See Ya Later, I'm Going For a "Wog" (Walk/Jog)

I certainly don't claim to be a professional physical trainer, but I've had the same cardiovascular exercise routine for about 7 years, and for me it works perfectly. It only takes thirty minutes every other day and it works if you stick with it.

It's as simple as: walk 5, jog 5, walk 10, jog 5, walk 5.

Walk-------------Jog-----------------Walk -------------------Jog ---------Walk
|---------------|---------------|------------------------------|---------------|---------------|
0-------------5-------------10----------------------------20------------25-------------30

The first 5 minutes is a warm up, but the speed is the same throughout. The first 5 minute jog is to really get the heart rate up while the 10 minutes of walking in the middle maintains that rate. At this point you're at the 20 minute mark -- the generally agreed upon time where the body begins to burn fat. So the second 5 minute jog tries to make the most of this fat burning opportunity and the last stretch is simply to maintain.

I keep the speed around 4 - 4.5mph, but this can be increased or decreased depending on the target heart rate you need to achieve. Target heart rate is calculated by subtracting your age from 220 and multiply that by .7 and by .85 to get the lower and higher levels of the range, there's plenty of calculators for this online.

I don't think I've broken a secret code, I imagine 30 minutes of any exercise every other day would do most people a world of good, but I do think there's benefits to doing it this way. First, this is something that's very easy to do and it takes up very little time, and second it's not as vigorous as some routines, so you don't have to be as motivated for it.

Two other things worth mentioning --

1. The best time to do cardio is about an hour after you've woken up on an empty stomach (not true for weight training). Doing this, you're burning stored fat and not just carbs you've eaten throughout the day. This works well for me as I'm not hungry until I've been awake for 2-3 hours anyway. Also you're more motivated when you first get up, there's less chance to put it off and eventually count it out because you're tired.

2. I've never been a believer in using distance as a measure in exercise, your body doesn't care how far you've gone, cardiovascular exercise is all about pushing your body to the point where you begin to burn fat (wherever that is exactly, most say 20~ minutes) and exceeding it.

I put on some extra pounds this winter, partly from slacking off, not eating right and from getting sick a few times. I kick myself now for doubting that the same old workout routine would work again, but it has -- just had to be patient. Some might see this routine as a step toward jogging full-time, that may be for some, but for me personally I've never seen the need to go to full-on jogging.