Save your Cardio for Something Fun

Better Ways to do Cardio

1. Pickleball and Racquet Sports

2. Swimming

3. Dancing

4. Amateur Sports and Recreational Leagues

5. Hiking

6. Paddleboarding and Canoeing

1. Pickleball and Racquet Sports

Pickleball has gained popularity in the last decade with seniors because it is similar to tennis, but with less running and is way easier on the joints. You still get your heart rate up, develop muscular endurance, gain balance and stability, improve mobility and flexibility, while having fun! Even younger people are picking it up as a lower barrier to entry than other racquet sports on larger courts. 

Racquet sports have a unique advantage of being a solo or team sport. Squash courts are great if you and a friend want to get a fun workout in without involving a bunch of friends and trying to coordinate schedules. Improving hand eye coordination is wonderful as you age because we start to lose our eyesight and cognitive function. Keep your mind sharp by playing racquet sports! 

2. Swimming

One of the biggest benefits of swimming is that it has little strain on your joints. Moving through water and creating your own friction through speed can help with muscular endurance, stamina, and lung function. Many swimmers love the freedom of being in the water and not feeling like you're sweating.

For people with arthritis or inflammation, swimming offers a low-impact alternative to traditional land based workouts. Swimming can be meditative, and improve mental focus and clarity. Swimming is a great way to maintain your weight if you struggle to get to the gym.

3. Dancing

As a fun social activity or date idea, dancing is a great mood boosting activity that helps you get your step count up! You can sweat it out on the dancefloor while listening to heart pumping tunes and enjoying time with friends. The best part is this cardio doesn't feel like a workout at all. That's why zumba, ballroom dancing, bollywood dancing, and even barre have gained so much popularity. 

Dancing is a low impact way to increase your bone strength, develop muscular endurance because you can generally dance for a lot longer than running on a treadmill, and it requires coordination and balance. You can improve your mobility and flexibility on the dancefloor. The nice thing about dancing is that it also improves confidence and self-esteem. 

4. Amateur Sports and Recreational Leagues

Kids aren't the only people who play sports. In fact, if you were an athlete when you were younger or maybe you weren't good enough to get on a team sport as a kid, recreational leagues are a fun way to get active and get your sports itch filled. These leagues can be both competitive or just for fun (beer leagues). Corporate workplaces sometimes offer the opportunity to join a league after work. Create camaraderie, do some teambuilding, create lasting friendships, and enjoy yourself!

Team sports can create a sense of belonging and improve self-esteem. When you move your body in ways you didn't think was possible, it is a mood booster and decreases anxiety. Recreational sports are also wonderful for overcoming adversity. They build your problem solving and cooperation skills in a way other activities don't. 

5. Hiking

Spending time outdoors helps you boost your Vitamin D production. When we are cooped up inside for the long winter months, we can get seasonal affective disorder, which comes from a lack of Vitamin D. Hiking is a great way to increase cardiovascular fitness, improve muscular endurance, strengthen bone density, improve mobility and flexibility, decrease stress and boost mood. There are so many benefits from walking, applying the same skill to climbing up and down hills and mountains helps with feelings of accomplishment and empowerment. 

The reason why we pick hiking as a top cardio workout is because getting out in nature helps restore our sense of calm. In our hectic lives, it's harder to catch our breath and slow down. Hiking forces us to slow down whether we want to or not. When we hike with friends or family, it helps strenthen those familial bonds and do something positive for ourselves.

6. Paddleboarding and Canoeing 

Getting back to watersports, paddleboarding and canoeing are fantastic to build core strength, upper and lower body muscles. By using our upper bodies to steady ourselves, pushing the paddles through the water, we create resistance that our bodies must overcome. Like hiking, these activites get us outside and breathing fresh air. 

We can do these activities solo or with friends as well. Canoeing and paddleboarding are low-impact activities that are beneficial for bone and joint health. We need to stabilize ourselves on a paddleboard and use our ankles and knees. With canoeing or rowing, even though we are using our upper bodies, our legs are also being used to provide explosive power. That's why rowers have such big leg muscles. 

Compared to other sports, even beginners can do these activites. Having a variety of fun activities to try both indoors and outdoors will make exercise easier to get in.

Vary your Cardio Fitness Activities

When we save our cardio activities for fun, we will get more benefits vs. doing something gruelling and boring at the gym. The options mentioned above are all full body movements that benefit our muscles and heart function. Brain function is often improved by doing activities that are more stimulating through socialization with others. 

Remember that you should attempt to go outside to build that Vitamin D. All you need is 15-20 minutes outside to get your body to create it with sunlight. Whether you are walking your dog, playing sports, or walking through a park at lunch, the fresh air offers benefits. Water sports are low-impact options that don't stress your joints but still help protect and build bone health.

We offer nutrition coaching, small group training and 1:1 training to help the busiest individuals incorporate a love of movement into their lives.  Please call/text us at 1-825-945-7733, or fill out the online contact form today!