Cardio fun: calling on lady luck to hit the fitness jackpot

Men's Fitness, May, 2004 by Matt Coppa

While we don't recommend gambling with your fitness plan, we couldn't resist this tip from Cameron McGarr, C.S.C.S., to keep cardio sessions interesting. Here's how it works:

Keep a deck of cards (remove the jokers and face cards) on the console of the treadmill. Every two minutes, draw two cards and add a zero to each number. The higher card indicates what percentage of your all-out effort you should employ, and the lower card tells you for how many seconds to do it, So if you drew a 9 and a 2, run at 90% of your full effort for 20 seconds. Drop down to 60% of your full effort for the remainder of each two-minute round. Our advice: Shuffle first.