By: Sarah Schmermund

Cardio workouts should ideally occur at least 30 minutes three times a week, in addition to your weight/resistance training sessions.? The cardio you do is up to you and can include anything like hiking, walking, running, cycling, swimming, etc..? The only condition is that whatever you do needs to be rigorous enough that you can’t comfortably carry on a conversation with someone.? If you’re not working hard enough that your heart is pumping at a rate that disallows casual conversation then it ISN’T CARDIO.? If your heart isn’t pumping at that rate, then you’re wasting time (and do we really ever have enough to waste?!).

For those of us who view the treadmill with the same loathing saved for jury duty summons or snaking out drain hair, a great way to jump into establishing a cardio routine is interval training. ?It’s hard to go from not running a lot to trying to run for 30 minutes all at once. ?Interval training is also great for cardiovascular health and weight loss; think of it as weight training for your heart. ?Interval training can also keep your cardio workouts feeling fun and new, as there are hundreds of ways to adjust your intervals. ?You can alternate between running faster and slower, walking and running, jogging on a flat surface and an incline, etc., etc.. Below is an example workout to get you started, and a quick google search will easily fill up your interval training arsenal. ?Shape.com also offers an array of interval training exercises: here and here. ?Those 30 minutes will be over before you know it!

Here is an example of 33 minute interval training session:

10 min. warm-up (brisk walk)
3 min. high intensity (fast run)
3 min. low intensity (jog)
3 min. high intensity
3 min. low intensity
3 min. high intensity
3 min. low intensity
5 min. cool down (brisk walk)
As you acclimate to your cardio workouts, your high intensity and low intensity intervals should get faster and longer, and you can also add intervals to increase the overall workout time. ?As a general rule, keep your high and low intensity intervals about 2mph apart; for example, if your high intensity is a 6 on the treadmill, your low intensity should be a 4. ?Think of your low intensity as an?active rest, like jumping jacks. ?Remember, you should NOT be able to comfortably carry on a conversation, so download a heart-pumping playlist and save the gossip for your cool down (you can also grab some great playlists from?Shape.com).