cardio bunny... dont judge me

It's not an "either/or" question.

Fitness preferences go in trends and cycles. I am always amused at those who are currently infatuated with HIIT and go out of their way to denigrate steady-state cardio. They don't realize that steady-state cardio arose as a recommended form of steady-state exercise in response to the overuse of HIIT training in the 1960s. Or the recent popularity of "functional" type exercises and modalities that were popular 100 years ago. The fundamental research behind "tabata" workouts was done 50 years before Tabata designed his research protocol.

Overall, resistance training is an important and essential part of overall health and fitness, but it's not the only thing. And there are plenty of different ways to do it.

Agree with all that. I guess I'm lucky that I get bored easily and I'm constantly switching from one exercise to another to keep myself interested enough to do it. I think the only exercise I could do every day not be bored would be hiking in the mountains. But Mother Nature prevent me from doing that every day.

And now I gotta go Google "tabata workouts".

I know the feeling I have ended up doing Cardio through nessecity [I have no weights and no money for a gym pass and even if I did I think I'd feel more comfortable on the Cardio tbh ] Glad I'm not the only one

This makes we want to put on bunny ears and go to the gym. lol!
I've never heard "cardio bunny" before. =D

I agree. Lots of great suggestions here - but in the end if you like it you'll do it. It's that simple.

Alot of those cardio DVD's also sneak in weight bearing exercises ~ so it's kinda not like doing weights but you're getting all the benefits. Those people who design the workouts are GENIUS!

I know the feeling I have ended up doing Cardio through nessecity [I have no weights and no money for a gym pass and even if I did I think I'd feel more comfortable on the Cardio tbh ] Glad I'm not the only one

If you truly want to do strength training - you don't need weights or a gym membership. Your body weight is all you need. Body weight routines for FREE at NerdFitness.com . There is also a book You Are Your Own Gym that is excellent.

Just an FYI

I do both. Resistance cardio and lifting = awesome sauce.

I love running and cycling, but I also love that my arms look like
<---- that.

I know the feeling I have ended up doing Cardio through nessecity [I have no weights and no money for a gym pass and even if I did I think I'd feel more comfortable on the Cardio tbh ] Glad I'm not the only one

If you truly want to do strength training - you don't need weights or a gym membership. Your body weight is all you need. Body weight routines for FREE at NerdFitness.com . There is also a book You Are Your Own Gym that is excellent.

Just an FYI

Spot on. I do feel that a lot of people looking at the best way to train for health, physique and weight loss are put off the idea of STRENGTH training because they keep reading - on here at least - that they have to lift WEIGHTS, but it is simply not true. Bodyweight exercises are open to everyone and are not as limited as weight lifting fans would have you believe. Bodyweight exercises are NOT the poor relation of the strength family and they are really addictive once you start.

I have the book You Are Your Own Gym and can really recommend it; working through it myself.

What I'm seeing a lot in this thread is "If you don't like it, you won't stick with it, so don't do it." Isn't that a self-fulfilling prophecy then?

People who lose weight and keep it off don't simply find something they like and ignore the things they don't like. They change their attitudes about fitness from a childish "I'm only going to do what I want" to a more mature "Being fit means doing things I may not want to do."

It is also not true that we're all unique snowflakes and different types of exercises work differently for each of us. That's some postmodern pyschological BS. Short of a medical/physical condition, the only thing that is different about us is our starting point and our mindset. The effect of the exercise on our bodies is not radically different from one person to another.

True. And our opinions change as we get more fit, too. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY who is totally untrained likes running. It's hard. But lots of people LOVE running- and every single one of them at some point forced themselves to lace up their sneakers and just get through it until they came to love it eventually.

I feel that the weights get more important as I age. Without them I could be at a healthy weight with my body sagging.

This is especially true for men over 40. Typically men will lose about 1% of their lean muscle mass per year after 40, resistance training is pretty much the only way to mitigate this loss.

Having said that my favourites are running, riding & rowing with a couple of strength/weights sessions a week.

What I'm seeing a lot in this thread is "If you don't like it, you won't stick with it, so don't do it." Isn't that a self-fulfilling prophecy then?

People who lose weight and keep it off don't simply find something they like and ignore the things they don't like. They change their attitudes about fitness from a childish "I'm only going to do what I want" to a more mature "Being fit means doing things I may not want to do."

I've lost a whole lot of weight doing and eating what I want. I've done it healthy, and while I still have a way to go, I'm looking pretty damn good. I've been doing this for 19 months. If I was doing exercise that I didn't like and eating foods that I hated, I would have been finished 18 months ago.

I find your above statements inaccurate and judgmental.

I don't know. Judging someone for their routine is stuipid, and you can make different workouts work for you, but there are still better and worse ways to acheive a goal. Not incorporating any strength training at all is certainly on the side of being worse. Honestly, I'd rather remain a bit fatter than risk lean muscle loss since it's so hard to gain back once gone. If your very obese then you probably have a lot of room for error though.

I think most people hate incorporating new things for 2 main reasons.

1. No one likes to leave their comfort zone. If you've always just gone to the gym and hit the treadmill or run around the block, it's tough to go out on a limb and do new stuff. I think this is really true for women lifting weights.

2. You do it wrong (bad form) or you try to do too much too fast. I'm a runner so I'll use that as an example. Most people try to run too fast when they start out thinking that going all out they will improve fitness faster when the opposite is true. If you aren't already athletic, you should be incorporating a lot of walking when you first start or you'll end up injured and hate it.