This one goes out to all of us who can’t run to save our lives! I used to be a competitive dancer, but even then, running was exhausting and I never committed to it enough to get past the burn. It’s been a longtime goal of mine to get my cardio up and with the start of the new semester, now felt like a good time. Since everything is online, sometimes going to the gym is my only reason to leave my apartment, so I haven’t found it too hard to actually get there. When it comes to cardio, I was always intimidated, bored or embarrassingly out of breath.
In my endeavor to find a way to love cardio—or at least not hate it—I discovered Lauren Giraldo’s “12-3-30” workout on the treadmill, which has been popular on TikTok and Instagram.
Treadmill settings for the 12-3-30 workout are:
- Incline: 12
- Speed: 3
- Time: 30 minutes
I wanted challenge myself to try this workout for at least two weeks. Since I already consistently work out, I didn’t have much trouble with the incline, but I do recommend starting at a lower incline if you are not used to it. I started at a lower speed (2.5) which was basically fast walking for me. Since I never do cardio, fast walking sounded silly to me but after 30 minutes, you break a bit of a sweat.
I struggled with the time frame and found myself getting bored after 15 minutes or so. For the first few days, I split the time into two 15-minute intervals—one at the beginning of my workout and one at the end. I know 30 minutes isn’t a long time, but it sure feels like it is to start.
I also started saving my social media scrolling for my workout. This killed two birds with one stone because it made time go by faster and kept my scrolling to a minimum. I was also able to work on some of my class discussions. I am very tempted to start bringing my computer to the treadmill because I find myself being very productive when answering discussion questions.
Now, I am about three weeks in. I hope to continue this workout and increase the variable as I go. I highly recommend this workout (or a variation of it) if you are someone who wants to start getting in more cardio. I think it built my confidence a bit because even though it is only half an hour out of my day, I feel accomplished right afterwards. Although I like to switch it up with the rest of my workout routine, the 12-3-30 workout has added a nice form of consistency to my routine!