Speed surge cardio workout
Not a moan-day of a Monday over here:
green juice with my partner in crime,
a trip to Costco with minimal impulse buys (always a win),
afternoon of crafts and playing here at home,
an awesome dinner,
(I made Jess’ turkey quinoa meatballs on the stove, and served with roasted zucchini, noodles, salad and vino)
and a killer spin class.
The original plan was to do some cardio at home, but one of my good friends and running buddies was teaching nearby, so I decided to get in a little nighttime cardio. She KILLED me in the best way possible. It’s funny how much harder I’ll work when I don’t have the iPad propped up on the bike here at home 😉
She did a lot of speed work, minimal hill climbs (which was a nice change) and racing against other members in class. Oh, and her music was amazeballs. I’m going to have to ask her for a playlist!
One of my favorite techniques was a speed surge. We started off at a quick pace, added resistance (keeping the pace) and adding our maximum resistance maintaining the same pace. We recovered and repeated.
Here’s a similar cardio workout you can try during your next spin, walk, run or elliptical sesh <3
Instead of giving exact speeds, this one goes by more of a perceived exertion scale. You know what your “fast” and “moderate” tempos are. As far as the resistance goes, challenge yourself (assuming you are comfortable working out and are injury-free, have a doc’s approval, etc). You should be looking at the clock and praying for the speed and resistance surge to be over 😉
Let me know if you give a whirl 🙂
Are there any cardio games you like to play? Any techniques or workouts that make the time fly by?
Hope you have a great day!
xoxo
Gina
Something to read:
Healthiest winter fruits and veggies
21 Comments
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I have a random question. What do you do when you are taking a class and the instructor is not pushing you hard enough? I was in a zumba class this morning and I was hardly sweating. My heart rate wasn’t nearly where I would have liked it to be. I was really disappointed. She didn’t play many fast songs so it was hard for me to make the moves more intense and higher impact. I am doing Soli Beat later to make up for the disappointment!
that’s a tough one. it depends on what it is– usually there are ways to modify and make it more challenging (like for pain, i’d just add more resistance or pedal faster). i took a lame zumba class the other week, but i just went crazy on the moves we did haha. zumba is a tough one
it really is. I almost left and went to the eliptical instead but I wasn’t comfortable leaving class early since there were only a few of us in the class. I was really disappointed. I hate lame classes! I wanted to shout “The music won’t make our HR go up!!!!!” as she was doing super easy steps to fast songs. it was a real downer! Oh well! Now I know I’m not a fan of that class.
Gotta try those meatballs! Looks great.
Minimal inclines sounds like my kind of spin class! I detest hills riding on a real bike outside too. Might have to try it!
I can’t wait to make those meatballs for our new years party!! 🙂 Also, how adorable is Olivia?? She looks just like your mini me!
I love the speed surge idea! I will definitely be trying that. I’m stuck to a treadmill (winter in Wisconsin doesn’t really play nice with runners) so I get bored SO easily. Can’t wait to give it a go!
for treadmill runs, i think it’s fun to time your intensity with music. so, go hard for one song, easy for two, etc. you can play with speed and incline to keep some variety, too!
I love that you do low, moderate, fast! I’ve been way turned off by cardio/HIIT in the past, because I over work! I’m learning that if I do it at a pace I’m comfortable at (rather than pushing myself to my outer limits), then I enjoy it more, which is really the point, right?
Can’t wait to try that workout!!!
Funny I just read this because as I sit here I am writing out my running and spin workouts for the day. Since I am still coming back from a stress fracture, I run for short times and then spin. I have found that when spinning alone it helps so much to go into it with a planned workout. Even though I can’t up the resistance that much I use the “low, moderate, high” intensity to help break it up into intervals. It really does help!!
I love that you didn’t put a specific speed on your workout. We are all different, so everyone’s fast, moderate, and slow pace is different. Looks like a great workout! 🙂
Looks like a great speed workout! Planning to give it a go tomorrow 🙂
Do you know of any, or have you ever used a filmed spin class on youtube or elsewhere? Not sure if they even exist, but just thought of it the other day. We are considering buying a spin bike for our house and I used to attend a regular spin class that I LOVED, but I’m worried it won’t be the same at home. I get a lot of my energy from music and having a live instructor. I would love to turn on a 30-50 minute spin class on my computer as a source of energy and motivation.
Perhaps you could film one for us sometime. 😉
i haven’t used one before, but something i’d like to get into is podcasts. i just need to figure out how to record them and use music with the whole copyright/licensing issue. i think it would be so much fun!
I still like to jump from treadmill, to elliptical, bike, etc. just to shake it up.
My fav cardio workout is running intervals – all out for a minute, and then easier for a minute, and continue alternating for about 15-20 minutes 🙂
Such a sweet picture of the 2 of you with your green juice! I just discovered your blog and am loving it!
These meatballs look so good!
I always just add Intervals intuitively. 2:2, 1:2, 30”:50” etc…..and I change daily between spinning bike, treadmill, stairmaster, elliptical, outdoor running or rowing. It’s challenging and fun!
I can’t believe Liv drinks green juice– what a cool little girl 🙂
she LOVES it