cardio indoors - why?

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  • BrieLP
    BrieLP Posts: 300 Member
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    Cuz it's around 98 degrees these days and humidity is sky high!

    Oh I would kill for 98 degrees!!! It's 103 here today! YUCK! I ain't running in that... plus by the time i'm ready to workout (whether I do it first thing in the morning or after work) it's dark out and although my neighborhood looks nice i'm the minority here... I don't think I really want to be running outside by myself in my neighborhood. I tried walking the other night and got freaked out.
  • gc_tweety
    gc_tweety Posts: 205 Member
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    Outside is not my favorite - that's all.
  • Chipmaniac
    Chipmaniac Posts: 642 Member
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    When I began this endeavor to get in shape and change my life, I did it exclusively in the gym. My reasons for using the gym and not going outside were:

    1. As others have stated, there is no real equivalent to an elliptical machine outside.
    2. They haven't yet built a building with the 200+ floors that I can climb in an hour on a stair treadmill.
    3. I don't have a sculling boat, nor a vehicle to transport such a vessel, though I am surrounded by water up here in Seattle. The rowing machine allows me to simulate rowing without the expense/hassle.
    4. I can set a regular treadmill for intervals where I don't have to keep track of timing or adjusting the speed and/or incline.
    5. When I started out, I walked exclusively on the treadmill. Walking around the neighborhood feels silly as I always felt wimpy for not running. In the gym there is less perceived pressure to go faster than you can handle.
    6. When I setup a routine on a machine, I'm compelled to complete it. If I ran on the road, I was afraid that I would wimp out at some point and not go as far or as fast as I should.
    7. When you run/cycle on the street, you have to make sure you can return. If you wear yourself out on a treadmill you can just stop. If you tire out or develop cramps etc. prematurely when running/cycling you still have to get yourself home. This happened to me recently when I ran a little farther on the street than my body was ready for. I ran six miles from my house and turned around and headed home. At mile 10 my hamstrings started cramping up and I had to walk the remaining two miles in serious pain to get back to my house.

    That said, I took up cycling again in May and since then have spent less and less time in the gym. Now with the weather so nice here I have a hard time bringing myself to go to the gym at all. Instead I've been running and biking on the road/paths, including a 204 mile ride last month.
  • stopdropandlose
    stopdropandlose Posts: 162 Member
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    Why do I do cardio indoors? Simple - extreme allergies and asthma. Exercising outside puts me in extreme pain, makes me more likely to have an allergic reaction or asthma attack. I wish I could work out outside.

    Occasionally, if the weather is nice I take a walk or play a game like badminton, but I can't do anything too intense.
  • sempertracy
    sempertracy Posts: 50 Member
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    Simple: Children-if gym has a kid's club that you take advantage of you can't leave the building in case of an emergency.
  • jhunt90
    jhunt90 Posts: 78
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    Besides the whole confidence issue, it's freaking hot where I am in the desert. I do go on hikes when the temperature is reasonable, but we're in the 90-100's more than half the year, I go longer if I'm inside not dying from heat :)
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
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    What I want to know is why people seem to think that doing cardio indoors is somehow "wrong"? This judgmental attitude appears in these forums repeatedly, and I don't understand it at all.
  • ElizaRoche
    ElizaRoche Posts: 2,005 Member
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    on days when if FREAKING BEAUTIFUL outside.


    ok lets start with the fact that whats ´beautiful´ to you, might not be beautiful to others... Me for example, i bet you mean sunny/warm weather, and there is nothing I HATE more than that weather... give me cold weather, winter, rain, snow, and then I will want to go out and enjoy it.

    Plus I do cardio with videos, I cant do that outside.
    I hate to run (the only cardio i can think of to do outside)... So yea, Ill do my cardio indoors thank you. :smile:
  • KrisyKat
    KrisyKat Posts: 749 Member
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    Because I can.
  • sandrajune72
    sandrajune72 Posts: 550
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    Because everyone's different.

    Why do some people like football and some people like baseball? Why are some people cat people and some dog people?

