Thanks to those ridiculously lean olympians, I have embarked on a quest to incorporate more cardio into my daily activity. Do I wish I was as lean as elite athletes like 41 year old Dara Torres? Hell yes! But that’s not the only reason I want to get my sweat on. A strong heart and skyrocketing endurance are gems I just can’t live without. Beyond physical strength from lifting weights and the like, we must work our hearts and lungs too.
As a life long dancer I know the type of discipline it takes to achieve such peak physical condition. But the one thing I have always lacked is prolonged cardiovascular endurance. Dance tends to be more of an anaerobic activity (short burst of high intensity movement) rather than an endurance-building, heart-strengthening aerobic workout.
So now that I’ve decided to get my heart pumping more often, what should I do that won’t bore me to death?!
Running, and cycling are out. Long speed walks around the city are great. Or I can take a cue from my ten year old neighbor and pick up a jump rope…
“It’s just the cutest damn thing,” as my mom would say. A young girl from the first floor of my building has completely inspired me to sweat out my cardio woes with a jump rope. Every evening on my way in the front door from work I see her skipping rope in front of her apartment. One glimpse of me and she high tails it into her family’s place, embarrassed to be seen. No pink glitter ropes for her. She means business with her black pro-looking rope. Music blasts from the propped open door and she goes at it. She seriously can’t be more than ten and every time I see her I just want to run up and give her a big hug for inspiring me.
So, I’m off to buy a rope tomorrow and I think I’ll pick her up a new one as a token of friendship and appreciation. Maybe I’ll even join her. Love it!
Besides, one hour of medium to fast jumping will burn between 590-700 calories. Um, yeah sign me up!
What’s your favorite way to cardio train? I’ll have to mix it up for sure, so let me know in the comments.
