Indoor Cardio Workouts for Rainy Days

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It has been raining constantly in the Bay Area the past few days (yay, rain in California). Whenever it rains, I start making up excuses about why I shouldn’t work out that day:

• It’s too cold/windy outside.

• I can’t drive to the gym because the roads will be difficult to see.

• Staying in and having a cup of tea and chocolate sounds way better.

• Jogging in the rain is uncomfortable, not to mention insane.

When I finally convinced myself to get out, I still had no idea what my workout should be. Fortunately, the internet is great for coming up with ideas.

The Challenge: Indoor Cardio Workouts (Preferably One That Involves a Lot of Steps)

I usually wear an activity tracker (Fitbit), and I set a goal of walking 10,000 steps a day. That means I had to find workouts that will allow me to take a lot of steps or strides. I picked a few that looked interesting to me.

1.  30-Minute Booty Burning Treadmill Workout

Tina Haupert of Carrots ‘N’ Cake frequently posts treadmill workouts on her website. She recently posted a 30-minute treadmill workout that incorporates hills (up to a 10% incline!) and speed intervals (ranging between 6.5 to 7.0 mph). It looked quite challenging, so I thought I’d give it a shot.

The Verdict: INTENSE!

The hills killed me. It was quite difficult to run at a 10% incline and maintain a 6.0 mph speed for two minutes. When I first saw the workout, I knew that the hills would be challenging, but I had no idea that it would be impossible for me to complete. I had to reduce the incline significantly to 4.0% at the 16th minute! Nevertheless, it was a great workout. I was breathless by the end of the hills, and I will challenge myself to do it again.

2.   35-Minute Elliptical Workout

I hop onto the elliptical once in a blue moon.  The last time I stepped onto an elliptical machine was probably a year and a half ago. Considering that I finished a treadmill workout yesterday, I thought I would vary my cardio workouts a bit and use the elliptical again.

I found one on FitSugar, entitled “Elliptical Workout That Feels Like Running.”

The Verdict: Moderate Intensity – Good For Pairing with Strength Training

Contrary to the name of the workout, I didn’t feel like I was running. Was I sweating? Yes. Was I burning calories? Yes.  Apparently 345 calories in 30 minutes (according to the machine). But the elliptical didn’t give me the same heart-pounding, exhilarating-but-I’m-ready-to-collapse feeling that I get after a good run. I’ll probably do this workout again, but I will pair it with a strength training session.