Do you sometimes get bored with your aerobic exercise? Do You
sometimes feel like you're not getting the results you should from your
aerobic exercise? If so, then aerobic cross-training is for you.
Aerobic cross-training refers to using two to three
different types of aerobic exercise during an exercise session. For
example, if you plan to exercise for 60 minutes, you might start with 20
minutes of walking or jogging, followed by 20 minutes of biking, and
finish with 20 minutes of rowing.

Now, please don't get the impression that you have to be
in great shape to do this or that it has to be 60 minutes long. You can
start with something as simple as a ten minute walk followed by ten
minutes with an exercise video. This is cross-training too. You can
gradually build up from there.

Here are some of the exercises you can use in your
cross-training program; walking, jogging, biking, rowing, stair climbing,
swimming, exercise videos, etc. Any combination of aerobic exercises will
do. You simply go from one to the next with very little time between them.

Aerobic cross-training is beneficial to you in several
ways:
1. It provides variety which eliminates the monotony often
associated with doing the same exercise for a long period of time.
2. If your exercise sessions are less monotonous and more
enjoyable, you are much more likely to exercise more often and for longer
periods of time.
3. You are less prone to over-use injuries that sometimes
occur from doing the same exercise movements over and over again.
4. You tone more muscles because you are using more
muscles. For example, walking tones mostly the lower body muscles and
rowing tones upper body muscles also. Even exercises like walking and
biking that both tone lower body muscles, tone them at different angles
and each tones some small muscles that the other doesn't.
5. Aerobic conditioning is very specific to the muscles
being worked. For example, you can walk ten miles a day and still be
somewhat breathless after climbing stairs because you haven't trained the
muscles for that specific movement. Aerobic cross-training allows you to
develop more comprehensive aerobic training.

6. Aerobic cross-training is effective for weight loss
because your are toning and training the fat-burning systems of more of
your muscles. It turns more of your muscles into 24-hour fat-burning
machines! You are also more likely to exercise on a regular basis and for
longer periods of time. this also promotes weight loss and fitness.

Author and exercise physiologist, Greg Landry, offers free
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