Bumping up cardio...

jedibunny
jedibunny Posts: 321
in Fitness and Exercise
It's come to my attention that I need to start increasing the amount of cardio I'm doing (which means cutting down some weights - that, or waking up much earlier). In my head I'm all for it. I even got to the gym earlier today and planned on only doing a couple of strength exercises/machines. My problem is: once I get past 20--25 minutes on a machine, my body is ANGRY at me for pushing it any more!

Today I did 24 almost 25 minutes on the treadmill at 3.8mph and a slight incline. I couldn't go any longer. So I stopped, breathed/walked around for a minute or two, then forced myself to get on the bike - and when I'm on the bike, I'm at 97--100 (rpm?). I feel sleepy and lazy otherwise. After 10 minutes I started feeling dizzy, but pushed it to 14. Then my body was going "GOD STOP I CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!!" and I had to give in. I was drinking water at regular intervals, so I know I wasn't dehydrated.

So my question is, how do you get yourself to do more? If not a longer period of time, a higher intensity... how? I feel like I'm going to collapse if I push that hard or that long. I've tried doing higher intensity stuff and nearly fell over, lol.

Note: I do eat before I exercise, about a half hour beforehand. Is it because I'm burning more than I ate?

Thanks for your thoughts!

Replies

  • BlondeToast
    BlondeToast Posts: 38
    Have you tried classes? I find they are so much more motivating, and when you feel like giving up you can't! I do body attack twice a week and I love it. I burn around 600 calories an hour doing it according to my HRM.

    Check our your gym timetable :)
  • mhotch
    mhotch Posts: 901 Member
    I don't like cardio at all. What I have been doing is splitting up my cardio into 3-15 minutes segments, with strength in between. I warm up, run intervals on the treadmill, 1/2 of my strength, 15 minutes on the elliptical, 2nd 1/2 of my strength, then 15 minutes , plus 5 cool down on a separate cardio. I mix up between, bike, row, stairclimber. It breaks the cardio up, keeps me from getting bored, and I can push myself harder when I know its only 15 minutes.
  • Brandiberry77
    Brandiberry77 Posts: 49 Member
    Well I am no expert but I definitely try for at least 50min with cardio. I thought to myself not to hit it fast and hard but slow and steady. I started at 30min and increased over time; speed, distance, time. Are you getting bored? Music is a good motivator. You could set it up so the faster beat comes on when your 30 min into your routine. Other factors to consider would be do you consume enough water and how is your breathing. Definitely look forward to see what others post on your topic.
  • nicholjenny
    nicholjenny Posts: 74 Member
    Someone beat me to it, so I'm going to second the classes suggestion. If you can get into a combination cardio/toning class, it may help you to get in everything. I have also found the buddy system to be a great motivator! You indirectly find yourself competing or at least keeping up. :wink:
  • lauristewart
    lauristewart Posts: 379 Member
    How long have you been exercising? Sometimes it takes a while to condition your body to get used to more. When I first started Insanity, I could hardly make it through a 45 min session and I was dying!! Now I can do the 1 hr sessions and get on my spin bike for 10 or 15 more min. Or I can do 2 40 to 45 min DVD's at a time. But it took about 6 months to build up to that. Go in baby steps, go until you can't go anymore and in a few weeks, add 5 min to it. Continue that and you will build up to go longer.

    good luck!
  • gaia3rd
    gaia3rd Posts: 151
    I'm not quite sure why you feel it's so necessary to push yourself that hard. This isn't strength training where you push yourself to failure. The goal is to aim for a particular pulse range: 220 minus your age = a number. Multiply that number times .70 for your low heart rate, times .85 for the high end - stay somewhere in the middle for about 30 minutes. A good general rule is: if you're too breathless to talk, you're overdoing it. (Disclaimer: I'm not discussing HIIT, which is obviously, more intense).
  • Hopelessbird
    Hopelessbird Posts: 133
    You will get used to exercising eventually. It took me a while to get used to working out regularly. Now, I have trouble keeping my heart rate up because my system is now conditioned to cardio exercise.
  • Sl1ghtly
    Sl1ghtly Posts: 855 Member
    Why do you need to do more cardio? Are you training for something?
  • butterflyliz32
    butterflyliz32 Posts: 124 Member
    Are you using a HRM when you workout? Check where you are in your target - you might already be at the optimal place. Pushing to the point of exhaustion is more likely to get you injured than anything else.

