Cardio is one of the first exercises that come to mind when people start thinking about fitness and getting started at the gym.

While this integral and greatly beneficial exercise is indeed an important aspect of staying fit – it is not necessarily the exercise that gets everyone excited.

Let’s change that by looking at how you can diversify your cardio workouts with some simple tips and tricks.

The importance of cardio

Cardio can be separated into three main types:

1.   High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

This form of cardio involves 100% effort and exertion during a short burst of activity, and short breathers between workouts.

2.   Steady-State Training (SS)

This type of cardio training is an endurance-focused exercise where continuous and sustained effort is used to build up your fitness over longer periods of time spent training.

3.   Interval Training

This version of cardio is a mix between both HIIT and SS training which involves bursts of high energy and intensive workouts followed by longer and more endurance-focused workouts and vice versa.

Each type of cardio may be different, but they all assist with helping to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, weight management, increase immunity and improve mental health which ultimately aids in creating a lower resting heart rate and a fitter you.

There is more to cardio than running

While running is a great form of cardio, it is not enjoyed by everyone. There are other alternatives to running which can reap the same benefits and target different aspects of the body such as:

·       Skipping –increases flexibility and strengthens bones

·       Swimming – builds endurance and muscle strength

·       Boxing – improves hand-eye coordination and can improve sleep

·       Cycling – helps with joint mobility, involves minimal impact and reduces stress

·       Power walking – lowers the risk of diabetes and helps to improve heart health

How you can diversify your cardio in the gym

Group classes may be focused on different activities and areas of fitness, but they all incorporate some kind of cardio in a unique and enjoyable way.

Discover more about the different group classes and how they can help you become a fitter and healthier you by using the Mywellness app to book classes and track your fitness journey and progress.

People who may enjoy solo workouts and want to diversify their cardio exercises can look to the machine and functional training areas of the gym for a wide variety of ways to incorporate cardio into their routine.

Running or power walking can be done on one of the different treadmills such as our highly advanced Technogym Skill Mill which is a momentum propelled treadmill that uses your motion and speed to determine the pace at which you move.

Our Technogym Skill Run is also a great way to include cardio in your workouts as the incline and decline can be changed with a tap of a button to increase or reduce the intensity of your exercises.

Other great cardio machines that provide an alternative to running are the rowing and spinning machines from our Technogym Skill line, which each incorporate different ranges of movement that target different areas of the body to increase your heart rate and diversify your workout in quick and simple ways.

With so many different types of cardio workouts to choose from it can become overwhelming to figure out which one works for you.

Luckily the Body Action Gym facility caters to both the people who prefer solo workouts with our extensive machine and free weight sections, as well as the people who prefer to work out in groups with friends or family with the wide variety of group classes to choose from.

Chat to our floor custodians, wellness coaches or personal trainers for more information on the benefits of cardio and the different ways you can include it in your next gym session, or take it a step further by attending a group class.