Elevate Your Next Workout By Combining Strength Moves With Cardio

The only thing better than one super-effective workout: a powerhouse combo of two popular sweat methods to elevate your results

- Emily Abbate

How many times have you heard one of your friends say that? Or tried to convince your HIIT-loving gal pal that she too can go for a “casual jog?”

Here’s your wake-up call: it’s time to stop pitting strength training against cardio because, in reality, they’re great – scratch that, awesome – as a pair. In fact, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise right before weightlifting can help maximise power to fuel you through your fitness sesh, according to Brazilian research. Better still? Rather than reaping the rewards of just one exercise, “melding the two offers you more bang for your strength – and endurance – building buck,” says certified strength and conditioning specialist Rondel King. “It’s also time-efficient – ideal for anyone with a busy schedule.” (Sooo, all of us.)

More and more boutique studios across the country are offering a strength-plus-cardio double-header, with SWEAT 1000 leading the pack. This one-hour workout combines interval training, functional training, core stability work, athletic training and agility training for a full-body workout. Keen to get in on the trend? WH teamed up with trainer Jess Sims to create this killer full-body workout that mixes running with body-weight exercises – and bonus, you can do it at home, at the gym or outside. Ready, set, go… Then plank!

THE WORKOUT

Start with a warm-up (try a one-minute walk to a one-minute jog, followed by one minute of a dynamic hip-opening movement, like lunges). Then hit it! You’ll do one treadmill segment, followed by a strength circuit one. Step back onto the tread for a second cardio session before starting strength circuit two. Repeat the entire workout once more from the top for a total of two rounds.