THE CARDIA-THLON

Sweating and increasing your heart rate with cardio is not just beneficial for fat burning, but it also reduces the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes while decreasing blood pressure and bad cholesterol.

Cardio has even been shown to help in everything from improving your immune status to reducing symptoms of PMS (great news for both men and women).

Traditional cardio programs in the gym often consist of 30-60 minutes on one machine. The key to a highly effective fat-burning cardio program is to be sure your training session is challenging and at a high intensity. You want to get your heart rate up, you want the muscles to burn and you want to sweat.

I created a Cardia-thlon to ensure that I was hitting all aspects to a successful fat-burning cardio session. The Cardia-thlon combines 3 different cardio exercises/stages performed one after the other;

STAGE 1- 20 minutes on Stair Climber
STAGE 2 - 20 minutes on Bike
STAGE 3 -20 minutes on the Treadmill

I gradually increase the intensity level so that I am at 80-90% of my max for 15 minutes on each piece of cardio equipment. At the final stage there is a 5 minute cool down on the treadmill.

After successfully completing all 3 stages for 60 minutes I stretch, stretch, and stretch again. I use the Cardia-thlon every 1-2 weeks to shock my body into a fat burning machine.

By using the Cardia-thlon you are burning calories (300-700) which is be key to fat loss, increasing your cardiovascular fitness by raising and strengthening your heart rate, building muscular strength in your legs and core and finally building stamina by training your body to process lactic acid faster.

You don’t have to use the 3 cardio exercises above. Create your own Cardia-thlon exercises or change up the order.

Continuing to change up your cardio sessions, will help you to burn fat faster and more effectively, prevent you from reaching those dreaded plateaus and increase the strength of your heart.

Good Luck and Happy Training

Sample 20 Minute Session
5 minute warm up – 45% intensity
15 minutes – 75-90% intensity
Wipe down the equipment and move onto the next stage

Funk Roberts
Don't Rush the Beat