Cardio is often an element of fitness that people ignore, but it's crucial to incorporate these kinds of exercises into your routine if you want your endurance to increase.

I know there's a misconception that you have to spend hours on the treadmill or elliptical when you're doing cardio, but even If you only have 30 minutes, you can do this quick and intense sprint workout!

High intensity interval training (HIIT) burns maximum calories in a short period of time as you complete hard intervals in quick bursts. If you have a little more time, you can increase the warmup and cooldown periods.

I’ve included the speeds I used for my workout today – modify your speed to your fitness level. My warmup and resting pace was about 60% of my maximum effort, and my sprinting pace (for 10 repetitions of 1 minute) was about 80% of my max.

CARDIO ROUTINE

Note: This will require the use of a treadmill.

Set the incline at 1% to simulate the resistance of running outside on flat ground.

1. 5 minute warmup at 6.5mph
2. 1 minute sprint at 8.5mph
3. 1 minute rest at 6.5 mph
4. Repeat for 10 total sprints and 10 total rests: total of 20 minutes
5. 5 minute cooldown at 6.5mph

TIP:
Stretch: hamstrings, quads, calves and glutes. I like to do the pigeon stretch from yoga post running to get my hips opened up.