# What cardio works for you?



## scout200 (Jun 24, 2010)

Love it or hate it, cardio exercises are vital. What do you do to  burn calories and keep your heart rate up?


-Scout


----------



## omerta2010 (Jun 24, 2010)

Here is my opinion for me personally from hardest to easiest:

Step Mill (the escalator one with the stairs that make you actually lift your feet)
Eliptical 
Treadmill 
Bike

eliptical and treadmill I need to have incline, flat does nothing but make me bored.


----------



## ceazur (Jun 24, 2010)

I run 3 miles at 4am 6 days a week. Works great


----------



## Marat (Jun 24, 2010)

Big fan of running hills, prowler pushing, sled dragging, and stationary bike for steady state and interval stuff.


----------



## CaptainNapalm (Jun 24, 2010)

I have never and will never execute any cario (aside from warmup cardio) in the gym.  If I need cardio I will do it outside of the gym by means of rollerblading, swimming, jogging, walking, climbing, etc.


----------



## Klutch (Jun 24, 2010)

jiu jitsu / muay thai
 I love it


----------



## Arra (Jun 27, 2010)

I just walk at the moment. When I lost massive amounts of weight I just jogged 45-50 minutes a day and worked great.


----------



## Merkaba (Jun 27, 2010)

I had sex six times this weekend.


----------



## MDR (Jun 28, 2010)

I think interval training is very effective, and an efficient use of time.


----------



## scout200 (Jun 29, 2010)

ceazur said:


> I run 3 miles at 4am 6 days a week. Works great



Wow!  Talk about dedication!!

-Scout


----------



## scout200 (Jun 29, 2010)

Arra said:


> I just walk at the moment. When I lost massive amounts of weight I just jogged 45-50 minutes a day and worked great.



Hey Arra,

How much did you lose?

-Scout


----------



## danzik17 (Jun 29, 2010)

Jiu Jitsu.  4-5 times per week.

It can be a brutal workout, but it's also fun and I'm learning at the same time.  Kicks the hell out of running or a bicycle.


----------



## DaMayor (Jun 29, 2010)

Merkaba said:


> I had sex six times this weekend.



LHJO doesn't count.


----------



## ceazur (Jun 29, 2010)

Merkaba said:


> I had sex six times this weekend.



Doesn't count when your not doing the work either


----------



## Merkaba (Jun 30, 2010)

lol...no seriously depending on what's going on sometimes I will plan my meals/carbs around it.


----------



## busyLivin (Jul 1, 2010)

Cutting I walk fast 2.5 miles Mon-Fri @ 5:30am on a treadmill...empty stomach sipping on Xtend.  Been pretty effective for me... never feel like I'm losing too much size/strength, but I get pretty lean.

Bulking I cut it down to 2x a week, but same scenario.


----------



## benderdiablo (Jul 2, 2010)

walking is a good choice


----------



## jmorrison (Jul 2, 2010)

Someone ban this spammer.


----------



## busyLivin (Jul 2, 2010)

benderdiablo said:


> walking is a good choice



I can't run or do HIIT because of a neck problem, but the walking works anyway & I always hated running when i could.


----------



## Mark Sabino (Jul 2, 2010)

I do indoor cycling or running


----------



## Phineas (Jul 2, 2010)

Merkaba said:


> I had sex six times this weekend.





My girlfriend's in the time of the month, so I went for a hybrid grip/HIIT cardio this weekend....


----------



## Phineas (Jul 2, 2010)

Merkaba said:


> lol...no seriously depending on what's going on sometimes I will plan my meals/carbs around it.





I do that too. Fructose and is my weapon of choice.


----------



## WeightGainNet (Jul 9, 2010)

Interval Cardio. Sprinting.

1 minute hard run, 1 minute jog.

Do 10 intervals and tell me your heart isn't about to explode.

And yes interval training like this will keep you burning fat throughout the day. And there are many variations of interval training most of which work great.





scout200 said:


> Love it or hate it, cardio exercises are vital. What do you do to  burn calories and keep your heart rate up?
> 
> 
> -Scout


----------



## sara (Jul 10, 2010)

Spin Class, Stepmill rotate


----------



## Ginger1961 (Jul 13, 2010)

Spin class twice a week here 35 minutes -kicks my ass - heart rate maxes out at 164 I'm 42 so that's relatively high.  Twice a week walking fast uphill and twice a week running uphill alternating with flat surface 40 mins.  I've found that the smaller you get the more you have to pull back on the higher intensity stuff.  My body went into shock when I was doing 4-5 spin classes a week.  

All this works for moi.
G


----------



## JMRQ (Jul 13, 2010)

I'm a guy who's done a lot of HGH in the past which gives me size, but I've noticed how UNFIT I am aerobically... So I'm trying to increase my cardio-time all the time (treadmill) and reap the benefits of being agile and fit... Now I'm doing a mere 10-minutes at the gym before I start doing compound exercises WHEN I USED TO DO AN HOUR of cardio !!! now I only do 10 minutes WTF?

It's like HGH made me big, but it also made me slow...

IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO ??? (besides more cardio)


----------



## BigBadWolf (Jul 14, 2010)

i use to walk/jog the treadmill every other day for cardio,3 weeks ago i started mountain biking 3 times a week. i couldnt believe the difference.I figured biking would just burn off some calories and add a little endurance to my legs.After the second outting of biking(the first i just strolled around the park a couple hours),i couldnt believe how taxing it was on the rest of my body, my shoulders,chest and forearms were not sore but REALLY tired the next day.3 weeks later i dropped 6 lbs and my legs are noticeably more defined.ontop of that my lungs feel a size bigger now.


