Finding a Cardio Exercise That Fits Your Life

Experts agree cardio workouts increase physical tolerance, reduce body weight, blood pressure, bad cholesterol and the chances of heart attack and stroke, among other benefits. So why doesn’t everyone make cardio a regular part of their schedule?

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends, “…at least 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise or 75 minutes per week of vigorous exercise (or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity). Thirty minutes a day, five times a week is an easy goal to remember.”

Remembering what you’re supposed to do and doing it are two distinctly different things. Finding an extra two and a half hours per week to make the AHA happy and keep you healthy might be impossible. Kids, social commitments, school, work and Netflix all beg for your time. It doesn’t matter whether you want to learn Swahili, the saxophone or begin training on that new touring bike, time is the relentless enemy of self-improvement and that includes all forms of exercise.

Other aspects of your life such as geography, might limit cardio vascular exercise opportunities. People who travel long distances to and from work may find it difficult to exercise near home. If the spin class starts at six thirty and you get out of work at six, 25 miles away, reconsider registering for the class.

Where you live might also determine the type of cardio exercise you should or should not take on. The city-dweller with a touring bike may need to put the bike on a car or bus to get somewhere to ride, not an impossible challenge but definitely a limiting factor.

So how can you keep that NordicTrack from becoming a clothes rack and the gym memberships from becoming nothing more than a nagging item on your credit card statement? Consider the three most likely obstacles to achieving your cardio goals before you commit to any program.

1. Time – Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Before you buy a piece of equipment or sign up for a gym or class, make sure you will have enough time to actually use it. Look back at the recent past and see whether you had the necessary time. Saying you will “make the time” invites failure because you probably won’t.
2. Location – Where do you have to go to do the cardio exercise? Even if it’s just your own garage, if you leave home at sunrise and return in time for the eleven o’clock news, you and your exercise equipment won’t spend much time together.
3. Physical compatibility – Find something that matches your current physical state. If you haven’t done anything more strenuous than walk between the couch and the refrigerator for a decade, don’t sign up for the advanced kickboxing class.

Getting past these most common obstacles can be much easier if you apply some opposing forces.
1. Motivation – The X factor, If you can’t stand how your clothes have gotten tighter or the doctor told you to bring your blood pressure down or face the consequences, time and location might become unimportant. You really will “make the time” because you have the motivation to overcome those obstacles.
2. Commitment – Few things in this world are as powerful as the human brain. An uncompromising, enduring commitment to a goal is nearly unstoppable.
3. Enjoyment – Here’s the key to all exercise. Find something that gives you pleasure. Sometimes all it takes is tweaking a familiar form of cardio vascular exercise that’s gotten stale. If getting out of bed to run on a treadmill has lost its appeal, how about an early morning jog or run in the world just outside your door? It’s probably more interesting then Fox News.

Everyone who buys a BowFlex or joins a gym starts out with the steely determination to “hit it hard” and get the kind of results that will make you look like the guy in the picture on the box or turn you into the woman in the poster outside the gym. A little bit of planning and analysis before you jump can make the difference between awesome results and a broken dream.