You don't need “cardio” to improve your aerobic fitness.

“This blog is for information purposes only. It does not replace the advice of a medical doctor. If you are at risk, please consult a doctor before starting vigorous exercise.”

For most of you, these 2 go hand in hand. Reality is, if you want to be a better runner, you need to work on your running skills. The same goes for if you want to be a better basket ball player. But you don't need to perform traditional cardio exercise if your objective is to improve your aerobic system.

The aerobic system creates energy with the help of oxygen. So the better your aerobic system, the longer it takes for you to get tired. And the harder you'll have to work before lactic acid stops you.

So here is a little experiment. Pick a certain route around your house and run/jog/walk it as fast as you can. Pick a distance that takes 15-25 minutes to cover. Write down your time. Now don't give yourself heart attack. You want your breath to be challenged but not completely out of breath. We want to test your aerobic system, remember?

Now the training. Twice a week, for the next 4 weeks you will do this routine. Perform as many Jump Squats as you can for 30 seconds. Take a 2 min break and repeat. Do this 3 times. If the third time is easy, go for a 4^th one. After 4 weeks, go for the run again. Let me know what happens.

I will be doing this in a few weeks. I will have my VO2 max measured by a metabolic cart and follow this program. I'll keep you posted.