Does the hatred of cardio ever go away?

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  • Lady_Chilli
    Lady_Chilli Posts: 161 Member
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    TURBO JAM! I hate cardio but this is pretty good!
  • amyy902
    amyy902 Posts: 290 Member
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    yeah you do need to do both cardio and weights. and does the hate go away? i dont know thats like saying a person that hates brussel sprouts yeah they can maybe eat them, do they like them ever? probably not!!! maybe even try joining a recreational sports team - then it wont feel so much like cardio and more like fun?
  • tjradd73
    tjradd73 Posts: 3,495 Member
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    Not actually required for fat loss at all. I'm currently doing ZERO cardio at all (not allowed to on this diet) and lost plenty of fat. It's a number's game remember.

    Definitely good for the cardiovascular system (hence the name :P) but resistance training is also.

    So if you just want to look good naked then you don't need cardio if you're nutrition is on point.

    If you want to compete in some sort of endurance sport then that is totally different.

    you know what i meant!!! LOL :P
  • jorowling
    jorowling Posts: 54 Member
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    I used to really dislike any form of cardio exercise, until I started doing Tae Bo. I've been doing it for about 4 months now and I still love it. I know I should probably mix things up a bit, but I still get an intense workout from Tae Bo, so I don't see much of a need right now. It's something I enjoy doing and it's working for me, so I am going to stick with it.

    I really don't like strength training- I find it boring, but I do it as I know my body needs it.


    THIS!! I have never really enjoyed exercise, except maybe netball when I was younger. I tried Body combat several years ago(before children) and have now discovered Taebo. I know it has been around for ages, but I love it. Bit of boxing, bit of cardio...can't believe I actually look forward to the burn. And what a burn it is. 600+ calories in under an hour.
    Happy exercising everyone. :)
  • Matt_Wild
    Matt_Wild Posts: 2,673 Member
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    Break it into several chunks of 15 mins. Still same calories burnt.
  • katysmelly
    katysmelly Posts: 380 Member
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    I love lifting and strength training. After having my second child I have done weights mixed with light cardio (Jillian Michaels) about 5 times a week. Everything is toned but I cannot get rid of a few inches on my tummy... It's frusterating but I know I need more cardio or lipo which I can't afford haha. I did a cardio DVD today (Banish Fat Boost Metabolism) and I hate it. Question to the cardio peeps... Does it get better? Will my hate turn into love? I'm trying to stay motivated!

    I hear you!

    Like everyone else is already saying: it may help to change up your activities.

    But, I'm not sure what you "hate" about cardio. I can think of two things to hate about doing cardio:

    1. Hating the monotony of it. If you're on a machine of some time, staring at the wall or whatever, for 45 minutes, you'll be bored and you'll notice every slowly passing second. Trying different exercises will help, but it can still be boring. It can also help to listen to podcasts or music or watch TV, if possible. You probably already know this. But, if you're ordinarily one to listen to music, maybe try podcasts on topics you find interesting. Even books on tape. This can pass the time.

    2. Hating the burn. This is what I have the biggest problem with. I am a wimp about The Burn. But, you know what? You don't have to feel physical discomfort to burn calories. True, it's faster when you do, but you'd be surprised how the calories can rack up when you're doing something more moderate. Maybe you could do a bit of "burn" cardio for your heart's sake, and then something like brisk walking for the overall calorie burn?

    I like to hike. I can walk for ten or more miles with no problems at all. I don't much care for climbing hills, though. When I'm going up a steep hill, I'm pretty much thinking "This sucks... oh, this sucks... oh, man when will it ever end... ugh...." Then, I'm at the top and there's a beautiful breeze and a view and I feel really good. On a long hike, I may go through that many times. I'm burning a lot of calories. In three hours, you can easily burn 1200 calories, and enjoy yourself the entire time.
  • solpwr
    solpwr Posts: 1,039 Member
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    I learned to love cardio primarily because of a sport, and secondarily because I was not happy with the calorie restriction necessary to manage my bodyweight without it.

    I like to eat. Strike that/ I love to eat fine food and fine wine. I'm passionate about it. The baggage of that passion is too many calories. That's the secondary reason that I burn 3,000 to 5,000 calories per week doing cardio. A lifestyle choice.

    I love to ski. Going in to a remote spot in the Purcell, Monashees, Bugaboos, Rockies or Alps, I get that alone in the wilderness feeling that I crave. Its awe inspiring, exhilarating. And skiing endless, bottomless powder. Yummy. But to get to those places without a helicopter dropping you there requires sustained maximum effort.

    I also love to downhill mountain bike. I picked up this sport essentially as the summer variant/equivalent to my winter skiing passion. Arguably I'm even more passionate about it than skiing, because it is newer to me. Going down the side of a mountain way too fast. Love it. Two years ago I didn't have the cardio fitness I do now. I could not BRING IT like I can now. That's the bottom line. So I ride my road bike for fitness. Hours each week. So I can properly enjoy my passions.

    If you find another motivation for cardio, you'll grow to enjoy it. If it is just for external appearance, probably not. As others have expressed, there are definitely ways to affect your external appearance without cardio, especially if you are comfortable with the calorie restriction you individually must determine.

    Bear in mind too that I am now 52 years old. In my 20's, I was motivated by external appearance (to get The Girl). I lifted. A lot. I'm naturally muscular. Bodybuilding was a good fit for me. But I lacked true fitness; I just looked good externally.

    True physical fitness is primarily measured by VO2 max and is independant of muscle size or mass (although functionally there is benefit to optimum muscle mass).

