Did just the title of this blog fill you full of dread? Well, me too! But, just because you are doing a cardio style workout in the morning, doesn’t mean it has to be boring!

For years I spent my mornings getting up at 5.30am, to do my 45 minutes of cardio. Well, I would say it kind of looked more like this; 20 minutes on the Stair master, 20 minutes on the bike and then a 20 minute fast paced walk. Just to break it up and to stop me from losing concentration for long enough not to fall off the machine! So As soon as the time came when I didn’t HAVE to do this cardio, well I didn’t! But it turns out I actually enjoyed doing my AM workouts – I just didn’t like boring cardio. So when I actually weight trained in the morning, it was a little easier to get up and it was also done and was a great platform for a positive mind-set for the rest of the day.

I discovered CrossFit around 4 years ago, and while I have only recently been practicing this since the beginning of this year, I have always admired the strength and fitness ability of the top CrossFit athletes. Also – if you don’t know who Brooke Ence is yet, well… you NEED to know.

Anyway, CrossFit incorporates strength, conditioning, lifting techniques and all while burning a shed load of calories! I started to incorporate ‘Metcon’ – metabolic conditioning – into the end of my resistance workouts and found that I was enjoying them so much more. I would get a really great workout, still hitting a high level of resistance training, but getting some great high intense cardio sessions in there too.

Having recently taken over the classes at FWX I thought it would be perfect to show you guys a similar type of workout and incorporate this into your classes. They include a range of cardio style movements, from Assault Bikes, Rowers, Skiergs, to the well-loved burpees and box jumps! But you will also see some strength work in there too such as Deadlift and squat variations, but again ensuring our heart rates are kept high, so the weight is dropped a little from our maximum lifts.

It really is an all-round workout. Burning anywhere between 300 – 400 calories per session in a 45 minute time frame, setting you up for the day and meaning you’ve done your workout all before 7am. Oh and not to mention helping you achieve the body you’re confident with! What do you have to lose?

Phoebe Little