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February is American Heart Month and the perfect time to work on our heart health and give our heart some extra love. We all know that, among other things, physical INACTIVITY is a risk factor for heart disease. But what are we DOING about it? Here’s where our challenge comes in. I’m challenging you to get physical and move your body this month in such a way as to activate and improve your cardiorespiratory system.

Yep, it’s a CARDIO challenge!! I heard your loud sigh and I’m right there with you. Cardio is not my favorite. But as a fellow trainer used to say, “No one has ever gone to the ER with an under developed bicep. Cardio is non-negotiable! It must be done.”

Challenge Basics

Challenge Details

• Your calendar gets a star on the days you do at least 5-10 minutes of intentional cardio. To be clear we’re not going to count that walk from the car to the door or from the couch to the refrigerator. That is part of your everyday life. We’re looking for intentional cardio exercise. See details in the next section for what actually counts as cardio.
• I want you to try to improve your current cardio weekly minutes striving toward the AHA recommended 150 minutes per week for heart health. Don’t worry, you don’t have to reach that number every week to complete the challenge. I just want you to focus on more minutes than your norm.
• You get a bonus star for every 50 minutes of cardio you complete!! We all love bonuses!! This 50 minutes doesn’t even have to be on the same day to count. It’s cumulative over the week/month. Just see how many minutes you can get and give yourself a star each time you cross the 50 mark.
• I’m not going to require you to “sign up” for this challenge. But I do want you to commit to it by letting me and others know you’re in. Saying it out loud will give you an extra dose of accountability. Our Facebook group is the perfect place to make it known.

What Are We Considering Cardio?

To put it in simple terms, cardio is basically just getting your heart pumping faster and oxygenated blood flowing at an intensity that you can sustain for longer than just a couple of minutes. Modes of cardio include: running, speed walking, stair climbing, cycling, jumping rope, step aerobics, Zumba, the use of cardio machines (rowing, elliptical, stepper), & a properly programmed fitness class such as boot camp, among other activities.

Remember cardio is not a slow and comfortable walk. That is movement and movement is good for the body, but if there is no increase in heart rate or breathing, it is not cardio training. Even though our boot camp sessions are designed to keep you in a cardio zone during most of the workout, it is possible to go through the motions without any cardio exertion. You can tell the difference. You’re either breathing faster than normal while walking and working out or you’re not. You are in control of your intensity and how much cardio you get.

How Do We Count Cardio Minutes?

Challenge Completion Levels:

Next Level – Optional Fitness Test:

Fitness Test Details

If you really want to focus on improvement, feel free to use a heart rate monitor or a sports watch to track your heart rate and to administer a self walking test to see where you are currently with your cardio level. You can do the test again at the end of the month to see if there has been any improvement.

It’s a simple test: Do a 5 minute or so warm up (separate from the mile walk) and then walk one mile on a treadmill as fast as can be controlled without running. Record the time it took you to walk the mile (don’t include the warm up). Also record your heart rate at the mile mark. Most treadmills have plates on the handles that will check your heart rate for you. A sport’s watch or a heart rate chest strap monitor will be a little more accurate. Send me this info along with your age and weight (it will be kept confidential – you can use this anonymous form) and I will let you know how you rank in your cardio fitness on a standard scale of poor to above average. If you will also give me your resting heart rate, I can tell you what cardio heart rate zone you need to be currently working in for improvement. Most sports watches record this for you or a quick Google search will tell you how to do this manually.

Are You In?

I wish I could say that I’m excited about this challenge, but I know I need it. I don’t want to do it alone. Who’s going to join me??

Links:

Challenge Calendar | Private Facebook Group | Anonymous form for Fitness Test

February Camp News

Pay Online

Live @ FLC – $60

• Starts Wed, Feb 2nd
• Choose 5:30am or 7:30am for Fit Camp, or 8:30am for BASIC30
• Dates: 2 · 7 · 9 · 14 · 16 · 21 · 23 · 28
• $60 – 8 sessions

@Home – $30

• YouTube Playlist Link available by Feb 1st (will also include last month’s glute videos)
• Workout anytime at home by video
• If possible, workout with me on Thursdays via Zoom as I record new videos — 7:30am(Fit Camp) or 8:30am(BASIC30)
• Zoom Recording Dates: 3 · 10 · 17 · 24
• $30

Full Access – $85

• Why settle for just Live or @Home when you can have both!!  You can workout with me and our FLC crew Live on Mondays and Wednesdays (as many classes as you want) and have access to videos to do @Home on any other day of the month.  What better way to get in shape and stay in shape!!

A La Carte: $10/per class or 5 classes for $45, 6 for $50, 7 for $55

Package payments must be made in advance, they are non transferable, and are only good for the month of the Boot Camp for which they were purchased. Payment options include: Cash, Check, Card, Cash App, paypal.me/followmefit, Venmo, Google Pay, & Zelle.

Links:

More Camp Info | Camp Registration | Pay Online | followmefit.net