    Because we choose to be. End of.
  • TNFirefly
    TNFirefly Posts: 169 Member
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    I am in the 435 pound range. I do my cardio inside and at home because if I get chest tightening I can stop and not be out in the middle of somewhere that I have to keep walking to get home. At the gym, the equipment stabs and pokes literal holes in me (statiionary bike) and I would still have to drive if I needed to stop. I am terrified of walking 1/2 a mile from home and having a fall. What would I do? Sit there and wait for a firetruck to come by?

    For my safety and sanity, I do my cardio at home.
  • lshaunessy
    lshaunessy Posts: 64
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    It is 113F outside right now. If I tried to do cardio out there I'd die from heatstroke before the ambulance could get there.
  • bikinibeliever
    bikinibeliever Posts: 832 Member
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    You might think it's beautiful, I think it's friggin hotter than hell!
  • HealthyAlison
    HealthyAlison Posts: 112 Member
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    Here are a few reasons:

    I like exercising outdoors, but time is often a big factor. I can ride my stationary bike while working or catching up with friends on my computer.

    During lunch time, I like to walk. If it's over about 75-80 degrees I sweat too much to feel professional for the rest of the afternoon at work, so I walk inside. (I'm lucky enough to work in a building with a 6 story atrium with a 0.2 mile circuit I can walk on each floor.)

    Safety can also be a bigger concern for women than men.
  • karagetsfit
    karagetsfit Posts: 191
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    The heat for one. And also, if I want to work out while I have my kids before their dad gets home, I go to the gym. They have kid care there.
  • cowgirlashlee
    cowgirlashlee Posts: 301 Member
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    Those of us with severe pollen allergies (we're taking allergy shots plus prescription pills just to be able to breathe each day) can't workout outside regularly, especially at the high point of allergy season. Now, when the plants die off this fall/winter, you'll see me out running/jogging instead of working out on my stationary bike and stepper. Until then, I'm picking indoor workouts to keep myself from being miserable.

    I don't enjoy the humidity, either, but I can deal with that if needed. I run with a water bottle and neck cooling bands so it takes a little of the crappy feeling away. Right now, however, it's 97 degrees and 100% humidity...so I know I'm not the only one working out in the AC tonight!
  • radiantsunshine40
    radiantsunshine40 Posts: 48 Member
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    I much rather use my OWN body to move rather than a machine propelling me! I prefer outdoors but I have severe allergy/sinus problems and have been advised by my physician to remain in doors; but I don't do! Therefore I'm always having an infection thus prompting medication and shots!
  • misty0413
    misty0413 Posts: 212
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    its been over 100 for 3 weeks, also I have a six year old I don't expect him to run with me. Also I live on a dirt road, not excuses just being honest. I do not have a gym membership so I just prefer my treadmill indoors or a dvd.
  • paleirishmother
    paleirishmother Posts: 242
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    I am a mother with 2 babies - I have no car. - I live an apt complex with no sidewalks, surrounded by highways.

    I do what I can with what I have to work with.
  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 810 Member
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    I feel like people driving by are staring at me and I don't like it. When I lose more weight I will do more outside.

    As for hiking its almost hunting season I don't want to worry about some dumbass who shoots first and then checks. And gas is expensive.


    Oh and I don't tan I fry. I will get blisters that bleed. I would rather work out inside for as long as I can then to have to go in after awhile out of fear of being burned so bad that I am in tears. Working out outside is not worth it or the cancer I may get.
    Don't tell me go put sun block on I have and I still ended up burned.

    When I was 13 years old I went to a water park and my parents only packed SPF 30 even though I generally need something stronger. I ended up burning so badly I had to go to the ER and they said the burns were as severe as the kind sustained by people in house fires and would leave permanent scarring. I had to spend 2 months indoors recovering having my dressing changed three times a day. I had to take three cold showers a day which tore chunks of burned flesh off me and that hurt like hell. Not cool. They told me after that I could never go shirtless in the sun again and I would have to limit sun exposure for the rest of my life due to my extreme risk for skin cancer.




    Damn!

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