----------



## Phineas (Jul 14, 2010)

running, road cycling, power lifting is good too


----------



## joboco (Jul 14, 2010)

Klutch said:


> jiu jitsu / muay thai
> I love it


----------



## Merkaba (Jul 14, 2010)

Phineas said:


> My girlfriend's in the time of the month, so I went for a hybrid grip/HIIT cardio this weekend....



Wuss...I don't let a little blood stop my cardio.


----------



## Phineas (Jul 15, 2010)

Merkaba said:


> Wuss...I don't let a little blood stop my cardio.



Been down that road before.......


...didn't like it.....


----------



## suprfast (Jul 15, 2010)

Merkaba said:


> I had sex six times this weekend.



So did I.  Now I need to give my left hand a workout.

Im a huge fan of running, having been a runner in the past. I usually do a few miles after my workout, regardless of workout.  Squats and leg presses followed by three miles is the best.


----------



## SnowManSnow (Jul 20, 2010)

if you dont mind buying something.. the insanity workouts from beach body are some of the most intense cardio workouts ive ever done.  We started w 10 ppl.. toward the end it was 2.  just a word.. if ur not IN good shape, cardio wise.... then don't try it.

im not sure how insanity would work with body building.  it would probably be "anti"muscle size.
B


----------



## gtbmed (Jul 20, 2010)

You know - circuit training or complexes is not a bad way to get in a workout like this and build some GPP.  But nothing beats getting out on the road with a bike for 30 miles.

I also love to swim and you can make some good interval sets in the pool.


----------



## koz (Aug 21, 2010)

Jumping rope in between rest works great for me!


----------



## Built (Aug 21, 2010)

WeightGainNet said:


> Interval Cardio. Sprinting.
> 
> 1 minute hard run, 1 minute jog.
> 
> ...



It sure will. Grams and grams of it!

EPOC is monstrously overrated. Cardio is unnecessary for fat loss. When I want to drop fat, I eat less.


----------



## MDR (Aug 22, 2010)

If anything, I like to do low impact cardio so it does not impact my energy level when I train.  If I am dieting, I don't have a ton of energy to spare.  If I walk on the treadmill for 1/2 hour or so, that is plenty for me.  Losing weight is really about diet.  If you have the energy to do interval training and lift weights, that's great, but if I'm cutting, I just can't follow that kind of schedule.


----------



## Aamir (Aug 26, 2010)

I find running for 30 mins on fat burn on the cardio machines and then doing around 300 crunches...asssited on a machine help with my cardio


----------



## Tension (Aug 26, 2010)

I cycle 500 cals in 45 minutes 3-4 days a week. I stopped measuring distance and started measuring Watts / Calories / Heart Rate
Currently I am at 162 watts / 150-160 Heart Rate / 500 Cals in 45 minutes.
I skate in a hockey league 2 nights a week (no idea how many cals this is)

I mix things up a couple days a week by doing some Anaerobic sets within my 45 minute workout, this has paid MASSIVE dividends in hockey which is a sport that has lulls and then very aggressive periods of skating, fighting for the puck and such.

IMHO cycling has a secondary core strengthening that I don't find in other cardio.

One other useless sidenote:
I can close my eyes on a cycle and lose track of space and time, focus on my breathing, heart rate and music, if I did that on a tread I would fall flat on my face.

One opinion:
Upright not recumbent, you use your core to keep yourself up on an upright.


----------



## OTG85 (Aug 26, 2010)

treadmill incline of 15 4.0 mph right after workout for 20 min


----------



## chesty4 (Aug 26, 2010)

20-25 min HIIT training before breakfast works very well. Protein shake and breakfast after


----------



## jmorrison (Aug 26, 2010)

legendkiller85 said:


> treadmill incline of 15 4.0 mph right after workout for 20 min




I just cant seem to do the two together.  I run out of motivation on whatever is the second thing, so I alternate days.

When I am bulking I do explosive type movements for cardio.  I've got a big ass tractor tire in my yard (I bet the neighbors love it) that I alternately flip 10x10 or beat on with a 10lb sledge 3x3 minutes for cardio, sometimes both if I am feeling particularly good.  I have no idea if this is good, but I would rather set myself on fire than run, so thats what I do.  I only do it twice a week during a bulk, more for the actual health benefit than anything.

When I am cutting I either walk on the treadmill at about 4 mph for 45mins-hour or I do circuit training.  I do this 4 times a week while cutting.


----------



## johnson 45 (Sep 28, 2010)

Klutch said:


> jiu jitsu / muay thai
> I love it


Your a fucking chump,you dont do either asshole


----------



## vortrit (Sep 29, 2010)

johnson 45 said:


> Your a fucking chump,you dont do either asshole



What's wrong with martial arts as cardio? Why don't you quit flaming people and contribute something useful to the conversation. I suspect you don't know too much at all and you feel threatened by your own ignorance.

And quit sending members threatening PM's. If you got something to say, say it in on the forum and quit being a gutless turd. If you act like a jerk on here I'm going to give you negative reps, period.


----------



## tennfan (Oct 5, 2010)

ceazur said:


> I run 3 miles at 4am 6 days a week. Works great


 i bet ur legs look like absolute shit like the majority of marines, motivator


----------

