Cardio is without a doubt the most important aspect of any fitness routine and the one thing everyone should do, regardless of age. Your heart health is extremely important. There are some other perks to cardio too. The one we care about today is the fat burning, calorie deleting perk. With summer right around the corner, we need to get the body prepared.

Literally, anything can be turned into a cardio workout. You just have to keep the body moving with enough resistance to get your heart rate up for roughly 20 minutes or more. This is going to be a circuit style workout that needs to be done without breaks in between the sets.

This workout is best done at a running track or somewhere where you have a quarter mile marked off.

Once you get to the track and are warmed up, run a half mile at a medium pace. By a medium pace, I mean you should be able to talk but not have a conversation. Just a few words to a sentence before you are winded. Then turn around and run the opposite way for another half mile. I know it sounds ridiculous, but when you run on a track it is best to go both ways around the circle so you are not putting all of the stress on one leg and ultimately your back.

Then get off of the track and grab your jump rope. Do three to five minutes and then back to the track. This time do a half mile and then turn around for just a quarter mile again at a medium pace. This time do a set of 25 push ups and then turn over for 25 crunches.

Jump back up to your feet and hit the track again. Do a quarter mile and then turn around and do a half mile the other way. Exit the track and do some more jump roping.

Then back to the track for a quarter mile one way and then turn around and do a quarter back. Exit the track and do another round of push ups and crunches.

Finally, back to the track for a light jog or walk until you have caught your breath and can have a normal conversation.

This workout has you do three miles, but breaks it up for those who are not fans of running. What I like about it is when you stop running, your legs get heavy. The lactic acid builds up and you do not want to get back out there on the track. This workout trains your body to get past that and still gives you a great cardio workout.