I’m begrudgingly becoming more of a cardio person. I love strength — obviously! — but I keep having to remind myself that laser-focusing on one potential health outcome (in my case, more muscle mass and stronger bones) can unintentionally squeeze out other, also-important, goals. And not to get too dark, but heart disease is still the #1 killer: our hearts really need us to pay them some attention. Plus, endorphins, etc.
Not to say that your heart and lungs aren’t challenged during lifting (I get super out of breath after a set of very-heavy deadlifts!) but more targeted cardio workouts are great, too. I’ve been doing Couch-to-5K again, and attending a high-intensity interval training bootcamp class at my gym, and ugh, I regret to inform you that I’m feeling pretty damn good overall. (I do need to invest in better running shoes, and I probably need to double down on mobility work, but… baby steps.)
In case you’re interested in giving your cardiovascular system some attention, too, I’ve got a fun, breathy, heart-pumping interval workout focused on cardio and conditioning today. You don’t need any equipment, other than possibly a mat, so this is a great one to do outdoors or in a hotel room, or really wherever you are. Though if you have downstairs neighbors, be considerate when jumping around.
Before we get into it, a little nudge that this is your final week to register for my 30-day fall strength challenge which starts on Sunday, Sept. 21! Lots of information here, and if you’re a paid subscriber, you can find a discount code (for $50 off!) in the Substack chat, or after the paywall on this post (so just a couple lines down, if you’re already paying! You’ll unlock the discount, and the rest of this post, if you upgrade your subscription now).
Let’s go!
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