CARDIO? Best form of cardio exercise?

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  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,249 Member
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    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
    blb85 Posts: 187 Member
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    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
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    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
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
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    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
    cstevenson86 Posts: 158 Member
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    I would say anything that gets your heart rate up - 3 to 4 times per week. I do Zumba, and I love it!
  • LexiPlease
    LexiPlease Posts: 5 Member
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    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
    asteriskthat Posts: 73 Member
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    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
    yirara Posts: 9,389 Member
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    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
    melodyis4reals Posts: 186 Member
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    Taking the dog for a long walk.
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    edited April 2015
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    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.

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