The Real Stair Climber
I see too many people going to the gym and jumping on a piece of cardiovascular equipment and hitting that “steady state” heart rate training zone for hours on end. First, for many, I think this directly opposes their fitness goals, but it’s what they know, so they just stick to it without thought. It’s also what’s accepted by the general masses. And “they” can’t be wrong, can they? To hear more about why cardio might be a problem, listen to the UnderGround Wellness interview with Paul Chek entitled, Is Cardio Sabotaging Your Weight Loss Program?
Second point to make here, if you’re going to do something to try to “burn calories” and lose fat, you can at least do something a little more functional. Moving your body through space is much different than moving it on a fixed piece of cardio gear. It’s amazing the workouts you can get done without any equipment and a little “imagination”! Walking, climbing stairs, or even doing some physical work, but with a fitness goal in mind, can move you to better shape.
One of my favorite cardio workouts is to simply find a long set of stairs and perform repeats. Repeats are what they sound like. You go up and down the stairs and then you repeat. You can do the repeats by picking a certain number of reps and sets to complete, say 3 reps up and down for a total of 5 sets, or you can perform until you move to your desired training hear rate zone for the number of sets you want. Using heart rate to determine your pace makes the workouts more custom for you.
On my last stair climbing workout, I performed 5 reps for 10 sets. The video clip below is of my last set. As you can tell, I was losing steam, but I had a great time!
If you’re tired of the same ol’ cardio boredom, try to add a functional cardio routine to your workout and see how your body and mind responds! If you do, let me know how it goes.
Tags: cardio exercise, cardio training variety, Exercise, heart rate, outside exercise, running stairs
Exercise, Fitness, General | Cliff Long | 
July 4, 2009 11:29 am
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By ejose, July 4, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
I could swear I heard the theme from “Rocky” in the background during that video clip!
By Cliff Long, July 4, 2009 @ 6:27 pm
Actually, the funny thing is that I was listening to “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor … from Rocky 3!!!