Cardio — hate it or love it, you gotta do it. Because, not only is it great for weight loss, it’s essential for cardiovascular health too. According to the Center for Disease Control, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the USA. The most effective workout plans for women include quick cardio routines that take as little as 20-30 minutes! Nevertheless, most women don’t like it and as a result get stuck in the same boring workout routine (if they even do any at all).
Our bodies have a very interesting way of adapting to repetitive stress, so it’s crucial to keep mixing your workouts up so that you keep your body always guessing. Stop wondering what the best workout plans for women are and read on for 7 quick cardio routines, each 20-30 minutes in length, to be completed every other day in sequence for 2 weeks (in addition to your regular strength training routine) to help jump start your weight loss and create a newer and healthier you.
The trick to an effective cardio session is to keep changing it up! Change and surprise will not only keep your body on its tippy toes, but will also help make each workout a little more interesting, which will help to pass the time. The following mini workouts are a combination of intervals, steady pace efforts, and hills designed to keep each workout challenging, interesting, and most importantly effective.
Editor’s Note: Prescribed intensity is on a scale of zones 1-5 with zone 1 (Z-1) being a walking/conversational pace and zone 5 (Z-5) being an all out sprint. Intensity is based on your perceived effort. If you don’t have access to a treadmill, stair master, or bicycle, any of these can be done outside on the road or any piece of cardio equipment.
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Workout Plans For Women: 7 Quick Cardio Routines
Workout #1
- Treadmill on slight incline (or road):
- 5 minutes warm-up
- 5 x [60 seconds in Zone 2, followed by 60 seconds in Zone 3]
- 2 min. in Zone 1
- 4 x [60 seconds in Zone 2, followed by 30 seconds in Zone 4]
- 5-10 min cool down
Workout #2
- Stairmaster (or set of long stairs):
- 5 min Warm-up
- 5 min Z-3
- 5 min Z-2
- 5 min. Z-4
- 5 min. Z-2
- 5-10 min cool down
Workout #3
- Treadmill on slight incline (or road):
- 5 minutes Warm-up
- 5 x [2 min. Z-3, 30” Z-1]
- 5 x [1 min. Z-2, 30” Z-4]
- 5-10 min cool down
Workout #4
- Treadmill Hill Repeats (or road):
- 5 minutes Warm-up
- 5 x [30” Z-5 w/ STEEP INCLINE, 1 min. Z-1 No Incline]
- 5 min. Z-3 w/ slight incline
- 5-10 min cool down
Workout #5
- Bike (road or stationary):
- 5 min Warm-up
- 2 min Z-3
- 1 min Z-4
- 10 x [30” Z-5, 30” Z-1]
- 1 min Z-4
- 2 min Z-3
- 5-10 min cool down
Workout #6
- Stair master (or set of long stairs):
- 5 min Warm-up
- 2 x [3 min. Z-3, 30” Z-5]
- 2 x [2 min. Z-3, 30” Z-5]
- 2 x [1 min. Z-3, 30” Z-5]
- 2 x [30” Z-3, 30” Z-5]
- 3 min. Z-3
- 5-10 min cool down
Workout #7
- Treadmill Hill Repeats (or road):
- 5 minutes Warm-up
- 1 min. Z-3 STEEP INCLINE, 1 min. Z-3 No Incline
- 1 min. Z-3 STEEP INCLINE, 1 min. Z-2 No Incline
- 30” Z-5 w/ STEEP INCLINE, 1 min. Z-3 No Incline
- 30” Z-5 w/ STEEP INCLINE, 1 min. Z-2 No Incline
- 4 min. Z-3 Moderate incline
- 1 min. Z-1 No Incline
- 3 min. Z-4 Moderate incline
- 1 min. Z-1 No Incline
- 2 min. Z-5 Moderate incline
- 1 min. Z-1 No Incline
- 5-10 min cool down
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