I use to raise my arms up in defeat as I suffered through the last 15 minutes of cardio whining, "Why is cardio so hard?" lol and I knew there had to be a way to make cardio easier.

I was determined to make my 30 minutes of cardio less boring and I started using these 4 simple yet effective tricks to making cardio go by faster.

I'll show you

How to make cardio fun at the gym
a few ways to do cardio without running or using any machines
the best way to add cardio to weight training
the most effective ways to do cardio to burn fat
the cardio machine settings that make cardio go by faster

*This post Contains affiliate links. I only suggest products that I have personally used and loved.

1. Switch Every 10 Minutes

The thought of doing 30 minutes of cardio just sounds like something I don't want to do😕I get bored, lazy and just end up being like "okay good enough, I'm done" ✌🏼.

What I do instead is break my cardio up into 10-minute increments. So I'll do 10 minutes on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the bike.

Mentally it's so much easier to push yourself to complete 10 minutes vs an entire 30 minutes.

For those 10 minutes, I do intervals rather than going one steady pace for a few reasons.

It keeps me engaged and pushing myself, plus high-intensity interval training is the most effective way to burn fat.

Download the 5 Day Cardio Plan

In the 5 Day Cardio Workout Plan you will see what I mean by intervals, also If you want the best fat burn you should be doing a similar interval style training when you are weight training as well.

Previously I created a 5 Day weight training workout plan that will take care of the weight training portion of your workout too. Then you can use the 5 Day Cardio plan to add 30 minutes of cardio after you lift!

2. Always have Entertainment

I'd much rather be lifting than running, so it's so easy for me to get in my head 15 minutes in and convince myself I've done enough and it's time to leave lol I have to have some sort of distraction or entertainment if I'm doing any cardio!

I use to watch Netflix on my phone (PS most gyms have free wifi)📱 I picked a series I had been wanting to see and I only watched it at the gym while doing cardio, so I surprisingly looked forward to getting on that stair climber and most of the time was shocked when I looked down at the time and only had a few minutes left!
Lately, I have been really into listening to personal development books like "You Are A Badass" by Jen Sincero,🎧 so I have been looking forward to a little cardio and PD after I lift and there's nothing more encouraging than someone in your ear telling you how badass you are 😉. I Used Audible through amazon to listen to my books. You can try a Audible 30 day free trial before you sign up!
If nothing else, listen to music that gets you fired up. For me that's some EDM or hardcore rap lol

Shop My Current Cardio Must Haves:

3. Use Time Remaining Setting

On most cardio machines you have different settings and those can make or break it for me ha ha. I always switch it from "Time Elapsed" to "Time Remaining". Believe it or not there's a huge difference between "OMG I've only been going for 5 minutes" and "oh I only have 5 minutes left"

Time Remaining is more optimistic to me 🙃and it's like a countdown to the finish line instead of an uphill, never-ending battle lol.

4. Use the visuals

Some machines also have a picture of a track, which I like to use and kinda visualize. I will typically run down one side, walk the other, then run a full lap and keep switching it up. When I do this I also go for distance instead of time, so I'll go for 6 laps (1.5 miles).

5. Try Some Classes at Your Gym

A lot of the classes at the gym are cardio based, so you can grab a class calendar from the front desk and plan out, which classes you can do. Get to the gym 45 minutes- 1 hour before the class and get your lift on and then use the class as your cardio. Spin/cycle, Zumba/dancing, body combat/kickboxing and all perfect classes that are just body weight so no weights and will be a kick-ass cardio sesh!

If you haven't noticed it's all about tricking/distracting the mind into thinking you're not actually doing cardio lol, but hey it works!

What is your favorite cardio? Let me know in the comments below and as always if you need anything never hesitate to reach out!