What are the best ways to incorporate cardiovascular exercises into a client's workout routine?

1 Assess your current level

Before you start adding cardio to your routine, you need to assess your current level of fitness and cardiovascular health. This will help you choose the right type and intensity of cardio for your needs and avoid overtraining or injury. You can use various methods to assess your cardio level, such as measuring your resting heart rate, your maximum heart rate, your VO2 max, or your heart rate recovery. You can also perform a simple field test, such as a 12-minute run or a 1.5-mile run, to estimate your aerobic capacity. Based on your results, you can determine your cardio zone, which is the range of heart rate that you should aim for during your cardio sessions.

2 Define your goals

The next step is to define your goals for adding cardio to your functional training routine. What do you want to achieve with cardio? Do you want to improve your endurance, your speed, your power, or your recovery? Do you want to lose weight, gain muscle, or maintain your health? Depending on your goals, you will need to adjust the frequency, duration, and intensity of your cardio sessions. For example, if you want to improve your endurance, you will need to do longer and lower-intensity cardio sessions, such as 30-60 minutes of jogging or cycling at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. If you want to improve your speed or power, you will need to do shorter and higher-intensity cardio sessions, such as 10-20 minutes of sprinting or jumping at 80-90% of your maximum heart rate.

3 Choose your modality

Another factor to consider is the modality of your cardio exercises. This refers to the type of equipment or activity that you use to perform your cardio sessions. There are many options to choose from, such as treadmills, bikes, rowers, ellipticals, jump ropes, or stairs. You can also do outdoor cardio, such as running, cycling, hiking, or swimming. The modality that you choose should match your goals, your preferences, and your functional training program. For example, if you want to improve your balance and coordination, you might want to choose a modality that challenges these skills, such as jumping rope or running on uneven terrain. If you want to increase your calorie burn and muscle activation, you might want to choose a modality that involves more muscles and joints, such as rowing or stair climbing.

4 Vary your intensity

One of the best ways to incorporate cardio into your functional training routine is to vary your intensity. This means that you should not do the same type and pace of cardio every time, but instead mix up different levels of effort and challenge. This will help you avoid boredom, plateaus, and overuse injuries, and also improve your cardiovascular adaptation and performance. There are different ways to vary your intensity, such as using intervals, circuits, or tempo training. Intervals are short bursts of high-intensity cardio followed by periods of low-intensity cardio or rest. Circuits are sequences of different cardio exercises performed one after another with little or no rest. Tempo training is a type of cardio that involves changing your speed or resistance throughout the session.

5 Balance your recovery

The final tip to incorporate cardio into your functional training routine is to balance your recovery. This means that you should not do too much cardio or too little rest, but instead find the optimal balance that allows your body to recover and adapt. Recovery is essential for preventing injuries, reducing fatigue, and enhancing your performance. There are different factors that affect your recovery, such as your sleep, nutrition, hydration, stress, and stretching. You should aim to get enough quality sleep, eat a balanced diet, drink plenty of water, manage your stress, and stretch your muscles before and after your cardio sessions. You should also monitor your heart rate, your perceived exertion, and your mood to gauge your recovery status and adjust your cardio frequency and intensity accordingly.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?