Cardio

Today I helped a friend move, followed by 2 hours of beach ultimate and tonight our obligatory push-ups, sit-ups, and squats (were at 11 now). I know for most of you this isn't a helpful workout, but let me tell you, I am wrecked. Heavy lifting for hours followed by trying to run in the sand is brutal.

Which leads me to a good topic. Cardio is an important part of a successful workout program. Getting your heart rate up and depriving your system of oxygen by using it all forces your body to become more efficient with its oxygen. For some the traditional cardio regime can be boring (I hate running and other boring, monotonous, repetitive exercises) so I recommend finding an alternative. For me, playing ultimate provides me with one alternative. Designing your workouts to be continuous and rigorous is another alternative. Rather than taking breaks between sets, try to do continuous exercises for 10 min at a time and take a short break before doing the next 10 min. If you can go longer than 10 min then more power to you. This is a very difficult method of exercise. One such program is already designed. This workout is brutal, but achieves that goal: Spartacus Workout. Also if you are advanced in your workout program the 300 Challenge is real brutal in the same respect. Both of these can be modified to fit your fitness level, but the idea is to go non stop. Of course if you enjoy running or rowing, both of those are excellent sources of cardio. I prefer rowing as I have bad knees. I generally don't enjoy stair machines, stationary bikes and ellipticals as they don't work me as hard as rowing.

So in summary, cardio: do it.