summers pretty much here and its time to shed the pounds. i normally find cardio pretty boring but today i mixed in rope jumping with practicing some forms. i did about 2 mins rope jump followed by going through a form or two then rope jump again when i felt my heart rate lowering a fair bit and i’ve got my breath back. i did this for about 40 mins and it felt pretty good. low impact as well which is something im after as i tend to get knee problems and shin splints pretty easily with running etc.
has anyone got any other ideas for a mixed up low impact cardio session?
When there isn’t like uber people on the local trails, I’ll mtn. bike to the top, find a cool spot, do a form or two, then go bombing back down the trail. I’m going to look into rehanging a bag tonight (I have most of them from my old school) in one of the garages at my house (we have 3, one isn’t really used).
When I am in the gym I used different Cardio Machines and my favorite are machines with Polar Heart Monitors such as EFX Precore Machines and Life Fitness Treadmills/Bikes. Any non-Polar Heart Monitor machines is truly inferior from my experience. It must be said that knowing your target heart zone is like knowing how much load in weight lifting. Many people in the gym are clueless in either case. Knowing your THRZ, is vital and effective in cardiovascular training. When I am not in the gym, I love jogging, bike riding, and jump roping in the park. So far, I the treadmill is my main tool for my cardio work.
“Just like Michelangelo saw the angel in the stone, I can look at a guy like Kevin Costner and see a giant peach grub who can **** ‘The Blue Danube.’” – Elijah C. Skuggs
i would do bag work but my shoulders only just started getting better. my shoulders even ache a bit when i rope jump but its bearable. i could always just focus on kicking the bag i guess.
i found a good rowing circuit which i might try:
row 1 min, rest 1 min,
row 2 min, rest 2min,
row 3 min, rest 3 min,
row 4 min, rest 4 min, and then piramid back down to row 1 min, rest 1 min.
i’ll probably stretch or find something else to do in the rest periods. gonna give it a shot tmrw
Don’t know why so many people try to avoid running. I got knee probs too, and to compensate, run on grass. Makes a HUGE difference. I literally feel the difference instantly on my knees when I switch from running on pavement to grass. Running is THE best cardio, no way around it.
Could try swimming to, I personally think that’s 3rd best.
for me, I get the biggest sweat from
running
boxing, IF the room is rather hot, don’t use a cool room.
swimming
Never got a big sweat from jumproping, don’t know how these other people are doing it…
But seriously, try running on grass for a few days. Another thing I never understood is why do so many guys hate running when it’s where all the girls are? I see so many freakin hot girls when running. I see maybe 2 or 3 in the gym.
Yeah, running kills me too. But over winter I’m doing the rowing ergo. If you have access to an ergo, you might like to try HIIT. Over and done with quickly and you’ll do wonders for your endurance.
“Just like Michelangelo saw the angel in the stone, I can look at a guy like Kevin Costner and see a giant peach grub who can **** ‘The Blue Danube.’” – Elijah C. Skuggs
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Oh. His sig used to be a quote from me that said “Thinking about all that cardio made me tired,” or something like that. Maybe it was “All that thinking about cardio made me tired.”
I’d love to see the studies that prove such a bold statement.
I mean I know Rocky Marciano had the best conditioning and endurance of any heavyweight EVER- and ran 10 miles a day; but other fighters with great conditioning (like Frank Shamrock) would beg to differ.
In Rock’s own words, one of the reason he got out of boxing was because his back was almost gone.
I’ve run on grass before and no, it’s no better- but then I don’t just have bad knees, my structural problems extend a lot further.
Swimming shouldn’t even be on that list; unless you’re doing butterfly stroke the whole time, or don’t know how to swim.
Say what you want about elliptical crosstrainers, stairmasters, and rowers- but I think you’re being a bit biased if you don’t even leave them open as an option.
That being said, my dad’s rower usually messes up my knee- just to the inside of the patella.
the elliptical cross trainer works the best for me and with the interval training mode on level 19 (out of 20) it’s a killer workout.
I actually really enjoy the HIIT program Im doing right now… The excercise I use is a variation on greenbays from football… I work a combo on the heavy bag, drop to my stomach on the ground (push up position) and get back up as fast as I can and work the combo, drop to the ground, get back up… ect…
Its fun.
BMB, I did sprinting for about 6mths on the HIIT program, twice a week. Now I do it on a rowing ergo over the Oz winter. I found that the sprinting works my heart rate a lot more than the rowing. I don’t prefer one over the other - HIIT sucks regardless - but I would feel that sprinting worked me harder.
A couple of other things I’d do if I had the room: sled or tyre dragging and tractor tyre flipping. Dragging a tyre at the beach would be fun because you could progress up tyre sizes for different difficulties of workout. E.g. compact car for easy, SUV or truck for difficult. Flipping tractor tyres would be an awesome workout IMHO. Strongest man style.
It’d be nice if there were some kind of forward pressing resistance that they could add to the rowing machine, because (from my experience) it only feels like you’re working half the time; so I can understand the lower heart rate.
I have a feeling that whatever exercise you do, it all really just boils down to heart rate and number of muscles used.
- but