Getting through cardio!

2

Replies

  • bdorri00
    bdorri00 Posts: 38 Member
    Either listen to music or watch the Braves game! So glad it's baseball season again, helps me workout for a long time without even realizing it!
  • psuhorseshoe
    psuhorseshoe Posts: 29 Member
    I'm that weirdo that reads at the gym. I can usually read and do the eliptical at a pretty decent pace or I will do the cross trainer or the highest incline and highest intestity and read. It is slow and steady but i can do it for an hour and burn a pretty decent amount of calories. If the book is good, it is motivation to stay on the machine longer or hop onto another cardio machine to read.
  • subconscious_ink
    subconscious_ink Posts: 194 Member
    Try to find something you do like (or a few things). If you're not into cardio like running or the elliptical, try dancing, a sport, swimming, or kickboxing. If you're like me and don't like the cardio kickboxing classes gyms usually offer, try going to a gym where they actually have heavy bags for you to hit -- I feel like actually hitting something while kickboxing is much more satisfying. Keep trying different things until you find something you enjoy.

    I get bored with cardio easily as well. Try switching up your activities a lot. I can't do the same cardio every day.

    Also, you could try spreading your cardio out in short intervals over the course of the day -- if you have an office, maybe jogging in place by your desk or something. That way by the end, you might have done an hour, but you only do 5 or 10 minutes at a time, so you don't have time to get bored and it's like a little break from whatever else you were doing.

    Another thing is, if there is a day when I really need to do cardio, but I only have boring options available, I have a certain TV show that I really love put aside that I only watch when exercising. So by doing cardio, I get to watch my awesome TV show. Netflix is really useful for this.
  • liftreadphilosophize
    liftreadphilosophize Posts: 180 Member
    Cardio exercise can be so boring (at least for me)....what is your cardio routine? How do you get through it?

    Intervals! I'm bored easily, so intervals keep me interested through the entire workout. Plus, HIIT, specifically, has made my body look and feel so much better.

    When I bike to work (pretty much the only time I do steady-state cardio) I like to listen to podcasts or audiobooks. I save music for when I'm running, which doesn't happen often these days.
  • junkie_99
    junkie_99 Posts: 26
    On my stair climber day: I read a book on my Kindle.
    On my run day: I enjoy the scenery.
  • iLoveMyAR15
    iLoveMyAR15 Posts: 122 Member
    kicking tunes on my ipod is a must

    Nothing realted to Cardio but sweet AR

    Thanks Jack and sorry I meant the tunes get me through my run or HIIT! LOL
  • sprintto50
    sprintto50 Posts: 410 Member
    I couldn't stick with a cardo routine if I was bored. I walk/run with my dog outside and enjoy nature, and when it's warmer I bike. I tried a treadmill but I couldn't stand the monotony. I believe the key is trying things until you find something you enjoy. And think outside the usual..
  • AncientLullaby_
    AncientLullaby_ Posts: 119
    I love swimming and I try to change things up and so what I do is usually
    30 mins running then jump in the pool and swim for another 30 mins :)
    or 30 mis elliptical then 30 mins swimming
    or 30 mins aerobics and then 30 mins swimming
    or 30 mins biking then 30 mins swimming

    It is nerver boring to me! very addicting in fact
  • veaudrey
    veaudrey Posts: 1
    You should try and find a type of cardio that you like. Have you ever tried boxing? I found it to be a lot of fun and not boring at all:)
  • loriq41
    loriq41 Posts: 479 Member
    If I don't have some great music..well, I won't even do any cardio machines..one time I forgot my earbuds at home and literally ran to walmart for a cheap pair to get me through. Nothing better than some great workout songs to get you motivated! :)
  • MsAnn07
    MsAnn07 Posts: 172 Member
    Elliptical with some really good fast music while watching Netflix closed caption. :)
  • DandelionCupcakes
    DandelionCupcakes Posts: 234 Member
    Zombies, Run! App = <3
  • ShallaLovee1
    ShallaLovee1 Posts: 356 Member
    Just like a lot of people suggested.. Insanity (which I'm doing now), Zumba love love love me some Zumba! Love the classes, love the dvds. Turbofire is loads of fun! Jogging with your playlist on yip yip. That's just things I do that keep me interested.
  • HJMAYES
    HJMAYES Posts: 72 Member
    Running 3 miles, zumba, Flexcity Fitness, and Boxing.
  • Hearts_2015
    Hearts_2015 Posts: 12,031 Member
    Classes work well for me, it gives me that push knowing everyone else is up early getting their workout in. It inspires me to push harder, I think more so than I would on my own. For me a class acts as a commitment where as an at home workout I can wiggle out of. :blushing: :laugh:

