Cardio Alternatives

KrisMartinsons2015
KrisMartinsons2015 Posts: 8 Member
edited November 24 in Fitness and Exercise
Good Morning everyone.

This is going to be yet another discussion about cardio exercises.

My cardio consists of running and rowing machine.
but I'm getting tired of the same cardio over and over again, so I have now reduced my cardio workout to 2 - 3x per week compared to normal 4 - 5x per week.

I'm thinking of changing my cardio exercise to something more interesting, I think I will still do running once per week but I will also do Tennis and Swimming.

My gym does have very nice pool, sauna and steam room.

the question is, does spending time in the steam room or sauna still counts as cardio?

obviously while you are in steam room your heart rate is rising because of the heat. Higher Heart rate, more calories are burned, however your muscles are not working as compared to running/swimming which makes me think that it's not a great cardio.

Yesterday I did, 10 min swim followed by 10 min in steam room, upon leaving the steam room my heart rate was hitting 130bpm

so, does Sauna and Steam room can be used as cardio alternative once a week for approx 15 - 20 minutes?

Please add me as a Friend, Fitness journey is easier with like minded people. ;)

Regards,
Kris

Replies

  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    No, doing anything where you are not moving does not count as cardio, it counts as relaxing :)
    Heart rate monitors use algorithms to deduce calorie burns from heart rate while doing steady state cardio. So, your heart rate during other activities, really says nothing about calorie burns. Same as sweating says nothing about how hard you are working.
  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
    Stress often makes my heart rate elevate. But . . . no, it doesn't count as exercise. Only getting your heart rate up due to moving your body in some way is exercise.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
    Pawsforme wrote: »
    Stress often makes my heart rate elevate. But . . . no, it doesn't count as exercise. Only getting your heart rate up due to moving your body in some way is exercise.

    if stress did that, i wouldn't need to worry about losing weight :wink:

    sauna doesn't count. swimming does. dancing does. rock climbing could. hiking. zumba. power yoga. etc
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