    This may not have helped, but hopefully I provoked some thought.
  • LGearheart
    LGearheart Posts: 21 Member
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    As was said, you don't HAVE to do cardio if you're nutrition is on point.

    However, I like doing some cardio stuff for overall fitness as well.

    Could try these with weights for example.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/389137-cardio
    or
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/390679-kb-swings-challenge

    Do you play any sports?

    Xbox dancing game is pretty fun :smile:


    I need to invest in a wii or xbox... I'm a stay at home mom with two young kids so it's hard for me to do sports at this point, I used to swim and hopefully will get back into that a few times a week
  • SavCal71
    SavCal71 Posts: 350 Member
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    I love cardio. Burpees? Different story.
  • natalienovella88
    natalienovella88 Posts: 29
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    Hey! I used to hate cardio, especially because I hated feeling like I couldnt breathe BUT after doing it for some time now, I have found there are a lot of forms of cardio I LOVE doing such as: riding my bike, doing the elliptical, doing a jog/walk where I run for 2 min straight, walk 2 min straight for however long I have scheduled for for that day. There has to be one type you will learn to like. Just experiment until you find the one you like best. Oh and also, an old workout guru buddy of mine said that the first 10 min of cardio are always the hardest but once that 10 min passes it becomes easier and I have found that to be true. I cant remember the scientific explaination as to why, but he made it believable lol.
  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
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    I dislike doing cardio DVDs too. But I looooove rollerblading, and my heart rate stays up and I burn more calories without really feeling like I'm working that much harder. Maybe you can find something you love? :)
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    Didn't for me. I gave up on it and just workout with my weights at an intensity that keeps my heart rate up and breathing heavy.

    Edit: It was the monotony that got to me. I don't mind the feeling of having done cardio, but I can't switch off enough to repeat the same movement thousands of times at once.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I love lifting and strength training. After having my second child I have done weights mixed with light cardio (Jillian Michaels) about 5 times a week. Everything is toned but I cannot get rid of a few inches on my tummy... It's frusterating but I know I need more cardio or lipo which I can't afford haha. I did a cardio DVD today (Banish Fat Boost Metabolism) and I hate it. Question to the cardio peeps... Does it get better? Will my hate turn into love? I'm trying to stay motivated!

    You don't need cardio to lose fat at all. All you need is a caloric deficit, since you don't have much to lose your goal should be 0.5lbs/week loss (250 cal/day deficit). That will help you lose the fat slowly so you don't lose lean muscle, on top of that do strength training to condition and retain the muscle you already have.

    Cardio is great for heart health and endurance but is not needed to lose weight. For weight loss it is not needed unless you need to be able to eat more cals to have a deficit. Since you should be eating back what you burn cardio is a 0 sum game. If you burn 400 cals, you eat 400 more, so your deficit remains the same 250 cals/day. So if you don't like it don't do it, unless you can't stick to the original calorie goal.
  • BlooQKazoo
    BlooQKazoo Posts: 56
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    Yes, it does. When? When you get better at it. I used to hate cardio, but after forcing myself to run every day, I began to build up my endurance, making the running easier to where I could focus on other things than how much my legs and lungs burned. I used to quit after a quarter of a mile, but now I've worked up to running at least 4 miles a day, and I truly do enjoy it. It's just you, your iPod, and your sweat, warming up with everyone else's workout.
  • BruteSquad
    BruteSquad Posts: 373 Member
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    i dont think so. i still hate it that's why i try to do HIIT as much as i can and when i'm too tired to do that, i close my eyes and think of england

    I don't think of England, but I do HIIT.

    Last weekend, I went out to the local state park, found a hobbit trail and followed it. Had to cross a stream, crawl over logs, go up and down hills....funny, it was a lot of fun, kind of like going for a walk in the woods. But I was doing cardio so maybe it wasn't as fun as I thought....

    Find something to do, because treadmills suck.
  • KareninCanada
    KareninCanada Posts: 813 Member
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    My hatred of "cardio" went away... when I stopped doing it.... LOL A good lifting session keeps my heart rate up there, and is working muscles at the same time. Win-win!

    What I would recommend, though, is that you look for cardio exercises that you CAN enjoy. I hate the elliptical and the stairclimber. I can tolerate a bike because I can bring a book. I use the treadmill only for warmups. But I do enjoy going for a long walk outside, or a hike, or skating. So I throw those into the mix on occasion.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,473 Member
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    I LOVE CARDIO!!!!!!!! I CAN DO 3 HOURS A DAY!!!I FEEL SO SO GREAT!
  • RGonVSH
    RGonVSH Posts: 44 Member
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    I have nothing new to add that someone else hasn't said, but I will say that I find doing cardio in a gym or in front of the television exceeding boring. If that is all that you are doing, then I can understand why you would find it boring.

    Getting outside is key for me, especially as the weather gets nicer. I guess if you are stuck in the house with kids, you might try a dance video now and then, but honestly, going out dancing with your nice looking partner (in the photo) would be tremendously MORE FUN. The key to that is not to drink too much alcohol and thereby erase all of the good things you are doing for your body.

    As others have said, do different things that you enjoy doing... have fun!
  • iuew
    iuew Posts: 624 Member
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    i like hiking. i don't mind the exercise bike; gives me a chance to read.

    i started out hating exercise. i don't hate it now; it allows me to eat more than i could otherwise. do i love it or get a runner's high of some sort? not so much.

    still worth it, though.
  • rbrannock
    rbrannock Posts: 169
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    I used to despise it....running on the treadmill was pure torture, even thinking about it. Now, I HATE missing it....I LOVE running now. IMO, the more you do it, the more you'll like it.

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