Want to burn a lot of calories in a few minutes? One of the keys to obtaining this goal is to pay attention. This means that while its okay to listen to music while you workout, you should avoid the distractions from the television or book that you may be reading while you use the exercise bike or treadmill.
If you are not paying attention to how long you work out and how hard to you work, you may be wasting energy and time with little results to show for it.
Jogging, Running, or Walking
When you exercise outside, use a watch timer or set a timer on your cell phone. Walk or slowly jog for up to 10 minutes to warm up your body, joints, and muscles. This will prevent cramps later on. Jog, run, or walk at a faster pace for five minutes. Increase the speed of your cardio workout for one minute. Repeat all steps after warmup for up to 30 minutes every day.
Treadmill Exercise
Start with the lowest incline, but set the speed at a pace that your comfortable with. Walk or jog, depending on how you feel at the time. For 15 seconds, raise the incline by two. Reduce the incline after one minute. For the next three minutes, you should jog or walk at your own pace. Repeat this treadmill exercise for 30 minutes.
Biking
Keep the bike on a manual setting to get the maximum workout on the exercise bike. If there is a timer on the bike, set it for 30 minutes. Cycle at a steady pace for five minutes. Raise and decrease the level of difficult every 30 seconds. Continue biking at a steady pace for another five minutes. Raise the difficulty setting higher than it was before and continue increasing and decreasing every 30 seconds. Go back to a normal level. Repeat the workout.
Jumping Rope
Jump rope for as long as you can, trying to get to 30 minutes. As you skip and jump around, move your feet and arms to move around instead of standing one spot. Every three minutes, jump as high as possible so that you can send the rope under your feet and over your end multiple times in one jump.
This will help to strengthen your leg muscles. For five minutes, as you jump rope, crisscross your arms to give them an extra workout. At the end of 30 minutes, you can use the rope to help you as you do a few stretches to cool down from the workout.