    Lots of great ideas shared for at home workouts though if that's what you do!:drinker:

    I agree with an earlier poster that said why do it if it's boring.. find something you really enjoy and maybe don't think of it as exercise but something fun like biking, running, playing sports with friends, volley ball league. Etc. Sometimes not thinking of it as a workout helps a great deal
  • Mustang_Susie
    Mustang_Susie Posts: 7,045 Member
    BodyStep
    Classes are a lot more fun than machines, so the time flies :smile:
  • MissFitee
    MissFitee Posts: 106 Member
    stationary bike - fiddle with my phone, read or study, sort out my workout
    running - the app Zombies, Run! it tells you stories and makes you run from zombies while you're at it

    if I really want something fun i do intervals of some sort(running, jump rope, tabatha etc) doesnt get as boring when it keeps changing
  • aloha311
    aloha311 Posts: 118 Member
    HIIT :)
  • EmAnCiNaS
    EmAnCiNaS Posts: 35 Member
    Jogging/running, good tunes on my ipod and let my mind wander.

    I like to do this too.. the tunes that i use are both slow and fast.. and I like to run following the rythim of the music.. And i sometimes sing to them.. (people driving by my might think i am crazy and that i am talking to my self while jogging) but i like to sing to the song, because it takes my mind away from the thinking of water and wanting to stop in the middle of my run.
  • MamaC77
    MamaC77 Posts: 104 Member
    I am currently doing Rockin Body with Shaun T. I am loving it. But I love dancing. I also love Zumba classes. Running on a treadmill just doesn't work for me. But if its nice outside i'll take my dog out for a jog or walk while listening to some good tunes. Hope you find something to keep you motivated to get through. Good luck!
  • cmeiron
    cmeiron Posts: 1,599 Member
    Jogging is very zen for me - just breathing and moving my feet. I do this once a week. My other two cardio workouts for the week are fast and furious: 15-25 minutes of HIIT training. It's very intense, short and goes by very quickly :) I'm too busy sucking wind to get bored lol.
  • jaxxie
    jaxxie Posts: 576 Member
    Tabata, HIIT and vodka.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I do cardio that I enjoy...I do not do cardio that I don't enjoy. For me, pretty much long walks and I go for a 30 minute jog a few times per week.
  • codapea
    codapea Posts: 182 Member
    Being outside! You could hike, bike, run. jog, rollerblade, join a parks and rec soccer or baseball team, rock climb, ski, play tag with you kids... It's no longer cardio, it's just having a great day doing something fun and enjoying the view, time with friends or family, the river, the wildlife. I personally enjoy running in the evening along the river. Four miles outside goes by in no time compared to watching the tenths of a mile slowly tick by on the treadmill.. Fifteen minutes feels like an hour at the gym.
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
    I go running and I have a start point and a finish point. I get through it by listening to music and I have a running app that tells me how far I have run and the time I have done it in, which is pretty helpful.
    If I do cardio at home it's a workout DVD and I do pretty high intensity ones so I don't have time to get bored in between dying, haha.
  • Crossett0803
    Crossett0803 Posts: 7 Member
    A woman I go to the gym with has a tough time getting through her cardio. She goes through the machines in a circuit: 5 minutes on the bike, 5 on the treadmill, and 5 on the elliptical. If she goes through that circuit twice she has half an hour of cardio in. She doesn't get bored with it and it goes by quickly for her. For me, I have to have my ipod.
  • Angie52732
    Angie52732 Posts: 66 Member
    If I am on the treadmill or the bike I will take my tablet and watch a movie on netflix. I only get to watch it when i am doing my cardio :). When I am outside I play fitradio on my phone....tons of stations to choose from
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    I find cardio boring and useless...however to keep up my cardio health I do HIIT 2x a week for 20 minutes a pop. It isn't easy, but it isn't boring either!!!
  • maiaroman18
    maiaroman18 Posts: 460 Member
    My gym has individual TVs on most of the cavrdio machines. If I don't get one of those machines, I just listen to my mp3 player... singing along to the songs gets me through it.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    step aerobics, kickboxing, kettlebell circuit classes :) I love classes

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