    Also, try increasing slowly. Don't try to double your burn all at once. You body will not be happy, and again, injuries.
  • JLArispe
    JLArispe Posts: 62
    There are many different things you can do to change how you feel when you workout. First you said you eat about 30 minutes before working out, how much are you eating? You should not have a meal, maybe some fruit or a protein bar, but not a full meal, because when you workout with a full stomach you can feel tired and exhausted while working out. When you workout, you want to get to failure and once you get there then stop for the day. Your strength and cardio will improve, but it does take baby steps to get there. Eat your meal within one hour of working out, as you will still be burning calories. Another thing you can try is running sprints, that will help with your endurance and breathing to help you last longer and not feel so exhausted or burnt out.
  • gtwin
    gtwin Posts: 290 Member
    The thing that got me to go longer with cardio was to just tell myself that I was only going to do 20 min on the treadmill. Once 20 min came around, I said "ok, 5 more min." Then I decided, I might as well go 5 more and hit 30 minutes. Before you know it, you're pushing yourself to do 45 minutes to an hour.


    Or you could also do sprint/walk intervals. This always makes the time go by faster. You can walk for 2 minutes, sprint for 1 minute. Do that for 30 minutes and a cool down of 5 minutes. And if you feel like you can do more, try for 45 minutes total.
  • PrincessNariko
    PrincessNariko Posts: 22
    I took my time. Started with 0,5 km longer, just a little bit faster; and after a while that new speed and distance became the new "normal". So i did this on a regulary basis and now i run 40-50 K's a week.

    If you push to hard to fast you get burned and discouraged. Babysteps:flowerforyou:
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
    I third taking a class. I don't even look at the clock at all in something fun like cardio-kickboxing or a spin class. Or I do something outside because I can walk, jog, ride bikes outside for a long time and not watch the clock. Maybe you'd find that more fun, too. I can't do long cardio on the elliptical, treadmill, exercise bike, rowing machine, etc., out of pure boredom. Just can't stand it. If I feel like I need it, I'll watch a tv show or movie on Netflix on my phone but I still find it boring, but that helps. I usually only use those machines for warm-up, cooldown or HIIT sessions.
  • jedibunny
    jedibunny Posts: 321
    Thanks everyone for the comments here! I'm sorry it's taken me a while to respond. :)

    A few people asked why I needed to do more. I'm not training for anything in particular, but I'm not losing weight OR inches despite eating (mostly) better foods and hitting the gym at least 5 if not 6 days a week. I've been at this for about a month and a half, the gym part about a month. It was suggested that I up the percentage cardio I'm doing versus strength training. I prefer the weights, but they don't burn as much and my initial focus is on HEALTHY weight loss and reduction of fat (secondary being building muscle), so more cardio = better(?). I stated healthy in caps because I know it'd be a lot easier to lose weight UN-healthily... I watched a friend do it and then boomerang back. No thanks.

    As for eating, before I go to the gym in the morning it's either a yogurt, a bowl of cereal or toast with peanut butter as well as my vitamin and fiber gummies (both added within the last week and a half or so). I found that I absolutely need something before I go, otherwise I get woozy and nauseous. I'll usually eat something similar after leaving as well (the peanut butter or yogurt).

    I drink water before and during and after the workout, but I know I don't normally get enough water during the course of a day. That's something I'm working on as well.

    I did manage to almost double my initial stamina (I got winded after about 8--10 minutes at first!), but now find it difficult to get past that 20--25 minute mark. lol, I did Hip Hop Abs at home a couple of days and could NOT make it through the last segment - the whole program is 25 mins.

    Today I did the "cardio" setting on the treadmill, allowing it to adjust for my HR. I found that walking at about 3.8mph at an incline of 7.8 made me want to die... my breathing got VERY heavy and I was really struggling... so I knocked it down to a 5 incline. That still killed me so I set the thing to Cool Down and it took me back down to 1.0 on the incline and 3.2mph. For whatever reason, the machine didn't realize my heart was racing until it dropped me down to that level, but that was too late considering that I had switched it to manual. Moral: buy a HRM...

    Thank you all for the feedback on this!

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