CARDIO? Best form of cardio exercise?

Monroe121

Hey all,

In your opinion, what's a good form of cardio exercise? For how long? How many days?

Thanks!
Add me as a friend! I'd love the motivation! :-)

kamakazeekim

I get so bored doing straight up cardio! I like Tabata training that mixes cardio with strength training.

lishie_rebooted

The best form of cardio exercise is the one you enjoy and will stick to.
The American Heart Association suggests at least 30 minutes of moderate cardio exercise 5 days a week for heart health.

darrensurrey

The one that you keep wanting to do. I used to do HIIT, cycle on a gym bike and stuff like KB swings but compared to so many other options, they are sooooooooo boring. When was the last time you laughed or cheered while doing those things? (No, muttering, "Thank god that's over!" doesn't count.) That's why I'll play a sport (my choice is dodgeball, tennis and tai chi). Working out has now become my form of entertainment.

NinjaSparklePup

I personally think variety and balance is important. It appears that athletes who are focused on one activity (like runners) for a large chunk of their life end up doing a lot of damage to certain parts of their body (just personal observation). I've been a bit more focused on running lately (hoping to maybe do a 5k this summer) but try to switch it up with Zumba, hiking (slower pace up steeper inclines), stair climbing, and even the rowing machine once in awhile. I walk the dog every day but try to fit in the specific cardio every time we work out, ideally 2-3 times per week.

Cardio4Cupcakes

I usually run for 20 minutes or so, like 1 minute at 4.0, 1.5 minute at 6.0, 1 minute at 4.0, 2 minutes at 6.2, 1 minute at 4.0, 2.5 minutes at 6.4, etc etc until I get to 7, then I go backwards. Then I do arms or legs, and then usually finish off with the bike and stretching.

hbwgonnabe

I love to dance but hate doing it in public. At home I crank up the (guilty pleasure) Disco and dance non-stop for at least 30 minutes when no one is around. It fulfills the cardio requirement and I enjoy it so it doesn't seem like exercise.

Need2Exerc1se

lishie_rebooted wrote: »

The best form of cardio exercise is the one you enjoy and will stick to.
The American Heart Association suggests at least 30 minutes of moderate cardio exercise 5 days a week for heart health.

This is correct. Find something you enjoy.

amcook4

Whatever you enjoy and will keep on doing.

4legsRbetterthan2

I say running, but I like to run. Whatever you like to do, thats the best type!

bigd66218

All forms of cardio are great...Personally, for me cycling outside 5-7 hours a week when the weather warms up..Now, I'm walking 5 hours a week!!

urloved33

Do what you love

kmab1985

I agree with all other replies, best form of exercise is the ones you love and any exercise is better than none!

I love bodypump, running and the cross trainer and I've just started doing some weight training.

WhatMeRunning

Like the above, the best one is the one you enjoy doing and can stick with regularly.

I like running. Which is crazy because I always hated running. But I love running. See?

urloved33

If you don't like any exercise or don;'t have a favorite pick the thing you hate the least that is the best gain for the least time.

kcjchang

I like cycling and do about 8 hours/week covering ~140 miles with about 4k climbs, 5 days a week

ribenarach87

hbwgonnabe wrote: »

I love to dance but hate doing it in public. At home I crank up the (guilty pleasure) Disco and dance non-stop for at least 30 minutes when no one is around. It fulfills the cardio requirement and I enjoy it so it doesn't seem like exercise.

Sounds like me, I love to kitchen dance!

I agree with everyone else, finding something you enjoy is likely to keep you interested and motivated. I've taken up trampolining, it's not insanely intense cardio but it certainly gets your HR going, and I don't know how you could be sad on a trampoline!

mzjenn2u

INTERVALS
super intense then STOP

AllanMisner

Cross-country skiing is the most effective cardiovascular condition activity. But if you don’t have access to do that, then stick to the kind you enjoy and will do regularly.

CrabNebula

I hate it, but for me, the most overall effective cardio activity is rowing. Full body workout, burns a good number of calories, has really helped me lose inches. I just suck it up and do about 15km a week.

tennisdude2004

lishie_rebooted wrote: »

The best form of cardio exercise is the one you enjoy and will stick to.
The American Heart Association suggests at least 30 minutes of moderate cardio exercise 5 days a week for heart health.

Definitely this ^^^^^

If you dread doing it - you'll give up.

