100 days of awesome BONUS ROUND!

Oh my, it’s time for “100 days of awesome!” BONUS ROUND!!!!

Several people have asked me, “Marilyn, how come there’s no cardio in the ‘100 days of awesome”? It wasn’t really an oversight; I just feel like the whole-body strength training moves are so important in building muscle strength. But the more I thought about the more I realized – yep! – let’s really blow the lid off this thing and add cardio!

So here’s what I’m going to do for the 93 remaining days of “100 days of awesome!” I’m going to do 30-60 minutes of cardio each day (except Sundays). Because my days are pretty darn full already, I have to get up early to do it, so I thought, “Why not make it an experiment and test out that theory about doing low-intensity cardio on an empty stomach?” The theory goes that, low-intensity cardio done on an empty stomach burns more fat than we would if we ate first. Now of course, this is not entirely scientific; there is no control group to provide a basis for comparison. Still, I think it’s worth trying, and certainly (as long as we’re healthy enough for exercise, and that exercise is truly low-intensity), there’s no harm in it.

I’ll be wearing my heart rate monitor so that I know I’m in my optimal “fat-burning” zone of 60-75% of my maximum heart rate. If you don’t have a heart rate monitor, know that you’ll feel like you’re exerting yourself in that range, but you’ll never be breathless and you may not even sweat.

This cardio is meant to burn calories, but it’s also meant to just be fun! If you decide to join me in the BONUS ROUND, focus on just enjoying yourself. Get outside, get some fresh air. Enjoy the sunshine; listen to music you can’t possibly sit still for. The best exercise is the one that we’ll do over and over again simply because we love it. And that’s exactly what I intend to spend the next 93 days doing. Hope you do too!