Ways to Make Cardio More Fun!

Hey Readers! Let's face it. With this kind of cold weather around, we often dread leaving our beds. While cardio is great for increasing heart rate and burning calories...it can also be super boring! Exercise is key in staying healthy, so why not enjoy it? Here are some ways I like to spice up cardio and beat the cardio boredom!
 1) WATCH TV/VIDEOS- When I'm watching something it distracts me from checking the time every 30 seconds and my workout goes by way faster! My home gym has individual TVs for each cardio equipment piece which is amazing! But at school unfortunately we don't so I use my phone or iPad to catch up on some tv shows and youtube videos.

 2) MAKE A NEW PLAYLIST- I always have the best workouts on days where I refresh my music. Music is an awesome way to get pumped up and the same old songs can lose motivation after a while so it's nice to spice it up once in a while. Create a fun workout playlist to give you some energy and motivation. Some of my favourite artists for the gym are: Timeflies, Sean Paul and Beyonce.

 3) DO AN INTERVAL WORKOUT- Beat that boring hour long steady state cardio session and actually burn more calories in less time. Yeah you heard me, I said burn more calories in less time! HIIT (high intensity interval training) has been proven to be a quick and effective way to burn a ton of calories. You basically just switch up your speed and incline to go full intensity for about 30 seconds to a minute followed my low intensity for about 1 to 2 minutes after to recover. There are tons of awesome HIIT workouts you can find online. Let me know if you would like me to post some of my favourites!

 4) TRAIN WITH A FRIEND- I don't know about you guys but I love working out with a friend. It pushes you to work harder and you have fun too! If you're new to the gym, this is a great way to feel a little more comfortable and to get some inspiration from your BFF! Working out is a great way to spend time with your friends. Heavy dinner dates and going out to clubs can get in the way of your goals, but this way you're making time for friends in a healthy way.

 5) SET GOALS- signing up for a 10K or a tough mudder definitely helps push you at the gym. Keeping these goals in mind often gives you that extra motivation to run that last mile. I do the Sporting Life 10K every year in May, so I often train beforehand to get better and beat my time from the previous year. Even setting small goals like running one mile without stopping are effective because it feels so good to accomplish them! No matter how big or small your goal is, set it and it will give you something to strive for and give you some awesome motivation!

xoJess