Personally I love doing competitive stuff against others. Makes it fun

BrianSharpe

NinjaSparklePup wrote: »

I personally think variety and balance is important. It appears that athletes who are focused on one activity (like runners) for a large chunk of their life end up doing a lot of damage to certain parts of their body

Sheer nonsense.....

To the OP, anything that gets your heart rate up can be considered "cardio" (walking, running, biking, swimming, rowing, HIIT etc etc etc) What are your goals?

blb85

Yep, I saw the doctor last week and we were talking about my weight loss struggle. While a lot of my issue is that I need to focus more on my diet (calorie counting and eating more clean), she said how 30 min of activity a day is important for health and for weight maintaining. If I really want to be serious about my weight loss, I really need to focus on getting 60 minutes of activity (mostly cardio) a day for 6 days of the week. She stressed how it really equates to creating the 3500 calorie deficit, and that's what I need to stick to ultimately in order to see changes.

But I feels you in the I don't want to get bored with it either... I can usually do about 30-45 min a day at the gym with classes (M-Cardio/Strength Circuit, Tu-Zumba, Wed-Jump Rope or Yoga, Th-Kickbox, F-Cardio/Strength Circuit), but the weekends kill me. I just can't seem to enjoy going out and working-out on my own with no one telling me what to do.

TeaBea

lishie_rebooted wrote: »

The best form of cardio exercise is the one you enjoy and will stick to.
The American Heart Association suggests at least 30 minutes of moderate cardio exercise 5 days a week for heart health.

This^

Find one you like....it can be hula hooping, rollerblading, jumping on a mini-trampoline (rebounding) ......just keep trying new things. Something will stick.

sofaking6

AllanMisner wrote: »

Cross-country skiing is the most effective cardiovascular condition activity. But if you don’t have access to do that, then stick to the kind you enjoy and will do regularly.

That explains why it is my all-time least favorite activity.

OP - it's true that cardio will help you lose weight more quickly. But for me, part of healthy weight loss is not putting all of my emotional investment into the number on the scale. I much prefer to have fitness goals to work towards - running a 5k, curling 20 lbs, doing a 60 second plank, etc. Like right now when I'm smack-dab in the middle of my weight loss and also having a plateau, I get through it because I'm feeling strong and flexible and I still remember clearly what it was like to feel weak and fragile.

I'm the same with my weekends, so I work out M-F every day and then take the weekends off, with a walk or some stretching just to keep loose.

cstevenson86

I would say anything that gets your heart rate up - 3 to 4 times per week. I do Zumba, and I love it!

LexiPlease

I agree with everyone. I especially like the Elaine dance from Seinfeld. Do what you enjoy for me right now I'm doing only Leslie Sansone walking DVD's which are nice, but can get boring as well, so I switch between that and Zumba.

asteriskthat

Jumping in late here to second everyone else; do what you love! I do salsa dancing up to 12 hours a week - sometimes more. It's not the highest intensity cardio (though it can be) but I do it almost everyday. And it gives me goals to work towards trying to improve my technique etc.

yirara

I always enjoyed cycling to work, also in horizontal rain or 15cm of snow. But it's downright dangerous in the place I moved to. I tried swimming hut the maintainer always throws in too much chloride and the laps got boring. I had combined that with fast bodyweight circuits like 30 seconds squats 10 seconds break 30 seconds pushups etc. Still like that thought. But I picked up running which is more interesting than laps (listen to birds song, see who's on the street doing what).

melodyis4reals

Taking the dog for a long walk.

MKEgal

Define "best"?
Most efficient at burning calories is probably swimming. Moving through water is hard.
The elliptical kicks *kitten* & doesn't take names.
(And seeing some other answers, snowshoeing & X-country skiing burn lots of energy.)

HIIT of any kind burns more calories in a shorter time than steady-state. Sprint for 30 sec - 2 minutes, then walk
slowly (like, 2 mph) for 30 sec - 2 min. Repeat for at least 30 min. That can be outdoors, or swimming, or on a
treadmill (try on an incline to make it harder), or a stairstepper, or the elliptical, or a bicycle (real or stationary).


In any case, do what everyone else said: find things that you like, that you'll stick with.

.

blb85 wrote:

a lot of my issue is that I need to focus more on my diet (calorie counting and eating more clean)

Define "clean"?
There are so many different interpretations that it's a meaningless term.
And no matter how you define it, it has nothing to do with weight loss.
Weight loss comes from having a calorie deficit. Period.
The type of food you eat has a lot to do with nutrition, health, satiety, and so on. But not weight.