing can hurt you. Because of the high demands placed on the body in this type of workout, we recommend doing interval training no more than twice a week, and in combination with other workouts that focus on steady-state cardio and resistance training for a fully rounded program.

customize your cardio

The holidays are busy, moody times, so depending on your attitude and time allotment for the day, you may want to choose either steady-state or interval training as your cardio option. If you're down, cranky or lethargic, you'll probably want to perform the more mellow steady-state option to reenergize your tired bod. If you're frantic, frazzled and pressed for time, consider choosing the more hard-core interval training to alleviate some of your anxiety and aggression in a positive way.

steady as she goes (endurance training)

On days when you're exhausted or even depressed, exercise may actually re-energize both your body and mind. Steady-state cardio is your friend on these days. helping to relieve stress while simultaneously burning calories and bolstering your bod. Choose an activity you enjoy and can sustain for 45-60 minutes. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being hardest, you should aim to work at about 7 for best results. A 7 on your rating of perceived exertion equals about 70%-75% of your maximum heart rate. During the holidays and beyond, incorporate 3-5 days of endurance training into your workout week to burn calories, increase lung capacity and improve your mood.

target heart rate:

220-(your age) = maximal heart rate (MHR)

MHR x 0.70 = 70% of your MHR

MHR x 0.75 = 75% of your MHR

Example: 31-year-old woman

220-31 = 189 (MHR)

189 x 0.70 = 132

189 x 0.75 = 142

Target heart rate for steady-state cardio = 132-142 beats per minute

HIIT it! (interval training)

To de-stress during the holidays, perform this high-intensity interval training program (HIIT) once or twice weekly, allowing at least three days between sessions to fully recover.

Beginners should begin with 10-15-second intervals, while more advanced participants can start at 45-60 seconds. Follow each interval with at least a 1:3 ratio of work to recovery. (For example, if you do a 30-second interval, do 90 seconds of working rest.) As you advance, decrease to a 1:2 ratio of work to recovery.

Note: You may want to purchase a heart-rate monitor to use during your interval sessions. They're easy to use and will give you an accurate and instant reading-of your exertion level. Write your heart-rate goals out on paper before you come to the gym so you can refer to them at a glance. If you choose not to use a monitor, go by the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale of 1-10, with 10 being hardest, to determine your level of exertion. This is less accurate, but will still get the job done. During the recovery phases, you'll probably have to rely on RPE to determine your exercise intensity because your heart rate may not drop fast enough to be an accurate indicator of intensity.

cardio combo crunch

This time-crunching program can get you in and out of the gym in minutes or less, and will attack both cardio and weight training in one fell swoop. The idea is to elevate your heart rate with the cardio intervals and keep it relatively high while lifting weights in a circuit format to burn the most calories in the shortest period. Free-weight exercises and cardio activities that don't require machines are your best bet, as you'll never have to waste time moving around the gym or wait your turn and risk allowing your heart rate to drop.