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In todays show I’m sharing one of my weird health habits that works.

I’ve got a few. This one has been a non-negotiable part of my routine for at least a year… the boys at the gym hassle me: I think they think this particular habit is pointless however I’m sold on the value.

It’s not my obsession with brussel crisps.

Or the fact that I often fill my wine glass with sparkling mineral water because at least it feels like wine to hold even if it doesn’t look or taste as gorgeous. It’s not that I insist on walking home in the rain even if someone offers me a lift and it’s torrential-blowing-a-gale-hideousness… because: Once I start making excuses, where do I stop?

Todays weird habit is: 5 MINUTES CARDIO.

I don’t do this daily. I do it once a week.

5 Reasons Why 5 MINUTES CARDIO Works:

One: I Do It!

So this is the little self negotiation I have with myself every week or so when I’m tempted to NOT put in my 5 minutes.

“Really? Your goal isn’t worth a measly 5 minutes to you?

Right. So you’ll 100% do it tomorrow? What makes tomorrow so much more doable than today?

Would you accept that from your clients? And you think you’re an inspiration to them? Is that the example you want to set?Really?”

At this point I realise I could be half-way through my 5 minute work-out!

So I throw myself on the treadmill and… I DO IT!

The funny thing is once it’s done I feel proud of myself all day that I did it. Rather than annoyed at myself all day that I didn’t.

=> What is ONE thing that you can do once a week for a mere 5 minutes that’ll you’ll feel proud of yourself for stepping up and doing? It’s a little battle you win every week. Your opportunity to prove to yourself how important achieving your goal is.

Two: I Work Hard.

For 5 minutes of something to be effective is does need to be focused and intense. So in my example I’m doing incline intervals on the treadmill. 

I’m super focused. Partially because I’m working hard… also because I fell off the treadmill once 10 years ago and I’ll never relax on a treadmill again!

As a result of the high intensity intervals I genuinely feel like I’ve had a workout when I gratefully survive my 10th and final incline sprint. It’s worth considering the standard by which YOU will measure that you’re working hard in your 5 minutes. Is it the distance you cover if you’re doing machine intervals… the target you set if it’s a body weight exercise you want to get better at… or perhaps simply the way you feel when you finish?

Three: It Doesn’t Encourage The Over ReFuel.

One of the most frustrating things to contend with as you try and achieve your health goal is fitter and fatter. I devoted the #008 show to fitter and fatter.

In brief, it’s that burning need to consume excessive amounts of carbs after a moderate intensity cardio session. Your body is basically screaming at you for fuel and mentally you’ve forced yourself through a fairly decent (well, at least time-consuming) workout and that little “I deserve” voice starts to sound in your mind.

It’s insistent. It’s relentless. It’s the beginning of a vicious cycle of: moderate-intensity-cardio => carb-OVER-refuel => guilt induced moderate-intensity-cardio => carb-OVER-refuel… you get the picture!

The awesome thing with short, high intensity intervals is that like with lifting weights your body does not then crave the carb over refuel.

So you get to actually see the results for that hard work you just put in rather than eating your way right out of any visible results.

Four: It’s An Excuse Free Option.

Humans are crafty reasoning machines. We can pretty much talk ourselves into anything… equally we’re fairly skilled at talking ourself out of anything. Including results.

However, when you’re (I’m!) brutally honest 5 minutes is an excuse free amount of time and energy. If you can’t give your goal 5 minutes then it’s really not important to you.

Although 5 MINUTES CARDIO works, to make time for that 5 minutes you can take time from any number of other things and it won’t have a negative impact… it’s a significant enough period for some high intensity cardio actionand insignificant enough to not be missed elsewhere.

For example: I believe enough sleep is HUGELY vital… however 5 minutes less sleep is not a game-changer.

Equally 5 minutes less social media, or inbox time, or T.V time is not hugely impactful.

Five: It Compliments The Training I Truly Love… WEIGHTS.

Ok, so this is the bit where todays show lives up to your too good to be true assumptions.

5 MINUTES CARDIO is all the structured cardio I do however it’s not all I do. I walk 40 minutes 6-7 days a week and most importantly I lift weights 5 days a week. If your goal is different to mine you likely don’t need to do that much however you will need to commit to more than just 5 MINUTES CARDIO a week.

You knew that though.

The fivth fab thing with 5 minutes cardio is it doesn’t exhaust you for the other exercise that you love. It doesn’t suck up hours of your time and tolerance like meandering on those ‘cardio land’ machines does. It doesn’t put stress on your knees like excessive repetitive cardio action does.

It’s just enough to know you ticked that little cardio box and still leave you fresh and motivated to launch into the training you love. That’s how I see it.

To get actionable today I want to return to the question I asked you in reason #1: What is ONE thing that you can do once a week for a mere 5 minutes that’ll you’ll feel proud of yourself for stepping up and doing?

The little battle you win every week. Your opportunity to prove to yourself how important achieving your goal is.

That’s almost it for today. First the Monday Motivation quote thanks to Luke Evans. Though it’s more funny than motivating!

“I always find cardio the most monotonous. Running on a treadmill shows me why hamsters are so crazy.”

I can relate. Can you?

In the Wednesday show I’m Weighing-in on: Getting UNSTUCK. I hope you can join me.

If you liked this you’ll also like: Do I NEED To Do Cardio?

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.