Have A Heart! Tea For Cardio
Thank you for coming back to the Tea For Fitness miniseries!
Think of it like a Netflix reboot without too many seasons yet. You get to enjoy yourself, learn a little, and when the 29-minute episode is over, switch tabs without commitment. That’s right, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: I’m looking at you over my ginger-spiked electrolyte water.
In all seriousness though, anti-inflammatories like ginger and muscle-contraction-sustaining electrolytes are both essential for picking out a good workout tea that’s going to get you through your cardio.
By the way! Before we get down to the good stuff, a bit of clarification as we enter the hypothetical universes that suggest your workouts. For the purposes of this article, I’m going to treat cardio like its own workout session, simply because I don’t expect you to bring in multiple thermoses of tea and switch off every time you drop the jump rope and pick up a weight.
However! Please bear in mind that for your own fitness, cardio should be part of your daily activity, even if it’s as gentle as walking. Reason being, most of us live a very sedentary life. Even trainers, unless we’ve got a second job that forces us to run, jump, or dance for hours on end. So, I’m programming for the presupposition that our collective butts do a lot more sitting than we’d like to admit to.
Alright, so to counteract all this butt-sitting, we have different types of cardiovascular exercise, which offer different benefits and results depending on your goals. They can be accomplished with your own two feet— walking, jogging, running, dancing, martial arts, etc— or with equipment— biking, rowing, elliptical-ing, rollerblading, skating, kickboxing, etc.
Now, instead of claiming that X tea goes with X mode of movement, I’d rather give you option based on what kind of goal you have for your cardio. The most frequent desires I hear in my field are: “I want to increase my stamina,” and “I want to be faster, and have more explosive power.” That means I’m going to cover endurance and speed, and we’ll have fun with determining which hydration goes with each adaptation.
Endurance is a great place to start if you’re just getting into fitness. After talking about strength training last month, there’s no question that you need breath for building your muscles, after all! I council my clients to get in at least 30 minutes of moderately paced cardio a day, even if it’s broken down into 5- or 10-minute walks around the city. The benefits are incomparable, and as long as you’re breathing properly, you can lose weight and increase your stamina no matter what pace you’re going.
That’s why I recommend choosing a tea that has the anti-inflammatories and electrolytes I mentioned at the beginning of the article. You need something to sip as you keep going and going and going and going… You get the idea. Give Honeybush Wild Berry a try, with its abundance of fruit and berry pieces giving you the natural antioxidants and minerals you need to ignite your inner Energizer Bunny. It’s also caffeine-free, so you can take it on an after-dinner walk without impacting your sleep.
Speed training, which requires you to push yourself to your maximum output of energy for a controlled amount of time, also requires pampering your circulation, and I’d suggest taking it up a notch with a base tea that has a bit of caffeine to perk you up. You wouldn’t do sprints before bed, right? Or whip out a jump rope?
So nab yourself some Chili Lime Green and have a go. It’s packed with wonderful kick-starting ingredients like chili pepper and lemongrass, which will be sure to get your engine going. Also check out Casablanca Mint and Melonberry Green for some refreshing options that will be perfect for folks in warmer climates.
The hardest part of adopting a cardiovascular routine, I’ll confess, is acquiring the motivation. That’s why tea is a lovely way to treat yourself as you put in the hard work— it’s like a reward just for being at the gym!
Hope that helped inspire you for the upcoming New Years’ Resolution season! I’m looking forward to next time, when we’ll talk about how to unwind with a restorative post-workout cup.
Cheers!
Natasha Nesic
NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach, Founder of Work Life Fitness