Best Cardio to lose weight

saundts
saundts Posts: 51 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What is everyone's take on this, what is the best cardio to lose weight faster? I weigh 253, male, age 43 and 5'9".

Replies

  • Kdp2015
    Kdp2015 Posts: 519 Member
    Anything that you enjoy doing and will stick at, try everything you might be surprised which you like best :)
  • gearhead426hemi
    gearhead426hemi Posts: 919 Member
    Walking is always the best way to start off. You don't want to try and go to hard to quickly because you could hurt yourself and then its two steps back and one step forward. I prefer to ride a bike because it is easier on your joints and makes working out more of a adventure. If you have access to a pool that is amazing cardio with almost zero impact on your joints. Set realistic goals for yourself and just get out there. Best of luck!
  • vinovinovino
    vinovinovino Posts: 12 Member
    Calorie deficit definitely. But if you want a fun "softcore" cardio (with strength and flexibility as bonus), vinyasa yoga :)
  • niknak8800
    niknak8800 Posts: 8 Member
    Running, cycling & rowing. However, walking is also a fantastic exercise...easy to do, can do it anywhere and definitely helps to shuft weight.
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
    Do cardio if you enjoy it, but it's unnecessary for weight loss. I am on a cut currently and I don't even do cardio simply because it's not something I enjoy and I already have an excellent metabolism. On MFP, I am considered as extremely active despite only lifting 3 times per week and doing no cardio. So in the end, it depends on you, if you hate cardio like I do, then don't do it. Of course if your metabolism sucks, it will mean that you will eat little food. Not everyone has a great metabolism.
  • darkangel45422
    darkangel45422 Posts: 234 Member
    fb47 wrote: »
    Do cardio if you enjoy it, but it's unnecessary for weight loss. I am on a cut currently and I don't even do cardio simply because it's not something I enjoy and I already have an excellent metabolism. On MFP, I am considered as extremely active despite only lifting 3 times per week and doing no cardio. So in the end, it depends on you, if you hate cardio like I do, then don't do it. Of course if your metabolism sucks, it will mean that you will eat little food. Not everyone has a great metabolism.

    This may be 100% true for weight loss, but for general fitness cardio is good for your cardiovascular system. It helps keep your lungs and heart and other systems in better shape. A little bit of cardio is always going to be good for you to do even if you hate it lol. But for weight loss yes, cardio isn't necessary, just helpful.
  • fb47
    fb47 Posts: 1,058 Member
    edited July 2018
    darkangel45422 wrote: »
    fb47 wrote: »
    Do cardio if you enjoy it, but it's unnecessary for weight loss. I am on a cut currently and I don't even do cardio simply because it's not something I enjoy and I already have an excellent metabolism. On MFP, I am considered as extremely active despite only lifting 3 times per week and doing no cardio. So in the end, it depends on you, if you hate cardio like I do, then don't do it. Of course if your metabolism sucks, it will mean that you will eat little food. Not everyone has a great metabolism.

    This may be 100% true for weight loss, but for general fitness cardio is good for your cardiovascular system. It helps keep your lungs and heart and other systems in better shape. A little bit of cardio is always going to be good for you to do even if you hate it lol. But for weight loss yes, cardio isn't necessary, just helpful.
    I wasn't talking about health, I never mentionned it because that's not what the title of this post was about. I do agree that cardio does have health benefits, but the OP posted about cardio and weight loss....both together are not required. I wasn't saying not to do cardio at all, I was merely giving the OP the information that it is not required for weight loss. Even for the health benefits, I still wouldn't do cardio, it's my choice. Maybe some day I will if my doctor requires me to do so, but my blood, my pressure and my health overall is fantastic.
  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
    Table push-aways and fork put-downs. You cannot out train a bad diet. Eating at a deficit is what is needed to lose weight.

    As far as the best cardio to incorporate: whichever one you enjoy the most. I love running, so I run. Other people despise it, so they do other cardio. For long term goals and a lifestyle change, the best thing to do is develop the habit of simply walking more. As walking in one of the few exercises that can be done at nearly any fitness level and is generally the first exercise recommended when recovering from illness or injury.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited July 2018
    saundts wrote: »
    What is everyone's take on this, what is the best cardio to lose weight faster? I weigh 253, male, age 43 and 5'9".

    Faster than what? Cardio helps your aerobic fitness first and foremost. I wonder about your question because it reads like you want to go faster than your MFP setting recommends.

    I hope you're looking for a reasonable sustainable rate. If you've set that up, doing cardio will increase your calories burned, but you should then eat enough calories to sustain that extra burn, keeping the reasonable deficit the same.

    To echo some of the others here. Do what you'll stick with, and what you'll enjoy without burning yourself out. Walking is a great start. Lots of bang for the buck. You don't need to do HIIT or Insanity or whatever cardio class is the flavor of the day - but do it if you enjoy it and aerobic fitness is a goal of yours.



  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Any steady state cardio that you enjoy will help pad your calories out, but fair warning there's almost no way to exercise enough to really counter eating a lot of calorie dense foods. I'd have to walk for a couple hours to counter the calories in a Snickers bar, e.g. That said, hiking, running, elliptical and stairs are the best burns for me personally, along with the rower. Indoor bikes, walking, not so much.
  • ballerbryan
    ballerbryan Posts: 24 Member
    edited July 2018
    The only cardio I really enjoy is playing basketball but if I'm looking to lose weight then it's all about HIIT.

    I hate steady running or jogging for long periods of time. I simply get really bored of it.

    Normally I start with 3 days of HIIT and gradually try to get to 5 days.

    My go-to are sprints. I much more prefer to do short bursts of intense sprints than trying to do steady state jogging

    My routine is to go to the park and basically pick two trees that are maybe like 30-50 yards away from each others.

    It depends on how I'm feeling that day. If I have more energy and have a bit more pep to my step then I'll choose a further distance to sprint.

    It's simple but I sprint from one tree to the other as fast as possible.

    After reaching the tree I'll follow it up with one of the following
    • Pushups
    • Burpees
    • Jump squats
    • Jumping Jacks
    • Jump roping

    I'll do all of these exercises for 30 seconds to 1 minute. However, with pushups I'll max out and do them to failure, I won't set a time limit for them.

    Then I'll rest for a minute or two, catch my breath and then repeat the process for 20-30 mins.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
    Boxing

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